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jfelderh · May 16, 2007, 03:57 PM

Hi, We recently adopted a 2-3 yr old lab mix that had been rescued in Dec 2006, He is a bueatiful and loving dog but we have had him for about 3 weeks and are having trouble getting him to "do his business" outside. His rescue home had a doggie door. We both work so we have to leave during the day and decided to crate him. THe last week its been getting harder to get him in the crate but we thought we were making progress on the potty training. My wife has been coming home at noon to eat her lunch and let him out and the last several days including today he actually peed outside at lunch. When we got home this evening, he had peed and pooped in the crate. Any ideas on how to handle this with an older dog would be much appreciated. Thanks

labman · May 16, 2007, 07:55 PM

This is a difficult problem that comes up here sometimes, usually with younger dogs. I think much of the problem is due to previous abuse leaving the dog shut up in a small area so long it has to foul it. The stress of being left shut up alone could be part of the problem too. Neither anybody else or I have good answers to the problem. One of the few things people have reported that works is tranquilizers from the vet.

Making sure the dog exercises enough to stimulate elimination before crating it may help. Check the housebreaking sticky for more on getting it to eliminate outside, https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/dogs/i...tml#post251809 As long as somebody can give it a mid day break, an adult dog should be OK. Even fairly little puppies are able to go 4-5 hours. A grid in the bottom of the crate keeps the dog up out of urine, but not the stools. 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. Many puppies have a few accidents in their crate at first, but quickly outgrow it.

Have you checked back with the rescue? A good rescue will do follow up to insure a successful placement. They will want your home to be a forever home for the dog.

labman · May 17, 2007, 07:22 PM

I was racking my brains today trying to answer one more of these questions on another site. I remembered the peanut butter in the Kong trick. Duh, why haven't I suggested it before? Put some peanut butter in a Kong and put it in the crate with him. If he is as food motivated as most Labs, he will be too busy licking it out to even notice he is shut up by himself. If the stress of being left alone is the problem, this could make a big difference. Please try it and post back and let us know. If you don't know what a Kong is, ask.

You could do an end run of the whole dog at home by itself problem by finding a doggy day care for him.