[boxermommy]

We have a 4 year old female and a 15 month old male boxer. The female is doing absoluetly fine. As of a month or 2 ago all of a sudden our 15 month old male boxer isn't making it through the day (usually 8:45am-3:45-4pm he is crated). We have tried feeding him at 5am and only giving very minimal water at that time. Taking him out at least 3-4 times between that time and when I leave for work. Still having accidents almost daily. At night he'll go out about 9:30pm-10pm and last until 5am with out any problems.

Any suggestions?? Help!

[Aurora_Bell]

Are you leaving any bedding or paper in the crate? What are you using to clean the crate? Are your dogs fixed and in separate crates?

[grammadidi]

I presume when you say he is having accidents you mean he is urinating in his crate. If so, I think there are two things to do. The first one is to get a urine sample from him and drop it off at the vets. You have to rule out any medical condition and that is the cheapest way. Try to capture a bit of his first pee in the morning in a clean container.

The second thing I would do is look at the differences in your home since you considered him fully trained to when he started having problems again. Sometimes it can be something as simple as he's actually going out to play when let out instead of urinating or that he's not being rewarded the same way. If you suspect either one of these reasons you would actually start to take him out on a leash to do his business (preferably to the same spot all the time) and when he actually does it, fuss and praise him a lot then play with him a bit. I would especially ensure that you go out with him before leaving him in a crate for any length of time.

Also, you say your other dog is a female. If she's not spayed he could be having issues with that, however I suspect that if there is no medical condition that he may not be getting enough exercise for a 15 month old boy before being crated for the day OR something happens between 8:45 am and 4 pm that gets him excited. That could be as simple as hearing the mailman or kids running down the street on the way home from school. You might try to put him in doggie day care one or two days a week and/or having someone drop in to take him for a walk part way through the day for awhile. I'm not sure where you live, but if it's colder than normal, many males (kids included) seem to have to urinate more frequently in the winter months.

Anyhow, there's a few ideas for you but I definitely would take in a urine sample just to be on the safe side.

Hugs, Didi