# Gracie will be the death of me...crate=pee spot!



## theyogachick (Aug 2, 2009)

Gracie has decided that she is no longer crate trained--as in she has decided her crate is a potty...pee only, no poo...

Had her urine tested yesterday. NOTHING. No infection, no crystals, no blood in the urine to indicate any problems...nothing. So that means she is doing it just to do it, and I am tried of washing bedding (and toys and dog) everyday.

I need some advice. So, for those of you who don't know, here is the rundown:

Gracie is nearly 10 months old. She is housebroken...as in she tells us when she needs to go out. If we are sleeping, she wakes us up to tell us. She whines, we say "outside" and she goes and does her business.

She is in her crate usually from around 8 in the morning until I get home around 3-3:30. She is let out before she is put in her crate. She is not crated at night.

Last week my husband left earlier than usual on Thursday so she was in her crate a longer period of time. She didn't pee in her crate Thursday and I was super proud of her.

And then she peed in it Friday, Sunday (after being alone for 4 hours), Monday, and today (even though someone came to let her out partway through the day).

I was hoping it was a UTI because then there is at least a reason for it, but, alas, there is none.

It is not possible for someone to come home each day to let her out. I have put the divider in her crate to make it smaller, but that hasn't done any good.

I don't want to take blankets out of her crate because she is a chewer and I am afraid she will chew on the plastic pan or find a way to lift it up and get to the carpet underneath.

Any suggestions would be welcome. She gets plenty of exercise, training, etc. (daily walk, playtime, training, interaction...you name it)

I can't go through this much longer. (please don't take that wrong--I won't get rid of her, but I may have an emotional breakdown). It is so frustrating to put all this time and effort into her and still see no results.

Help, please...save my sanity and my laundry detergent!


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## doxiemommy (Dec 18, 2009)

Hi! When you do laundry (on the stuff Gracie's peed on) do you use an enzymatic cleaner, too, or just laundry detergent? I use a laundry boost product made by Nature's Miracle, that you put in along with your detergent. Or, I put white vinegar in with the wash. I don't think the detergent gets rid of the scent (as far as our pups are concerned).


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## bigmac (Sep 25, 2010)

You seem to indicate you've cleaned her bedding after each mishap. Dogs will do things for attention . . . not sure if this is the problem given all the attention you indicate you give. Dogs don't like soiled areas--a potty training issue. You may try not laundering the bedding for a day or two so your dog realizes, "If I soil it, I have to live with it." No magic answer, but I hope you find one that works, just the same.


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## theyogachick (Aug 2, 2009)

I have just been using detergent, but I have some Nature's Mircale (been scrubbing the crate). I will try that. I thought about that, too...today I even cleaned UNDER the crate to be sure I got it all out of there.

And bigmac--her crate is in our living room, so I can't leave pee covered blankets in there--house would smell like pee.  I don't give her excess attention--just clean the bedding after she does whatever she is doing.


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## bigmac (Sep 25, 2010)

Is there another place you can crate her for a night or two, and then try the hold on the bedding laundry. I know, when you have a house dog, you don't want to live with smell, but could be for just a day or two. Certainly try the laundry additives--maybe even first--no smell issue. Again, good luck!


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## zimandtakandgrrandmimi (May 8, 2008)

time her water intake and access.

seriously...this is one of the things i do to housetrain WITHOUT a crate..it may work with one too.

get a notebook and dedicate it to be Gracie's Peepee Journal.

keep track of how much water you give her. how much water she actually drinks as well as what timeframes she generally has to pee in. if you have to set up a video camera with the timer on for when you arent home and she's in the crate.

here's the key...once you figure out the pattern, split her water access up to where she gets a few ounces LESS than what she normally ACTUALLY drinks before you leave. basically you're taking a bit of pressure off her bladder. knowing how your household habits and rhythms affect your dog's natural rhythms can make any training effort you attempt a lot easier.


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## CagedAnimal (May 30, 2010)

is she going to it to pee when she's free in the house? or having accidents when locked inside it? or both?

Perhaps she ought to be crated at night as well? If she has to sleep there she won't want it to be soiled. I'm no expert, and I think it may take time, but maybe she doesn't really see her crate as a 'den' to be kept clean.
I would clean all her toys/bedding with the enzymatic cleaner (I like Nature's Miracle: Just for Cats, seems to work best for me) and also the carpet under and surrounding her crate. afterward probably put her in it to sleep as well as when you aren't home with her, just make sure she empties herself before she goes into it.


