[vamosj]

Well, so far my puppy has had no more accidents in the house, and sleeps in a crate at night now. When I say "Time for bed, go lay down, go to sleep" she automatically goes into her crate on her own and lays down and goes right to bed, and usually doesn't wake up to go outside until morning. She doesn't whine or anything all night. She seems comfortable in her crate. She is a Dane and is almost 3 months old now.
My problem is that if I have to go outside the house for a while to run errands or go to the store, basically anything outside the home, she has accidents. I will take her outside and she always goes potty every time. I then will put her in her crate with a toy or two, and leave. There are times I am only gone 15-30 minutes and when I have returned, she poos in her crate, steps all over it and has it all over her and the crate! She has done that almost every time I have left her home. I dread coming home because I just know it will take me the next 20 minutes or so to clean the crate and give her a bath. I have even tried using a baby gate and either locking her in the kitchen or in the bathroom so that when she does have accidents, it is easier to clean up than cleaning the bars on the crate. Is there anything I am not doing I need to do? Is there a way to correct this problem? She does so great with everything else, the housetraining, crate training, listening, even leash training. Any suggestions?

[labman]

Exactly what goes on in those furry little heads is hard to say. Could you be convinced she is doing it deliberately to protest being crated? If so, it certainly is effective isn't it? Many ''experts'' say no way. I think, along with several other posts, is part of her challenging you for who is top dog. As I have suggested, you need to have her in a good obedience program. Playing the role of top dog is the key to most behavior problems. Obedience training will not solve this problem overnight.


A wire rack in the bottom of the crate will help keep the puppy up out of urine and to a lessor extent stools. They are available with the crates, but a piece of closely spaced wire closet shelving from a home supply place is cheaper. This reduces the mess, making the protest much less effective. The longer haired the puppy, the higher it needs to be. In warmer weather, you can just haul the crate out and hose everything off. When the puppy sees you coping with the situation, and you stand your ground, most of them give up and learn to relax, and that you will return. One more thing that may help is using a smaller crate, or blocking off part of a larger one so the puppy can't fouled one spot and retreat. That never seemed to matter for me, but some dogs are different.

The "shut the puppy in a safe room" is a fallacy. Very few houses even have a
Safe room. How many of us have a room with a hard surfaced floor and nothing
Else? Most rooms have electrical cords to chew if nothing else. In addition
To destroying anything a bored puppy finds to chew, it may choke or have
Intestinal blockage from the pieces. I had a friend that left her dog in a
"safe" room. It ate a hole in the floor covering. The safe rooms fail to
Give the dog the comfort of the enclosed space their instinct requires. Nor
Do they restrict activity extending the time the dog can go without relieving
Itself.

[fredg]

Hi, vamosj,
It is really frustrating when this happens! If she is almost 3 months old now, hopefully it won't be much longer until she learns the crate is not for pooping.
After 3 months with our puppy (house dog) many years ago, my wife and I finally were about to give up, when all of a sudden, she started going outside!
Here is a site with some good information on housebreaking:
http://www.leerburg.com/housebrk.htm

It is important to be persistent. When you start to take her outside, always ask "Do you need to go?". She will soon get the idea. Then, if she goes, always praise her with "Good girl", or something similar.
Take her out before you need to leave the house, ask her the question, and keep doing it. Eventually, she will get the idea.
The above suggestions are from the link I gave you. I do wish you and she the best.