# 11 Month old Shiba Inu peeing in crate



## rianquinn (Oct 27, 2011)

I have a 11 month old Shiba Inu that pees in his crate, probably every other night. We got him at around 3 months. He has had problems with this on and off now since we got him. As a puppy it is understandable, but at 11 months, he should be past this. 

The crazy part is.... is is almost entirely house trained. He doesn't really pee or poop in the house, and he barks at the door when he needs to go out. We give him lots of praise when he goes out, and he knows peeing inside is bad. 

I need fresh new ideas for crate training him. Pretty much every morning at 5:00am... he barks and if I do not take him out, he pees. During the day he will go for about 4 maybe 5 hours before he barks and wants to go out to pee.


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## trainingjunkie (Feb 10, 2010)

Do you keep bedding in the crate? Removing bedding can be helpful.

Do you take your dog for a 15 minute walk before bed? Right before bed? That can help.

Where is the dog's crate? Is the crate near where you sleep? If the dog is removed from you, it could be some sort of anxiety about waking alone and getting worked up to see you.

Is there water in the crate? If so, you may want to remove it at bed time.

If the problem in happening at 5 am, maybe you can get up at 4:55 for a few days? Then 5:05 for a couple. Then 5:15 for a couple. Stretch it out until your dog gets up when you want him too. Also, if you feed your dog upon your dog waking, maybe delay feeding until when you want your dog to eat so your dog is less motivated to get up. Mine can get pretty excited in the morning when we move because they know they are going to eat. If this was a problem for us, we would delay feeding to reduce excitement.

Maybe all or some of these suggestions could be helpful.


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## rianquinn (Oct 27, 2011)

Chloe (our Rottie) plays with him a lot at night before bed (like running around for an hour) but no we do not walk him prior to bed time. His crate is in our mudroom, I can try putting it in the living room where he plays. 

I tried the idea of waking up and extending. I can try that again... to be honest I have tried so many things I cannot remember why it didn't work the first time. I have tried with and without a pad in the crate.... he almost surely pees with a pad as he is not sitting in it as the pad absorbs the pee. 

Lol.... he is a teenager... so he is a ball of energy at the moment. He gets pretty tired at night as I do not let him sleep during the day.... but at 5:00.... he is awake and ready to go at it. 

We are also working on independence as when he is alone, he goes NUTS.


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## DustyCrockett (Sep 24, 2011)

It sounds to me like you are describing a 100% house-broken dog. If he calls to tell you he needs to pee and you don't let him out, he basically has no choice. If this really is the case, I think you should consider whether this is your failure instead of his. Especially if you don't give him an opportunity to empty his bladder at night. Letting the dogs out one last time has always been the last thing I do before turning in. It's just a life-long habit of mine.

You don't let him sleep during the day? I just assumed they all slept alot. Every dog I've ever known would sleep whenever they get the chance. I like to call it "opportunity sleep," as if they're storing up energy for when the fun starts. I know that on camping trips they can go 2-3 days with almost no daytime naps, but they have to make up for it when they get home.


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## doxiemommy (Dec 18, 2009)

I'm sorry, I'm not really understanding; does he pee first thing in the morning, at 5am if you don't get right up and let him out? Is that what you're saying? So, he's not really peeing overnight, he's peeing in the morning?

If so, the thing is, many puppies and adult dogs have to pee right when they wake up. So, if, for whatever reason, he wakes up at 5 am, it's completely normal for him to have to pee. The fact that he doesn't do it every morning just means that he has pretty good bladder control, in general.

Every dog is different, and each dogs has different bladder control. One of our dogs, Abby, has to pee every morning about 5:30 or 6. We usually get up at 6:30. So, we take her out about 5:30, then she comes back to bed with us for another 30 minutes to an hour. When she was younger, we'd bring a chew or kong back to bed, so she could have something to keep her busy and quiet while we went back to sleep.

If she's actually peeing overnight, I'd say she just needs a middle of the night bathroom break. I know, you probably don't want to hear that. But, I do know that some members here actually have adult dogs that seem to have small bladders, or just not that much holding power, and they still take their dogs out once during the night. So, it can happen....


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## rianquinn (Oct 27, 2011)

Yes... I always take the dogs out right before I go to bed... which is also their bed time. Teddy (the dog in question), doesn't go overnight, but instead just after about 5:00. 

When I say they cannot sleep... I mean for long periods of time. I would prefer them to sleep at night. 

I can take him out every morning at 5:00.... but I cannot imagine having to do that forever. 

