Dirty dog....Ideas?? - Page 1

Okay.... I have  a 2.5 y/o female... she is crated while I am at work but doesnt seem to care about being on the schedule that all dogs are in my house. Probably 3 times a week she poops in her crate; and then proceeds to 'finger paint' putting it all over crate, walls ceiling etc and all over her. For obvious reasons, this has to stop...Luckily right now with the warm weather I have the luxery of dragging a crate out a few times a week and hosing it out but wont be able to do that much longer! When I first got her I used to work 2 part time jobs, never gone for more than 5 hours at a time so I  never noticed this issue before. Now I work full time and so am gone for 9... She is more than capable of holding it like the others do...they get fed at the same time everyday, once a day(evenings) No change in food....Outside before I leave for approx half hour, I leave at same time everyday and so they get out at same time everyday.....

Illness? Blatent disregard for cleanliness? Ideas?

10 hours stuck in a kennel/vari-kennel when you are working is an extremely long time. Especially if the only exercise is 30 minutes outside before you go to work. The poor soul is probably bored out of her mind.

When she poops outside the crate are the stools hard?  If she's having any issues with stools, maybe she really can't hold it, although the fact that she "finger paints" leads me to believe it's a lack of cleanliness more than "I MUST go NOW".  Unless it's a blow out, on the rare occasion one of my dogs has an accident in a crate they try to bury it in a corner or stay away from it.

I have found the best thing to do with dogs who have problems staying clean is to make it so they really can't get dirty.  They stay clean long enough, they get used to being clean and stay that way.  I've gotten a couple of dogs from other people over the years who were PIGS when I got them.  Didn't mind pottying in a crate, would poop in a kennel then run around in it, etc.  What I did is put wood shavings in their crate, xpen, kennel, anywhere they were going to stay, so if they did poop or pee it was buried in the shavings and the dog stayed clean.  After a few months of that, I was able to remove the shavings, and the dog had gotten to the point that it wanted to be clean, and did what it needed to so it could stay that way.

Red door,
Know your animals schedule.
This is no life for a dog and makes me very sad.
Animals do not choose to be clean or dirty.
They depend on us and deserve better.
You don't want to know my ideas...trust me.


Moons.

assuming that you have already trained her in OB........

#1 6 days of safe guard wormer to make sure she doesn't have any type of worms.
#2 2 meals a day
#3 2 crates
#4 lots of patients

first worm her completely to make darn sure she doesn't have any excuses. use safe guard at about 4cc with food for 6 days in a row (any messes during this time don't count)

next keep her feed exactly the same every day so she doesn't have any excuses of having upset stomach

put 2 identical crates next to each other.......

if you come home to a clean crate, drop everything, praise her for being a clean dog and take her out side for at least 15 minutes of fun playing tug or fetch or whatever her favorite game happens to be.

if you come home to a mess, yell at her and make sure she knows you are not please and put her in the other crate. clean up her filthy crate complaining loudly about it. once the crate is clean put her back into her now clean crate and loudly clean the other crate. never beat her.....but let her know that you are mad and that she doesn't get freedom unless the crate is clean.

go into another room and in 20 or 30 minutes come back and upon seeing a clean crate praise her and take her outside for a fun game of tug...

I've had 3 dirty dogs and its worked on all of them.

this doens't work immediately, but within a month you will see a wonderful difference.

Does she go when you take her outside? Every time?  Maybe she's too busy playing to get down to business.

This seems like a pretty extreme case, so maybe an extreme measure is needed here. Try giving her an anal suppository before she goes out. That will make SURE she does her business, and hopefully her bowels will be empty enough that there will be no accidents.
I have heard of some people using this method before, and it also helps train the dog to get its bowels on a regular schedule.

Sounds like this dog is stressed by the length of time she is being crated, it is not a matter of being physically able to hold herself for 9 hours, of couse she can, but mentally she cannot cope with the way you are keeping her.

Can you get a dog walker to come in while you are at work so she can return to the routine she had when you first got her if she seemed to cope with that ok?  If not, find her another home where there is someone home or can give her an outside kennel and decent sized run while they are absent,  it would be kinder than forcing her to accept your lifestyle which clearly doesn't suit her at all.

Frankly, I can't imagine keeping a dog in a varikennel for 9 hours every day, seems more like the life of a hamster than a dog.

Margaret N-J

Can you not set up a kennel where you live outside? In a kennel for 10 hours still isn't ideal but it sure as heck is kinder than being in a crate. That is awful and if she gets worked up or starts to get bored and starts to spin around, well when they move around alot some have to poop.
Do you have a basement that is not a crawl space that you can set up a kennel in if you can't do it outside for some reason?
Maybe consider finding a co-owner who can give her more time?
Agree 100% with the others that this is not a life. Not the answers you wanted.

Sunsilver has a good point. Does she do her business in that 30 minutes. Ive had some that would have so much energy to burn that it would take an hour before they pooped. Nine hours is a long time to be crated!!
Get up a couple hours early and walk them. Burn that energy off.  
If that doesnt work do her a favor and find someone to take her that doesnt have to crate her all day.

I also agree with the above posts about 9 hours being far to long to keep a dog crated. Hire a dog walker or a friend to take her out, or get her an outside kennel. She would be quite comfortable in a well-designed insulated doghouse, even in the winter.