[emmafrog]

Help! I have a 7 month old black lab mix who won't stop peeing in his crate. I have had him since he was 7 weeks old, and he is great! He doesn't pee in the house when I'm there, doesn't chew things he's not suppose to (except his obsession with tearing paper) and he doesn't even rip up his own toys!

He had gone about two months without peeing in his crate. I would put him in when I was gone for work and at night. He would hold it all night, and had no problems holding it while I was at work as long as I came home at lunch to let him out. Then, about a month ago he started peeing every time I put him in the crate. I took him to the vet, and they ran a bunch of tests and they all came back negative. He's neutered so that's not a reason. It doesn't matter if he's in there for 2 hours or 8, there will be pee. He also doesn't hold it at night anymore. He doesn't mind laying in it so along with cleaning out a crate Winston the pup gets a bath daily. I take him for a run every morning, and play fetch or go to the puppy park with him every night so he gets plenty of exercise. He is on a regular feeding schedule. I take him out right before he goes in his crate and I don't give him water an hour before I put him in. He doesn't mind going into the crate at all, running in when I say 'get in your bed' and wagging his tale, waiting for his bone.

Yesterday I decided to let him sleep on the floor and he did perfectly fine, not peeing at all. Today I decided to try leaving him out of the crate with the crate door open so he could go in and out as he pleased. He still peed in the crate, just wasn't soaking since he didn't lay in it! Looks like he associates his crate with peeing.

So, my question is, how do I stop that? It's not just his crate that he will do it in, it's any crate (I've used other peoples when traveling).