There might be something waking Teddy so early causing the problem. Any good advise on how to train the dog not to have to go to the bathroom right when noise happens in the morning? Chloe (the Rottie) just sort of picked this up. She is great when it comes to being house broken.


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## DustyCrockett (Sep 24, 2011)

Having a little trouble following you... You say you "take the dogs out right before I go to bed, which is also their bed time" but Teddy goes "just after 5:00." I don't understand, does that mean his last opportunity to urinate is 5pm?

If hasn't peed since 5pm, it will take tremendous effort on his part to hold it until 5am -- 12 hours is a long, long time even for a reliable mature adult dog.


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## trainingjunkie (Feb 10, 2010)

There are lots of ways for dogs to adjust to noise in the morning. In most cases, it just happens. However, first things first! First, you have to get him successful and clean in his crate. If you start stretching his wake-up times gradually and you go weeks without a crate accident, then you can start by making noise for a few minutes before letting him out. Then build slowly from there.

In the beginning of all of this, you have to set your pup up for success. Getting him clean and keeping him clean is the foundation. He will get to the point where eliminating in his crate is repulsive to him so he will go to great lengths to avoid it. But you have to break the habit first.

It will happen! All dogs are different. Some are a breeze, some require more of us. In the end, the dog's success is basically completely dependent upon how well we adjust to their needs and how willing we are to manage them. Most mistakes come from asking too much too soon. Rushing in housebreaking is usually a mistake.


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## rianquinn (Oct 27, 2011)

TrainingJunkie: NP. Thats what I will do then. How long with no accidents with potty break at 5:00am should I go before increasing the time / making noise?

DustyCrokett: Dogs go to bed with me at 11:00pm.... Teddy wakes up at 5:00am. I want Teddy to wake up at 7:00am with me.... clean and happy . If I take him out at 5:00am... all is good.


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## trainingjunkie (Feb 10, 2010)

They are all different. But I would first stretch the time and THEN add noise after the time stretch is working. Just change one thing at a time. Maybe a week? But, you will know better than I will!

Good luck! You'll get there!


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## DustyCrockett (Sep 24, 2011)

rianquinn said:


> DustyCrokett: Dogs go to bed with me at 11:00pm.... Teddy wakes up at 5:00am. I want Teddy to wake up at 7:00am with me.... clean and happy . If I take him out at 5:00am... all is good.


 sorry I was confused.

It does seem like he should be able to hold it a couple more hours. In my experience, adult dogs will sometimes wake up and want to go outside early, you can send 'em back to bed, but if they get really insistent, I'll occasionally get up for 'em.

Does he have more space in the crate than needed to lie down comfortably and turn around? If so maybe he's partitioned it in his mind into sleeping quarters and peeing quarters. If that's the case an actual partition might do the trick. Just temporary, shouldn't take too long.

I guess a urinary tract infection is not completely out of the question.

I have a pup now, 5 months old, usually if I open his crate door when his big brother gets me up early, he won't even come out the crate. But that's his choice, not something I taught.

I used to have this dachshund who frequently peed her crate; did it her whole life. Perfect pet otherwise -- I just thought maybe she was the lone exception to the "won't soil their bed" rule.

I swear I'm not making this up...my big yella hound (recently deceased) started getting us up too early on a daily basis, I mean 5:30, maybe 5:00. When my wife complained to me about it, I looked the dog right in the eye and said, "Dusty, you've been getting us up entirely too early. From now on, no earlier than 6:30, you got it?" The next morning he was banging on the bed with his big 'ol paw at 6:30 on the dot. No kidding.


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## rianquinn (Oct 27, 2011)

lol..... I'm trying your idea first. Wouldn't that be nice if it worked. My Rottie is almost 4 now... and we connect on a similar level. Although Teddy is awesome.... there is something about a big lazy dog that will do anything for you that I love. 

tried making the crate as small as I could... doesn't really help any. The only thing that helps is Pad vs. no Pad. Even with no pad, he still has accidents. Just with a pad... its like every night, and it is his full bladder. Where as with no pad, its not his full bladder, and some nights he is fine. 

I don't mind getting up to help train him that peeing in the house / crate is bad for a while. I just do not want this to become something I have to do forever. Shiba Inu's live to be 20 years in some cases. The thought of not being able to sleep for more than 5 hours at night for twenty years doesn't sound that great . 

If it doesn't get better... I will probably take him to the vet to look for a UTI. We had a male Rottie that we gave to a friend (who's Rottie died) who had a similar problem and it turned out to be a UTI. He did it all the time though, and it was only Piddles.


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