[gabale]

Can any one help me re my german shepard. He lives outside in a run with kennel and during the hot climate in cyprus he has started to use his kennel as a toilet he will not use it to sleep in even when it rains . He is now 8 months old and I am worried as the weather is now becoming colder and raining.

[labman]

Many people mean different things when they use the English word kennel. Do you mean a small box like thing meant to shelter him from the weather within the small fenced area you are calling a run? The problem is all the sloppy use of language and differences between countries.

Your post reminds me of a dog I had years ago. He spent his first year sleep in in the garage at night. That spring, I put a lot of work into building a small wooden dog house so he could sleep outside. My wife made a foam filled cushion for it. At last, the house was finished, and I put it out in the fenced yard.

He had nothing to do with it. He chose a spot in the grass near the back door. He laid there so much, he not only killed the grass, he compacted the ground leaving a low spot. He continued to sleep there as the weather got cooler, even times when it had water in it. Finally one cold morning, when I opened the door, he came out of it. He then used it in cold weather the rest of his life.

If you carefully clean his kennel every day, perhaps when he decides he needs it, he will start using it. I am at a loss as to why he is relieving himself in it. Shepherds tend to be very clean. Perhaps he wants to keep the rest of run clean.

That was over 30 years ago. Since then, I have learned to solve the problems of the dog sleeping inside by using a crate. Other dogs may
Not be as bad as the young Labs I am plagued with. Still your house and dog
Will be much safer with the dog in a crate when you are away. The dog may be
Happier in its den than loose in the house. It relaxes, it feels safe in its
Den. It rests, the body slows down reducing the need for water and relieving
Its self. Dogs that have been crated all along do very well. Many of them
Will rest in their crates even when the door is open. I think the plastic
Ones give the dog more of a safe, enclosed den feeling. They are harder for
Dogs to open too. Metal ones can be put in a corner or covered with
Something the dog can't pull in and chew. Select a crate just big enough for the full grown dog to stretch out in.

For more on crates, see https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/pets-a...tes-39326.html

[Masey]

I agree with labman completely on the crate training thing. My dogs are all crate trained and they now view it as their "den" and love to sleep in it. Maybe try locking him in the crate/kennel to get him used to it until he goes in on his own. (obviously clean it out first) Also, I know that sometimes when a crate is too big for the size of the dog, they will use it as a toilet. If this is the case, you can partition it so that he has just enough room to lay down comfortably, but not enough room to urinate/defecate in the corner and still lay down. (Then when he grows bigger, take out partition)Almost every dog I have ever known will not use their crate as a bathroom if they are forced to sleep in it (locked in) without enough room to use the corner as a toilet.
Another idea, lock him OUT of the crate until bedtime/whenever you choose to lock him in so that he cannot use it as a toilet during the day.
Good luck!