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## theyogachick (Aug 2, 2009)

zimandtakandgrrandmimi said:


> time her water intake and access.
> 
> seriously...this is one of the things i do to housetrain WITHOUT a crate..it may work with one too.
> 
> ...


This is a good idea. We will try it. Thanks!



CagedAnimal said:


> is she going to it to pee when she's free in the house? or having accidents when locked inside it? or both?
> 
> Perhaps she ought to be crated at night as well? If she has to sleep there she won't want it to be soiled. I'm no expert, and I think it may take time, but maybe she doesn't really see her crate as a 'den' to be kept clean.
> I would clean all her toys/bedding with the enzymatic cleaner (I like Nature's Miracle: Just for Cats, seems to work best for me) and also the carpet under and surrounding her crate. afterward probably put her in it to sleep as well as when you aren't home with her, just make sure she empties herself before she goes into it.


She does not go in the house. She lets us know when she has to go out. The accidents only occur inside the crate. And only pee.

She was crated at night, but we started giving her freedom at night right after she turned nine months old (after we got her last urinary problem cleared up and she hadn't had any accidents in the crate or in the house for a while). We could try crating her at night again, but we moved her crate to the living room which is next to our bedroom and she had a tendancy to bark around 2-3 each morning...not because she needed to go out, but because she was ready to get out of her crate. That would pose a problem for our sanity. We don't want to move the crate because at least now it is accesible to her all the time if she wants it...before it was in an isolated part of the house. I also hated having her crated for about 16 hours a day.

She does get potty trips before going into her crate...

The only times she has messed in her crate previous were when she was very young, when she had some digestive issues, and the last UTI thing she had.)

Anyone else not use a crate at night but use it during the day without a problem? I am curious...


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## xxxxdogdragoness (Jul 22, 2010)

You can also get a plastic crate like one that is used to ship on airlines. Make sure the crate is only large enough for her to stand up, turn around & lay down in.that way you can take the bedding out & not have to worry about house mess or distruction lol.

Then you can take the blankets out, then she can be a tad more... uncomfortable about messing, I also agree with another poster said also about monitering her water intake also as well as crating her at nite.

You can also get a plastic crate like one that is used to ship on airlines. Make sure the crate is only large enough for her to stand up, turn around & lay down in.that way you can take the bedding out & not have to worry about house mess or distruction lol.

Then you can take the blankets out, then she can be a tad more... uncomfortable about messing, I also agree with another poster said also about monitering her water intake also as well as crating her at nite.


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## JuneBud (Feb 17, 2010)

Agree about removing the blankets. They absorb the urine. The bare crate floor will make a puddle and she won't like that.

I crate my puppy for 5 hours 4 mornings a week when I work. Tuesday, he had a bout of loose stool in his crate. When I came home he was totally miserable. He didn't have any poop on him at all. The poop was on one end of the crate and he was sitting in the opposite corner. If he tried to lie down he would have gotten himself in the mess. Poor guy. He must have sat there quite a while as some of the poop was dried.


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## JenaMarie (Mar 2, 2013)

I have a 4 month old Labrador Retriever and I think she is peeing in her crate when I am gone too. I don't want to say she is completely potty trained because she is so young but she hasn't had an accident around the house in about a month. I don't put any blankets or anything in the crate with her, just some toys and a filled KONG. There isn't any puddles on the floor of the crate when I get home but her toys smell like pee almost every time I take her out of her crate.


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## samshine (Mar 11, 2011)

You absolutely need to take the blankets out. Leave her with a Kong or something else to chew on. Is she chewing on the blankets? That is very dangerous since they can cause a blockage. If you are worried about the carpet, simply put something under the crate.

If taking the blankets out does not fix the problem, I would suspect separation anxiety.


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## doxiemommy (Dec 18, 2009)

samshine said:


> You absolutely need to take the blankets out. Leave her with a Kong or something else to chew on. Is she chewing on the blankets? That is very dangerous since they can cause a blockage. If you are worried about the carpet, simply put something under the crate.
> 
> If taking the blankets out does not fix the problem, I would suspect separation anxiety.


I think JenaMarie said "I don't put blankets or anything in the crate with her..."

