I have a 14 month old boxer. He's house broken, but sleeps in a crate at night where he pees almost every night. We know that he can hold it all night because sometimes he'll sleep on a blanket in our bedroom and have no accidents. But if we put him in the crate its almost guaranteed he'll pee in it. We got him from a breeder who crated him so that's where he probably became accustom to peeing in the same place he sleep. We have already tried using a divider to make the crate smaller and feeding him in the crate, neither worked. Please help.

Although the experts say it doesn't happen, people keep posting questions here asking how to stop it. I lean towards it being stress, but it could be spite or a status issue. My first step is elevating the dog up out of the bottom of the crate. Skip the bedding. At first it gets wet, and later it can be chewed into choking hazards. A wire grid in the bottom will help keep the puppy up out of accidents at first. They are available with the crates, but expensive and hard to find. A piece of closely spaced wire closet shelving from a home supply place is cheaper. I am now using a plastic vegetable bin with plenty of holes drilled in the bottom until a young puppy is reliable at staying dry. Keeping him dry will make it easier to cope with it until you solve the problem.

http://www.photolocker.net/images/Labman/hollyhighanddry.jpg

If the dog is challenging your leadership, you need to assure him you are in charge. The key to most behavior problems is approaching things using the dog's natural instincts. Dogs see all the people and dogs in the household as a pack with each having their own rank in the pack and a top dog. Life is much easier if the 2 legged pack members outrank the 4 legged ones. You can learn to play the role of top dog by reading some books or going to a good obedience class. A good obedience class or book is about you being top dog, not about rewarding standard commands with a treat. Start at http://www.dogsbestfriend.com/ For more on being top dog, see http://www.dogbreedinfo.com./topdogrules.htm

And I assume we needn't ask if you are pottying him just before putting him to bed?

-Beth

And I assume we needn't ask if you are pottying him just before putting him to bed ??

-Beth

Yes, he goes about 45 minutes before bedtime and then again right before being put in the crate.

I have a 14 month old boxer. He's house broken, but sleeps in a crate at night where he pees almost every night. We know that he can hold it all night because sometimes he'll sleep on a blanket in our bedroom and have no accidents. But if we put him in the crate its almost guaranteed he'll pee in it. We got him from a breeder who crated him so that's where he probably became accustom to peeing in the same place he sleep. We have already tried using a divider to make the crate smaller and feeding him in the crate, neither worked. Please help.
You can try all sorts of different methods for stopping him from urinating in the crate. My question is, why not let him sleep on a blanket? Why crate him? If he is not a baby and has house manners it is not necessary to keep him locked up. If he likes sleeping in his crate, just leave the door open so he knows he can leave if he wants. Many people think just because an "expert" tells them crating is necessary it is. Well it isn't. I have never crated my dogs and they do just fine. I have never understood why people think it is a good idea to lock up an adult, well behaved dog, just so he can go to sleep.

Also, is he neutered? He could be marking his territory. If he isn't, I suggest you have him neutered. You will have a calmer, better behaved dog all the way around.

Hope this helps.

For all animals,
Molly

The crate is an essential tool for many dogs. As well as stimulating its body with exercise to need relief, an uncrated dog can create all sorts of problems from chewing, stealing food, and other things without the attention of the owner. Nearly everybody that understands dogs, approves the use of crates. I can't imagine leaving any dog loose in the house unsupervised.

You can try all sorts of different methods for stopping him from urinating in the crate. My question is, why not let him sleep on a blanket? Why crate him? If he is not a baby and has house manners it is not necesary to keep him locked up. If he likes sleeping in his crate, just leave the door open so he knows he can leave if he wants. Many people think just because an "expert" tells them crating is necessary it is. Well it isn't. I have never crated my dogs and they do just fine. I have never understood why people think it is a good idea to lock up an adult, well behaved dog, just so he can go to sleep.

Also, is he neutered? He could be marking his territory. If he isn't, I suggest you have him neutered. You will have a calmer, better behaved dog all the way around.

Hope this helps.

For all animals,
Molly

Well, he is house broken and neutered. But he's not at the point yet where he can roam the house at night and be trusted to not chew on what ever he pleases. I think he's still a little too young for that.

