ok! i need some advice from all your dog girls. we have a bassett hound named chester that we adopted from the pound almost a year and a half ago.... we're not sure exactly how old he is, but hes not a puppy- hes at least 2, probably 3 years old.... the problem is, that DH and i work full time, and he has to be in a crate for 8 hours while we're at work, because he just freaks out when hes home alone and gets into all kinds of stuf ( he got out one day and you don't want to know what i came home to!) so, the problem is he pees in his crate EVERY SINGLE day!!! so EVERY DAY i come home from a long day at work and have to clean up after it- wash blankets, etc..... i just don't know what could cause this- i thought that dogs his age should be able to hold it for that long/... and i thought the crate was supposed to keep him from doing that. we thought about hiring a dog walker, but that $$ can add up fast. and MIL doesn't work, but shes lives 30 minutes away, so its hard for her to get over here..... any ideas???
Squirt1698
Posted:
Member since
Re: NWR: dog girls....i need help!
hi...is it possible to come home for lunch? Or maybe get a neighbor to walk him? Maybe you could also try training him on wee wee pads? Sorry..not much help!
How long has this been going on? Is it since you got him, or a recent development?
If it's recent you should talk to your vet about this, as an inability to hold it in, as it were, can be a sign of things like a urinary tract infection... my cat was peeing on the floor for months and months and we finally brought her in to see if something was up with her, and we discovered that she had a uti, and a month later we took her in to have a tooth pulled and they did some routine bloodwork first and we discovered that what we'd thought was just a routine uti had spread and her kidneys were almost in failure!
Of course, that's a rare case, but as I said, it's worth checking with your vet. Even if it's not medical they may be able to give you some advice on training techniques or people you can get in touch with who might be able to help you out, etc.
Honestly though, 8 hours is a pretty long time to leave a dog alone in a crate. If at all possible you really should see if you can try to get home during lunch or get a friend to look in on him for you, or you may have to use those wee-wee pad things (or just take anything that can't easily be wiped down out of the crate). I know I probably couldn't hold it in for 8 hours!
Sorry that probably wasn't all that helpful, but good luck!
kmkelly
Posted:
Member since
Re: NWR: dog girls....i need help!
Posted by weddingbunny
How long has this been going on? Is it since you got him, or a recent development?
If it's recent you should talk to your vet about this, as an inability to hold it in, as it were, can be a sign of things like a urinary tract infection... my cat was peeing on the floor for months and months and we finally brought her in to see if something was up with her, and we discovered that she had a uti, and a month later we took her in to have a tooth pulled and they did some routine bloodwork first and we discovered that what we'd thought was just a routine uti had spread and her kidneys were almost in failure!
Of course, that's a rare case, but as I said, it's worth checking with your vet. Even if it's not medical they may be able to give you some advice on training techniques or people you can get in touch with who might be able to help you out, etc.
Honestly though, 8 hours is a pretty long time to leave a dog alone in a crate. If at all possible you really should see if you can try to get home during lunch or get a friend to look in on him for you, or you may have to use those wee-wee pad things (or just take anything that can't easily be wiped down out of the crate). I know I probably couldn't hold it in for 8 hours!
Sorry that probably wasn't all that helpful, but good luck!
Good advice. First always rule out a medical condition by checking with the vet. Then you know it's behavioral and take it from there. If it IS behavioral, try the wee wee pads - my dog is home all day alone and that's what he uses.
Soon2beMrs.D
Posted:
Member since
Re: NWR: dog girls....i need help!
Hi, sorry to hear about your dog, well I must tell you that I have had my share of problems with dogs doing this, it is too long to get into on here, so if you want FM me and I will tell you some solutions and some problems that you may want to look into, in the meantime Good Luck.
johnsae
Posted:
Member since
Re: NWR: dog girls....i need help!
yes, wee wee pads is a great solution - we have a yorkie and it helps so much not to have to worry about coming home to take him to the bathroom!
halfpint51
Posted:
Member since
Re: NWR: dog girls....i need help!
Hi! This is our big puppy Bailey in my picture! We also work full time, and our dog is only a 14 months old, and he has never , ever peed in his crate. Our vet, who came highly recommended, told us from the beginning, the trick to a crate is to just give him JUSt ENOUGH room in the crate, so that of he wants to he can stand up and and turn around..He said that really is all the space they need, and he told us, if we gave him more, then he would pee in it.. I initially had such a hard time with this, because I thought it maybe wasnt enough space for the dog. But after I spoke to many people, I found out I was very wrong. Even our dog trainer, told us to just give him this certain amount of room in the crate, and then block off the rest of the crate with a divider or boxes. Reason being, is that your dog wont want to pee or poop if he has to sit in it. And if you give him more room, then he will know that he can pee, and still have enough space in the cage to lay down. We did this early on with our dog, and it worked like a charm. AS he got older, we would give him more and more space, by moving the divider back, and he never ever pooped or peed to this date. Now that he is older, we allow him to roam around downstairs when we are gone, and we leave the crate opened, and even though he has the entire downstairs,he still chooses to lay in his crate. Dogs are den animals, and the crate really turns out to be like their 'home', if used properly. Belive me, after a while, you will see, even when you are home, and the crate is open, soemtimes tbey will still go in there to hang out, even when they arent told to. They really do love their crates after a while, so dont give up...He will learn...dogs are very very smart! Good luck!
Meaghan729
Posted:
Member since
Re: NWR: dog girls....i need help!
definititely get a smaller crate.
I take my puppy to obedience training- but they do a 2 week board and train program where they will train the dog (house and obedience). FM me if you would like details!
transamgirlie
Posted:
Member since
Re: NWR: dog girls....i need help!
I have to agree the cage is too big. I have a german shepard and although she isn't caged very often anymore we never had problems from the begining. If they only have just enough room to stand up and turn around they won't pee in it. Hope everything works out!
