# Peeing When We Are Gone



## NowakVizsla (Oct 26, 2012)

Our V Igor is 7 months old and he is a great puppy. We crate trained him from day 1 and seemed to have no problem with it. In fact when he is ready to go to bed he will walk in to his little "home" and go to sleep. We are having a small issue as of recent. He has started to pee in his crate anytime we leave. We can be gone for 2 hours or 6 hours and it doesn't matter he will have an accident in the crate. And this just started in the last month. Prior to that time he could hold it no problem. His crate fits him perfect just enough room for him to turn around and lie down comfortably. Also when we leave he goes in there willingly and doesn't whimper. Finally at night he doesn't have accidents and he sleeps in there for 8-10 hours.

What we have done is taken his bedding out when we do leave home (someone I know recommended this) to make it more uncomfortable for him to sit in when he does have an accident. But I do feel bad, what can I do? Also he has never been in there for more then 6 hours while we are gone. Has anyone else had any issues with this?

Thanks in advance for the help!


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## redrover (Mar 17, 2011)

It could be behavioural, but you might also want to have him checked for a urinary tract infection. He might be peeing more than usual, or not enough. A lot of times it can happen while they're sleeping and they don't realize it until it's too late. He could also be running a temperature (easy to check if you're ok taking a rectal temp on your own). I'd catch some urine and have the vet analyze it. 

It's also not entirely unusual for a dog to regress at certain ages. It's possible it might just be a phase.


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## NowakVizsla (Oct 26, 2012)

Thanks Redrover!

I'll call the vet and have him checked. Hopefully he is just regressing and it's nothing medical. But a UTI I would imagine is an easy fixe as it is with humans.


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## Nelly (Feb 7, 2013)

Hi Nowak, sorry to hear this is happening to Igor, (love that name!)

Our girl recently had a UTI - the Vet gave us a week's worth of antibiotics after testing a sample. We took another sample in at the end of the antibiotics to see if her urine was back to normal. 

All pretty straightforward, to my knowledge they normally give pups around that age a general antibiotic that is known to clear up most infections, the antibiotics also tasted like meat (!) and didn't upset her tummy, if anything she maybe slept a little more than normal during the day. 

Just to give you an idea what to expect if this is the case. Hope everything works out!


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## redrover (Mar 17, 2011)

Keep us updated! UTIs are typically easy to treat, as Nelly said. 

If it's not a UTI or any other medical condition, he might have just regressed. Sorry I didn't elaborate further last night--I was just heading off to bed. If that's the case, then you might have to go back to potty training basics. It is interesting that it's only happening in his crate when you're not home, so that could make it more difficult? I don't personally have a lot of experience with this, since my dog didn't go through a phase. Other forum members should have better advice than me on that front! 

Also, make sure you're cleaning the urine with an appropriate cleaner developed to clean urine. Otherwise Igor can still smell it, and will think it's ok to pee there all the time. It should not have ammonia as an ingredient, since it will not get rid of all of the urine smell (nitrogen that is in urine itself has an ammonia-like smell). I like enzyme cleaners personally, such as Nature's Miracle.


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## NowakVizsla (Oct 26, 2012)

Thanks everyone for the input! I appreciate it. We found out Igor did not have a bladder infection. And we are continuing with leaving his bedding out of the crate when we leave. And also putting him in there while we are home and going outside for 10-15 minutes at a time then coming back. Maybe he is just stressed to be home alone, so I figure if he knows we will always come back it will help. Things seem to be improving because we left for 2 hours and no accident. YAY!

Thanks again you guys.


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