Still, a very young puppy can sometimes just pee little amounts, but quite often, sometimes it seems like every 15-20 minutes or so. So, if your puppy is peeing a tiny amount, it may just be dry when you take her out of the crate. With my first puppy, it was that way....we just didn't KNOW he was peeing in the crate, because he was so young and so tiny that we didn't notice a puddle so we thought everything was fine....til we smelled it!

How long is your puppy crated, JenaMarie?


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## aiw (Jun 16, 2012)

..... Do we have the same dog?

We've also got housetraining issues (except Pete is peeing on _people's_ beds *shakes fist at dog*) as well as SA. I remember reading your threads during the worst of Pete's SA. Is it possible the accidents are related to the anxiety? Or is she through that now?

Also, maybe this is a weird thing to think but could you just have 5 or 6 old towels for her and do a weekly load of laundry? If the pee isn't getting anywhere other than the crate it might not be the worst thing... Obviously it would be much better to solve the problem but it might be sanity-preserving to manage instead of going crazy trying to untrain.

EDIT: I wrote this response thinking it was theyogachick. But this thread is ancient. Maybe there is good advice for Jenamarie in my post. I'm going to leave it up anyways.


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## samshine (Mar 11, 2011)

Oops, I'm another one who didn't see that the first post was a long time ago so my comments were directed to the OP.


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## xxxxdogdragoness (Jul 22, 2010)

in a way its good because there is a lot of good advice on this thread for others why might be having the same issue. 

when I had crate pee'rs, i always took the bedding out & used a plastic crate so the liquid couldnt leak out onto my floor ( I have lenolium so it doesnt matter anyway but still), thats only if i knew they were just doing it to be doing it & not because they really needed to go thru some blunder of mine, i knew they could hold it if they *wanted* to.


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## JenaMarie (Mar 2, 2013)

doxiemommy said:


> I think JenaMarie said "I don't put blankets or anything in the crate with her..."
> 
> Still, a very young puppy can sometimes just pee little amounts, but quite often, sometimes it seems like every 15-20 minutes or so. So, if your puppy is peeing a tiny amount, it may just be dry when you take her out of the crate. With my first puppy, it was that way....we just didn't KNOW he was peeing in the crate, because he was so young and so tiny that we didn't notice a puddle so we thought everything was fine....til we smelled it!
> 
> How long is your puppy crated, JenaMarie?


She has never been crated for more than 4 hours. I work from home so she only goes in the crate if I need to go out somewhere.

She does chew the blankets on my bed though. She doesn't eat the fabric, she chews it to rip the stuffing out. She has done that to three of my blankets (I have decided to stop buying new ones until she stops chewing them) she has also done the same thing to her own bed. I woke up in the middle of the night to find her INSIDE of her bed with all the stuffing outside of the bed, on the floor.


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## seaboxador (Sep 23, 2012)

Take away the crate.


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## JenaMarie (Mar 2, 2013)

seaboxador said:


> Take away the crate.


Where would I put her when I need to go out? I thought about putting her in the bathroom but I'm worried she would chew on the bathroom cabinets that are made of wood. Every time she chews on something that isn't a dog toy she ends up getting it stuck in the back of her mouth, she also chews on the wall and tries to eat the plaster.


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## theyogachick (Aug 2, 2009)

LOL--yes, this thread is way old. Gracie is three now. She does have SA (managed) and she has been moved out of her crate.

In terms of the 4 month old puppy--how long are you gone? General rule of thumb is that a dog can hold it 1 hour longer than the months they are old (that is a guess, but it tends to work). So, with your dog, she would be at about 5 hours.

Also, if you aren't already, I would start feeding her in her crate. Dogs are less likely to pee where they eat.

If you can, get some Nature's Miracle and clean the crate tray with it. It takes away and risidual pee smell that dogs can detect and will make it less likely for her to pee there again.

Good luck!


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## JenaMarie (Mar 2, 2013)

theyogachick said:


> LOL--yes, this thread is way old. Gracie is three now. She does have SA (managed) and she has been moved out of her crate.
> 
> In terms of the 4 month old puppy--how long are you gone? General rule of thumb is that a dog can hold it 1 hour longer than the months they are old (that is a guess, but it tends to work). So, with your dog, she would be at about 5 hours.
> 
> ...


I am never gone longer than 4 to 5 hours. I have tried feeding her in her crate, I gave her food and water in her crate but when I came back her dishes were flipped over and her food and water were all over the place. I have started leaving her some treats in her crate and I have noticed I don't smell the pee every time anymore.


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