I saw this thread:

http://www.askmehelpdesk.com/showthr...ight=dog+crate

and I am a bit disappointed (and concerned) that there was no resolution.

I have the same problem with an alternative bullbreed that goes in her cage almost every night. I will try something new (all mentioned in the above thread) and they will work for a few days, then back to the old habits. I have a job that is getting more and more intense, and Im affraid Im not going to be able to go home during my lunch break in the next few months anymore to let her out, leaving her for 8 hours during the day which is unacceptable at this point because then it will guarantee that she will have an accident. (she has a hard time going 4 hours w/o an accident)

I thought she would be at least crate trained by now, and was hopeful for her being house-trained by now as my other 2 dogs were at 8 months (and had full run of house).

My other 2 dogs are VERY attention needy, and become depressed when I focus all my time on the puppy, so I try to integrate playtime with the 3 of them. (although the puppy does get an xtra 1-2 walks a day, or course)

The puppy actually doesnt play much with the other 2, and prefers to lay on the couch and watch. Its tough to get her to play, and when she does, she usually winds up biting my older male, and making him angry, as opposed to going for the toy.

This is my current schedule Ive been sticking with for the past 2 months:

1.) Walk at 800am & feeding at 830am
2.) Walk at 1230pm
3.) Feeding at 630pm & walk at 7pm - playtime, etc... (out of crate all night)
4.) Walk between 1200am-100am
5.) Crated overnight

In addition, my fiance is a nurse, and is home 2-3 days during the week, so at this time, the puppy is out of her crate during the day - in other words, she doesnt spend THAT much time in the crate. In addition, she doesnt have accidents in the house for the most part (2 in the past 2 months, of course when youd walk out of the room for 3 mins to use the bathroom). She only has accidents at night, from midnight/1am to 8am. I even tried getting her out earlier at like 7am, and that helped a bit, but that got old as well.

The puppy doesnt always relieve herself on the late night walk; i have sat out there for an hour on PLENTY of occasions, and she just sits down everytime i stop walking (or even pause).

As you can tell, this dog is frustrating me to no end. I invested a lot of money in this dog to breed her, she developed demodectic mange, and I had to have her spayed. She is 10-15 lbs under the normal weight she should be at, so i dont want to feed her less because she is in a growth spurt (finally) and i want her to keep growing as much as possible (she gained 7 lbs during dec-jan, and another 3 this past month). She is such a nice and loving dog, or i would have gotten rid of her when she had the mange, since she is no longer an asset to my program. I am keeping her strictly on love, and that relationship is starting to be strained by my patience wearing thin.

Any advice would be appreciated with utmost sincerity
AJ

ajdangler

PS - once a week or so, I get a random crap in the cage waiting for me when coming home at lunch or after work. Also, had her living with my mother for 8 days while I was on vaca during Christmas, and she was taken out at 11pm everynight, and next at 530am, and she still managed to go in her cage several times during the stay, all before the 530am walk.

AJ

labman

When a dog gets off to a bad start, fixing the problem isn't easy. A rack, either one made for the purpose from a pet supply, or one made from closely spaced wire closet shelves, would be a big help in coping with this. It keeps the dog up out the urine. It is less effective on bowel movements.

Your vet has assured you there are no physical problems? Are you feeding one of the concentrated chows to reduce stool size allowing bowel movements to go longer?

ajdangler

I am feeding her Solid Gold Wolf Cub which afaik, is concentrated. She seems to be getting better on the urination aspect at times, but as soon as i put a blanket back in her crate, say after 3-4 days of no mess, then she might wait another day, then urinate on her blanket and push the blanket in the corner so she isnt physically on it. Its not the urination i mind cleaning up, and I was under the assumption that if they had to lay in it, then that will be the most discouraging thing for them... is that not the case?

Her new thing now is after she goes #2, she pushes her stool back under the partition of the crate (she isnt big enough to have access to the full crate), so its on the side where she doesnt have to lay. Either that or pushes it out of the crate entirely, so its on my floor.

The vet has just explained to me that she could be a slow learner. In addition, she did have a suspected UTI, even though she was on keflex for her demodectic mange. When I asked how this could be, the vet explained that in the month she was first prescribed the keflex, she gained 7lbs and now needs (3 x 250mg) doeses of keflex a day instead of (2 x 250mg) and that is the reason she had a UTI. Regardless, she just finished her medication but has peed on her blanket over the weeekend, after going 4 days without having an accident. After removing the blanket she has now deficated in her crate the last 3 days.

Thanks again

AJ

labman

Sometimes it helps to restrict access to water, shutting it off at 7 PM for the night. Of course with 3 dogs in the house, it will be harder to do with shutting them off too.

cecyks

work all day long, and needless to say, it took my pup until about 6 months of age to be fully potty trained so that I can leave him outside the kitchen (behind baby gate).

For a long time, my pup had no accident while we were at home, until he was home by himself. He would not go where he should go & pee, made a mess everywhere. Until we found the best thing in the world:: "dog walking service"!!!
Our dog walker
::not only let our dog go out in the middle of the day - taught him to hold in and always go outside the house;
::interact with other dogs/people - dog and people friendly;
::no more seperation anxiety - he somehow knows someone is coming to take him out to play;
::most of all, drain his energy out by the time we get home!!!
I read many places, a tired dog is a happy dog. I really have to say, my pup is a high energy pup, and dog walking service really changed a lot. On the days when he was taken out, he would sleep through the night - too tired to even get up!

I would strongly suggest anyone who has hyper or seperation anxiety dog to try dog walking service.

labman

Thanks for the suggestion. Dog walking services are great if available. I frequently recommend them. Those with long commutes have no choice, but to leave the dog 10 hours of more, too much for even an older dog. A dog walker is a great answer.