# Peeing in Cage! HELP



## JacksonV (Jan 20, 2010)

Recently our 5 month old Vizsla Has started peeing in his cage! we have crate trained him from day one and he was always really good about it- with the occasional accident. But now he almost pees in it every time we put him in there! We can not find any advice on this. We took him to the vet and his urine sample came back fine- no UTI. If anyone has heard of this before please let me known if there is something we can do? thanks so much


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## gunnr (Aug 14, 2009)

One of my females did that too. Her UTI test also came back negative. The live culture test came back somewhat positive. We had her on Clavamox for almost 4 weeks until the live cultures were clear. She hasn't wee'd in her kennel in a long time now.
She also had a case of Giardia(sp.) that needed to be cleared up.


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## JacksonV (Jan 20, 2010)

thank you for the response- we are just waiting for the culture to come back- so maybe this is the case with Jackson as well. All i know is that i feel like we are regressing BIG time with potty training! Thanks again!


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## cooper (Sep 23, 2009)

my 8 month old male just recently stopped peeing in his crate.
He was better if we did not have anything in his crate like bed or blankets.
he was also tested and treated even though he did not have a infection,
they say dog do not like to sleep where the go but he seemed ok with it.
he was also the hardest dog i ever had to house train


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## Luna (Jan 15, 2010)

my 5 month old female is housetrained and crate-trained. she sleeps soundly in the crate, from 10 pm until sometimes 8:30 in the morning and has NEVER had an accident in there overnight. 

during the day is another story. she eagerly runs to the crate when i get the peanut butter out of the cupboard, i leave her at home alone in there for 2-3 hours, twice a day, and i usually come home to a wet spot on the towel (i've learned not to leave blankets/cushions in there...towels are easier to wash). sometimes she pees when i leave her for 1 hour, sometimes the towel is dry after 3. because it seems to have little to do with the duration of time that i'm leaving her, i've just been assuming that it depends on her mood. i haven't really given it much thought because she's always had a bit of a temper in the crate  i'm thinking she pees because she still gets herself worked up in there half the time she's home alone. washing a load of towels is no biggie so i'm just waiting and hoping that she eventually grows out of it.

hope this helps


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## vizslandobes (Feb 9, 2010)

Wait for the live culture (if you did one). There are several instances of rapid tests and slides showing negative, and a positive on live cultures. If that comes back negative as well then perhaps you want to start with crate training from square one and make it a happy place again. Could just be that your timing with her water intake and ability to hold it is just not aligned with your daily schedule, resulting in a urine incident while you're away.


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## tanners_mama (Sep 22, 2011)

Thought I'd reopen this old post. Having major crate issues with Tanner lately. It seems almost every time I put him in he has been peeing. It's so aggravating. He is now 6 months old (25 weeks to be exact). I've tried taking out his bed, leaving it in, monitoring his water, getting him super tired out before he goes in. Nothing is working.

Is it just possible I have a dog who is more difficult to train himself that he can "hold it"? Being off of work for awhile I've been really working with him on it, but my boyfriend and I went to meet some friends this evening, we were gone for less than 3 hours and came home to a soaking wet bed. We were gone during what is his usual sleep time, and he can hold it through the night.

I feel like I've tried everything but if anyone has had similar experience with their (older) puppy I'd be interested in what you have to add. I should add that this has been going on or the past couple of weeks now. I'd like to be a little more lenient with him but at 6 moths I don't feel like I'm expecting too much.


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## threefsh (Apr 25, 2011)

It could be that he has too much room to move around in the crate. He should have *just* enough room to turn around. It looks uncomfortable, but if there is extra space they will pee because they can avoid laying in it.


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## SteelCityDozer (Aug 25, 2011)

I didn't grasp from your post whether this is perhaps a new issue. Was he doing well for awhile and now has "broken bad"? If so, you may want to make sure there are no medical issues. He should be able to hold it 5-6 hours by now without issue in a full crate. But some learn at different rates so just make he has enough room to stand up, turn around and lay down. I wouldn't put any beds in there bec unless yOu can put the whole thing in the washing machine, it still smells like pee to him and he'll most likely continue to pee on it. They don't get padding in a crate until they earn it, IMO. stick to something that can easily be laundered or replaced like a chunk of fleece. 

Also, have you had him from the beginning? I do have one friend who's dog could never get used to the crate without peeing from being upset but she was a rescue. So they use a small room instead where the dog (not a V) is fine.


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## tanners_mama (Sep 22, 2011)

*Threefsh* - it is just about enough room for him. Maybe a couple extra inches (2-4)... Do you think blocking this off will make a difference? If yes, I'm all for trying it.

