Urinating in crate - Page 1

Help! I have a Black and Tan coonhound who is a 1 year old unneutered male. He lives outside, every time he goes in a crate   He  pees in it, he mainly goes in his crate to eat he usually only in there 30 mins to an hour, any suggestions on how to fix it?

Try a belly band. Tie a length of old tee shirt of some sort of fabric around his waist with a maxi pad in it to catch the urine. When he pees, he will be peeing on himself and not the crate. Most male dogs find this offensive. Works wonders on puppies, old dogs and rotten males. I've seen them used a lot in agility training  because un-neutered dogs always try an pee on the tunnel and jumps. Because they have no manners. Good luck as coonhound can be darn stubborn.

put 2 crates side by side.
put him in 1 crate, let him piss in it.
when you notice the piss, take him out of the first crate and put him into the second crate.
grumble while cleaning the first crate and put him back into it.
grumble while you clean the second crate
leave the room for about 10 minutes,

if the crate is clean, give him praise and let him out to play.
if the crate is dirty, repeat.

sometimes we inadvertantly train our dogs that if they pee or poo in their crates they get out to play.

ive been able to fix some of the worst dogs by doing this, it take a week to a month.


before doing this, take him to the vet and make sure there isn't a medical reason this is happening.

The crate is more than likely to large. I'm not talking about putting the animal in one so small they can't move but one where this is only enough room to stand up and turn around. If there is enough room to urinate and not come in contact with it the crate is too large and he thinks it is ok.

I originally had him in a giant size crate, I moved him into a smaller one where he can only stand up and turn around I think it's a medium. Thank you for the responses I'll have to try the belly band.

Clean it really well with an enzyme-based cleaner, too, in case he is marking it because it smells of another dog. My Pit does this if I put him in someone else's crate. He is very talented; he pees OUT of his crate onto someone else's crate. He doesn't get any on him or in his own crate. I don't think I've met a human male with better aim, and Simon has no thumbs. LOL

Is that a challenge?

As a general rule, most dogs will not pee where they associated their beds to be.   This is especially true if the puppy was left with the mother an appropriate amount of time, as this is one of the things she teaches her puppies.

I have found that many males will pee where and in their food bowls / area to mark "this is mine."  I actually had one of my friend's male dogs try to pee in Cirberus' bowl while she was eating this weekend.  I was right there and stopped it just as the leg went up.

Based on above, your dog probably has no idea that he is not to pee in the crate.   Why do you only use the crate to feed him in?  I recommend you start using the crate for him to sleep in.  This will start giving him the association that the crate is his "den" and, by instinct/ momma dog taught, he should not pee where he sleeps.

Well I recently got married and we both had dogs. One of mine does not get along with his. All but 2 are older so we had 2 yards but need a 3rd so while building a third we put the youngest one of mine and one of his together. Everybody is in pairs. The Black and Tan is  food aggressive and eats slow. So mine doesn't learn to be food aggressive or a fight is started they are fed separate. It's not ideal but we have limited materials and land. I'll definetly get some enzyme cleaner today.

Make sense on the separate feeding and why he is peeing in there.  Try what the others suggested, but I really think you are going to be going against natural instinct to mark his food area.  

You could start feeding them at separate times.  Both are feed outside of the crate, but while the other is eating, have one in the crate; separate room area though.  No real sense in having one dog watch while the other is eating.

It sounds like your guy is not formally crate trained, so he will likely protest at first.  The goal is for him to start associating the crate as a "den".  Here are a few guidelines for the crate training. 

Rules
1. The crate is a happy place.  Never a place for punishment or a place where he is teased. 
2.  No matter how hard it is on the family, do  not  let him out when he cries.  He only gets to get out when he is quiet and calm. 

Steps
1. Select a single command for the crate.  At this point, I assume the dog knows "down," so you can use "go lay down."
2. Entice with a high value treat.   Put the treat in the crate and as soon as he goes in, give him lots of praise and then give him the down command. 
3. As soon as he lays down in the crate, give another high value treat with lots of praise.
4. I would expect you are also working on the "Stay" at this point.  Continue with this while he is in the crate in a down position.
5. Once he is calm, shut the door.
6.  Treat when he is quiet and in the down position.
7.  After 2 - 3 days of using the commands he already knows, start using the new command for him to go into the crate.  i.e. "go lay down"

After about 1 week, he should start associating the crate as a place to relax and his den.  The peeing should start being eliminated on his own at this point too.  You will still need to clean it each time he does to remove the odor. 

good luck.