[Clough1021]

We have a 6 month old golden retriever that has never peed or pooped in the house from day one ~ but she does pee in her crate. My friend has her brother from the same litter and his dog is able to hold it all night long and he never got up during the night to let him out. Does anyone have a solution for me to try???? I keep a rug in her crate during the night ~ is that a bad idea?

[DoggieVogue]

How much room does she have in the crate? A dog should only have just enough room to stand up, turn around and lay down. Any extra room can and will be used as a potty area. How long are you leaving her in her crate? All dogs are unique... Your dog may mature slower than your friends. I googled it, and a 6 month old puppy can only hold it for 7 hours. That is just a round number though, and some can hold it longer, some not as long. Are you taking the puppy out right before bed? Try taking the water away a little before bed. These are just a few suggestions. There are more things to go into, but this is a starting place for you.

[Sonelt]

I agree with Doggievouge

Limit water intake before bed, crate is too big, too long in crate, Let him go potty right before bed.

[Lara's mom]

My advice would to be to ditch the crate. If the dog isn't going in the house, the crate may be the source of the problem. It was with both of my Jack Russells.

[mrandrei]

You got 2 options. #1 Your dog will outgrow it, I'm sure if you're doing everything else properly, he won't grow up to be that adult dog who pees in his crate. Even toddlers who wear diapers well past the other kids eventually use the toilet, ya know? Hehe. #2 You can make a little puppy contained area instead of the crate. This could include the crate, and a little space for a 'toilet', either with puppy training pads or even a box of sod. Then you train the dog to use that space when it needs to, and just hang out in the crate when it's not. Try it!

[fleurtess]

Originally Posted by Clough1021

We have a 6 month old golden retriever that has never peed or pooped in the house from day one ~ but she does pee in her crate. My friend has her brother from the same litter and his dog is able to hold it all night long and he never got up during the night to let him out. Does anyone have a solution for me to try???? I keep a rug in her crate during the night ~ is that a bad idea?

She is obviously not happy with being locked up in a crate. Why do you lock her up at night? If you let her sleep on the floor on a vet bed or rug in your bedroom you might find that she will be clean all night and much happier. I have a Poodle that will not be locked up in a crate and he will mess and pee in his crate yet, when left to sleep with us in the bedroom he is clean and happy. I hope this helps.

[Mick]

I would say your dog doesn't need the crate anymore. Since your dog doesn't pee anywhere else in your home, she is obviously housebroken. Your dog now associates her crate as a place to "mark". Yes, female dogs do mark territory. However, they normally do so for different reasons than males. Males generally mark territory to lay claim to it. Females mark to attract males. However, a dominate female may mark territory to lay claim to it.

As previous posters have stated, get rid of the crate and let the dog sleep in your bedroom on the floor and see how things go. Do not let her sleep on the same rug that was in her crate; use something different such as a soft pillow or towel. Good luck

[Todd]

you also may want to limit the amount of water she drinks before bed and also let her out to pee right b4 bed. my dog has wet the bed several times because she drinks a lot after returning from the park b4 bed. not sure if that's the issue or not. try the training methods the other talked about. if that fails consider checking for urinary tract infection or something along those lines.

[katiecat]

Hi
I would take the rug out of the crate and get a dog bed that fits the whole size of the crate because puppy will not want to wet its own bed.Take water away at 6pm and take out for last toilet as late as you can.Oh and clean crate with warm water and small amount of vinegar its the best thing for taking away smell of urine.Dont worry about it one day it will just sort itself out.No 2 dogs are the same my second dog could not go as long as my first and i had to get up at 6am to let her out.Hope this helps katie x

[CorkyMax]

Just don't use ammonia to clean with as it smells to the dog like urine so it would just redo his peeing there!

[Ward9320]

defiantly take the water away at night. The other thing that I have always done is limited the space inside the crate. From the dog that I have, I have seen that they won't pee where they have to lay.