*SteelCityDozer* - this has been an off and on issue since we got him at 10 weeks from a breeder, not a rescue. Some times he's OK but most of the time he's not. Mostly we leave him in without his bed but then I would start to wonder if he would settle down and sleep if he was more comfortable so on occasion I would give him his bed (easily washable). And can't give him towels or blankets during daytime because he shreds them 

I should mention he still hates his crate, which doesn't really help the situation.


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## tracker (Jun 27, 2011)

I am having similar issues with Lui. 

He will be one year old January 18th, and we only got him a few months ago. Not 100% sure how his previousl owners handled this but it does get frustrating at times. 

He is usually fine overnight from about 10:30pm until 6:30 am when he starts barking and i know he needs to pee. Then other times, i will leave the house for a couple of hours and he has peed. 

I think i will be going back to basics, and use newspaper only, no padding, no pillows, until he has a few weeks straight with no accidents.


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## threefsh (Apr 25, 2011)

tanners_mama said:


> *Threefsh* - it is just about enough room for him. Maybe a couple extra inches (2-4)... Do you think blocking this off will make a difference? If yes, I'm all for trying it.
> 
> I should mention he still hates his crate, which doesn't really help the situation.


I think the key here is to make the crate a good place, first and foremost. We trained Riley with the command "crate" early in her first few weeks. She knows when we say "crate" to go get in her crate and lay down. We've also been feeding her some of her meals in her crate so she feels more comfortable in it. 

Riley literally has *just* enough room to turn around and lay down. In her previous crate, she had a tiny bit of extra room and she peed there a couple of times because she knew she could avoid laying in it. You could try making his space a little smaller. Chances are if he has to lay in his pee, he will decide to hold it.


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## tanners_mama (Sep 22, 2011)

Now that I look at him... I doubt I can make this crate much smaller. If I shortened it I don't think Tanner would be able to lay down inside stretched out. 

One other thing I thought of is that recently we've been letting him lay with our Great Dane to sleep with at night. I wonder if he no longer feels like his crate is his "space" and he can pee there because it isn't where he sleeps. So I'm putting him back in his crate to sleep at night. I'll make his comfy bed for nighttime, but remove blankets for daytime and see how that goes.

Hopefully this works... (crossing fingers)


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## tanners_mama (Sep 22, 2011)

Well it only seems to be getting worse. Left the house for exactly 1 hour this afternoon to go to the gym, and I came home to a crate full of pee. Not even a little, it was like the Mississippi river in there.

Called the vet, took a urine sample in and the test results came back with just a very small trace of bacteria/red and white blood cells. The vet said it could be the very very early beginnings of a UTI, but then again it might not be. I'm starting him on the antibiotics tomorrow morning and the vet said I should see a noticeable improvement within 7 days if it really is a UTI. But if there are no signs of improvement we will be back in for blood tests and x rays :-\

Has anyone else ever dealt with this sort of thing before? I'm keeping my fingers crossed its a UTI and he'll be back to himself soon. He woke up crying in the middle of the night and his bed and blankets were soaked in pee.


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## threefsh (Apr 25, 2011)

tanners_mama said:


> Called the vet, took a urine sample in and the test results came back with just a very small trace of bacteria/red and white blood cells. The vet said it could be the very very early beginnings of a UTI, but then again it might not be. I'm starting him on the antibiotics tomorrow morning and the vet said I should see a noticeable improvement within 7 days if it really is a UTI. But if there are no signs of improvement we will be back in for blood tests and x rays :-\
> 
> Has anyone else ever dealt with this sort of thing before? I'm keeping my fingers crossed its a UTI and he'll be back to himself soon. He woke up crying in the middle of the night and his bed and blankets were soaked in pee.


We had the same EXACT issue with Riley, only we didn't know she had a UTI until she peed blood.  She also was having some accidents in her crate, but not as frequently as your V. We thought it was just part of the potty training process. She mostly had accidents in the house (massive pools of pee). Riley showed major improvement within 2 DAYS of starting the antibiotics. I hope you have the same experience! Let me know how it goes.


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## Ozkar (Jul 4, 2011)

Even a minor UTI can cause them to let go unexpectedly. Zsa Zsa did the same thing not long after arriving home. She had been through a large operation the day I picked her up (A full hysterectomy) and the UTI was only minor, but it was enough to set her off. She was 12 months old at this point too. So for a puppy it's worse. Ozkar also had a little one at about 5 months of age. Antibiotics cleared it pretty quickly and the spots stopped within a few days also for both of them.

Good luck, I hope that's all it is.