The crate is an essential tool for many dogs. As well as stimulating its body with exercise to need relief, an uncrated dog can create all sorts of problems from chewing, stealing food, and other things without the attention of the owner. Nearly everybody that understands dogs, approves the use of crates. I can't imagine leaving any dog loose in the house unsupervised.

I think a cage (lets face it, that's what it is) is a tool but not always an appropriate one. Are you saying you would NEVER leave a dog in a house alone outside of a crate? I am talking about an adult dog that has proven to be well mannered. If this is the case, what do you do while you are at work?

Molly

The 13 year old retired dog guide I have is left on a tie down anytime we aren't around. That is a variation left over from her working life. Otherwise we crate other dogs or in some other cases use tie downs. Fortunately our schedules usually allow one of us to make it home at lunch to give the dogs a break. My daughter takes her dog to work with her. In some cases, my wife and I do too.

You should realize dogs are wired differently than people and see the crate not as a cage, but as their den. They are not little people in fur coats as some say. Expecting them to be like people, and treating them like people, just doesn't work with many of them. Yes, some people get away with treating some dogs that way.

The 13 year old retired dog guide I have is left on a tie down anytime we aren't around. That is a variation left over from her working life. Otherwise we crate other dogs or in some other cases use tie downs. Fortunately our schedules usually allow one of us to make it home at lunch to give the dogs a break. My daughter takes her dog to work with her. In some cases, my wife and I do too.

You should realize dogs are wired differently than people and see the crate not as a cage, but as their den. They are not little people in fur coats as some say. Expecting them to be like people, and treating them like people, just doesn't work with many of them. Yes, some people get away with treating some dogs that way.

What is a tie down? And are you saying that dogs are hardwired to want to be tied down for many hours a day? If you look at wolves as your operant example, this would not be true. They would be foraging, checking out their territory, guarding their home. Dogs are very much more like wolves than people. Controlling a dog every minute of his life is not a very high quality of living. My dogs have the ability to go in and out of the house as they want. When they come to work they have to go into cages when we are busy but NEVER for more than a couple of hours. Tie downs sound scary.

Why won't you trust your companion animals? My dogs are joyful and happy and act like dogs. Yes every once in awhile someone gets into a garbage sack I forgot to put in the can. But really, is control so important to you that you would take the joy from your dogs lives? My dogs are fine without confinement. What did your dogs do to deserve a life of confinement and regimentation? You have fallen into the mindset of the "old school" my friend. I can tell you love your dogs, but please try to look beyond the constrictions your "experts" have put upon you. I have been there and decided to leave.

For all animals,
Molly

Well, he is house broken and neutered. But he's not at the point yet where he can roam the house at night and be trusted to not chew on what ever he pleases. I think he's still a little too young for that.


I hope you don't let anybody lay a guilt trip on you and give up your responsible care of your dog. Your dog's life can depend on not having access to electrical cords and things it can choke on the shreds. Just as we restrict our children for their safety, we must restrict our dogs for theirs.

Hi I am new to the site. I have a 7 month old labradoodle who did the same thing. He would pee in his cage at least once every night. It didn't matter if we took away his water by 7pm. It didn't matter if we took him out several times before we went to bed. We would even get up and let him out around 1am. By 1:30am he would wake us back up and he and his cage would be saturated with urine. Needless to say I would have to bathe him and sanitize his cage in the middle of the night (sometimes twice a night). I finally decided that cleaning up urine off the carpet would cause me less frustration and I decided to let him sleep on our bedroom floor with our other labradoodle. It has now been two months and he has yet to have an accident on the floor. He wakes us up around 5:30 or 6 am to let him out.

He also used to do fine in the cage during the day without having any accidents but he has recently started to pee in his cage when we are gone (even for 1/2 an hour). We have determined that he is being spiteful. I would come home to a urine soaked dog, a wet cage and urine splattered all over my floor, carpet and walls. I contacted the breeder and she suggested putting his cage in the garage as long as it is over 45 degrees. Yesterday I tried it and he peed. When I arrived home (only 4 hours in the crate) he was shivering in his cage and it was 60 degrees outside. Today I had to be gone for 2 hours. When I got home he had not peed. I am hoping that he has learned that if he pees he will be cold.

Good luck to you. Just know that there is a pet owner out there who has been there and still kind of is there.