# peeing related to separation anxiety?



## Dandys Girl (Apr 11, 2009)

We have a 10-12 y/o rescued V who came to us crate trained. We've had him 9 months and his separation anxiety has gotten worse, not better, with time. While he seems overall fretful often pacing and "squeaking" in the house we have had some success tempering this with more exercise. Our biggest problem is in the crate. He only needs to be crated maybe 10-15 hours a week, two evenings a week we have class and he's in the crate 4 hours or so, then maybe another day if we go out to dinner/movie. He's out in the house velcroed to us the rest of the time. It is not a bad gig. 

He needs a bark collar because he will bark ALL 4 HOURS in the crate despite treats, toys, Kongs with treats, music, a blanket, things that smelled like us etc. We've tried it all. He urinates a lake of pee every time he is crated, even if just for an hour or so. We potty him before he goes in and often take him on a long walk to empty the tank and limit water consumption (not in high heat) about an hour before he goes into the crate. Right now we are just lining the crate with towels and we're doing a lot of laundry. When we've left him out he panics that we are gone, pulls things down, and has peed around the house so this is not a good option with carpeting. The whole room with his crate smells like pee and fear when we get home to let him out. It's really pitiful. Sometimes we can take him with us to where we are going but he frets and paces pretty badly at an outdoor restaurant and barks and squeaks if we leave him in the car. 

Suggestions on how to get him to stop peeing in the crate when we have to crate him? We've even tried crating him for shorter times and letting him out and this doesn't seem to make a difference when he has to be in there when we leave. We keep the crate open during the day and sometimes he does go in and flop down so it doesn't seem to be a fear of the crate. 

We love our rescue so much and it saddens us that he's obvious so distraught that he'll lie in his own urine in the crate. Suggestions on how to make him less anxious?


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## Dandys Girl (Apr 11, 2009)

I should also add that this does not appear to be an infection or an incontinence problem. He holds it just fine all night sometimes 9+ hours and has no problem signaling he wants to go out during the day.


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