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## tanners_mama (Sep 22, 2011)

Thank you for the encouragement *threefsh* and *Ozkar* I couldn't even tell you the last time Tanner had an accident in the house, although he has been ringing his bell to go out almost every hour... Think I might try setting an alarm tonight to wake up 4 hours after bedtime and let him out before he has the chance to go. 

I'm just unsure as to whether or not I should leave bedding in there for him. If its in there and he pees, it soaks it up and doesn't make it that uncomfortable for him,but if I don't give him any then he's freezing and will wake up and cry because he's cold. Any thoughts on this?


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## threefsh (Apr 25, 2011)

I would put old, worn-out towels in there so when he pees it will soak it up and he isn't standing in it. Until the meds kicked in, we had to let Riley out every 15 minutes while she was out of the crate and every 2-3 hours at night. It was like going back to when we first brought her home.


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## tanners_mama (Sep 22, 2011)

Fair enough, wouldn't wanna punish him if it's something he can't help. I'll do the towels and set my alarm. It's gonna be a long week...


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## Mischa (Feb 17, 2010)

tanners_mama said:


> Fair enough, wouldn't wanna punish him if it's something he can't help. I'll do the towels and set my alarm. It's gonna be a long week...


I may only take a day or two to notice results after the meds.
It is frustrating, but hang in there. 
I don't know why, but many of us V owners have gone through this (and much worse) with our pups.


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## cooper (Sep 23, 2009)

My cooper is two years old. 
He still pees in his crate if we have any type of bedding, towel, etc. in his crate during the day. We have tried many different types of bedding. I thought maybe he was doing it due to other odors so we bought a bed had it in the living room for a couple months, he loved it and used it daily. I put it in his crate sure we had found our answer and he urinated on it.
He does allow bedding in his crate at night(so far, We started this a week ago) but if we forget to pull it out before we go to work he will pee on it.
We have also have him check by a vet and test results were negative, they put him on medication anyway to see if it would help but it did not.
I just hate to have him in his crate with no bed.

Good luck


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## Linescreamer (Sep 28, 2010)

They don't get ANYTHING (except a nylabone) in the crate if they pee in it. NOTHING. Rule out the UTI and keep the bedding out! Make sure that crate is spotless and free of odor using the appropriate cleaner. Then you will have the problem solved. Assuming his feeding and outside access is normal. 5 months is like a 5 year old - he will wet the bed from time to time. After he hits 12 months there should be no more accidents, ever, unless ill.


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## tanners_mama (Sep 22, 2011)

Noticeable improvement last night. Instead of the typical 45 minute intervals, tanner was going out every 3 hours instead. He also slept from 11pm to 5am, then back to sleep for 4 hours. He did have his bed back, simply because I felt as though he would not sleep without it. I think I have been giving in too much to the bell ring, and not making him wait and learn to "hold it" when I am home, so we will be working on that too.

Tonight will be the true test as we are going out with some friends for my birthday and he will be crated for a few hours. He will not have bedding of any kind when we leave and just a chew toy and his kong with PB. Big fingers crossed that we don't come home to pee with our pup, but until the UTI meds have run their course I can't get too discouraged.


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## threefsh (Apr 25, 2011)

It sounds like the meds are already working! It took about 3 days for Riley to be completely better, but we did notice immediate improvement.


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## Linescreamer (Sep 28, 2010)

It sounds like he had an infection. Copper was a bad boy until he turned 13-14 months. He didn't get any bedding in his crate. My wife from time to time would feel bad for him and give him a towel or bed and it got destroyed and when 5 or 6 months the occasional bed wetting accident. Then after he matured he got a 1/2" padded cushion with rubber bottom (so it doesn't move) covered with a towel in his crate. He doesn't even touch it now because he knows if he does it will be gone the next day!

Happy Birthday! I hope he doesn't leave you a present tonight!


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## tanners_mama (Sep 22, 2011)

Tanner still can't have bedding during the day when we are away. For sure it will be shredded/eaten/destroyed. So comfy stuff is reserved for bedtime. Where did u get a bed with a rubber bottom, or did you make it yourself? That sounds like something he needs cuz the little squirt moves around alot 

Ah yes, the dreaded birthday "present". Hopefully the meds are aiding in his road to a (quick) recovery. After his dinner before we go out will be 2 full days of meds so hopefully that will get him thru tonight for a few hours. One can only hope!


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## Linescreamer (Sep 28, 2010)

tanners_mama said:


> Where did u get a bed with a rubber bottom, or did you make it yourself?


Any place that sells the kind of matts you stand on while washing the dishes.  There are also memory foam matts with rubber bottoms. They fit perfectly into his wire crate.


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## Ozkar (Jul 4, 2011)

Improvement!! Fantastic news. Oh..and Happy Birthday Tanners Mum!


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