dog peeing in crate/while I'm away

2JRTowner · 10-26-2009

Ok, so I adopted a Jack Russell from a shelter about a year & a half ago. He was pretty much housebroken. But when I'm gone, he always seems to use the bathroom. For a while, it was both. Now, we've got it down to only peeing. If I crate him, he pees. If I leave him out, he pees. It's ruined my carpet at my old house, his urine seems to be the most yellow, carpet-staining urine ever! I've recently moved & don't want this to happen again. I bought plastic to put under his crate to make for easier clean up at least, but somehow, he managed to pee OVER that & onto the carpet. When I'm home, he'll go forever & not have any accidents. But when I'm gone, BAM! Any suggestions? He's around 6 years old. I have another JRT who is almost 10 & never had these issues.

Lara's mom · 10-27-2009

All I can say is that I too have a JRT (a shorty). She will be two years old in December and still cannot make it through the night without using her paper. It doesn't seem to matter how late I take her out - 10:00 is about the limit for us because we live downtown in a major Canadian city. After that hour, it gets creepy.

Every morning, there is "evidence" that she's used her paper during the night. Personally, I don't have a problem with it. Better she use her paper than my sofa or bed!

2JRTowner · 10-27-2009

I don't know what to do. My other one has never had any problems w/it. Bless her heart, I think she'd hold it til she exploded if she had to. But the male, whew, marks everything. Luckily, he's gotten better than when I first adopted him. Sometimes, he would pee right in front of me! I wonder if it's anxiety making him do it now. He's a very timid, nervous dog.

Lara's mom · 10-28-2009

Has he been neutered?

german sheep · 11-03-2009

Does he mark or is he really peeing?
There is a difference between and you should lay an eye on how much and how often he does it.

Then describe his behaviour outside and inside when you are at home. Does he follow you closely like a shadow? Does he bark a lot and how is his behaviour when you've got visitors?

Does he run a lot without a leash? How far does he go away? How close are both of your dogs in interaction?
Is his behaviour changing when you leave the house but your husband stays at home?

LG
gs

millsandbones · 11-04-2009

Maybe he was used to peeing on his crate when he was in the shelter and he's getting back on his habit..

Sandra Scott · 11-21-2009

Has he been checked for a possible medical problem? Dogs don't usually like to soil their beds. Also, how long is he being left in the crate?

JillD · 11-25-2009

I have a bassett hound and I'm having the same problem also.

She was "rescued" from a breeder. She lived in kennel for the first 3 years of her life, and though we've mostly housebroken her, she usually pees when we leave her alone, which is why we started crateing her when we would leave the house.

We moved into a new house about a year ago and worked extremely hard with her on training her and watching tha she pees before we leave and we have not had a problem for an entire year, but two weeks ago, she's started again. We could leave for 20 minutes and come back and she's peed int he cage.

WE've been working with her, but nothing seems to be working this time.

If anyone has suggestions, I would appreciate it

Lara's mom · 11-25-2009

Bearing in mind that I am not an expert, from what I understand there are basically two reasons why dogs mess in their crates:

1) The dog may have been forced to remain in a crate for a long period of time and had no other option but to soil in the crate.

2) it is stressed induced. The dog may feel abandoned and frightened when left in the crate while his owner is away. Stress is a major cause of accidents.

In a shelter environment, dogs don't always get walked often enough. Sometimes, there just isn't enough staff. The dog has no other choice.

I've never had any luck with crate training. Paper training has worked a lot better for me. Perhaps, you could try that.

french bulldog girl · 12-09-2009

I havent read all the replies but i can tell you that i saw dogtrainer Vcitoria Stillwell on her show "its me or the dog " in one episode there was a doberman who adored the dad in the family and everyday when he left for work he just peed alot, not marked, really peed. She left a camera in the kitchen to see what he did. Victoria said it was separation anxiety.

sorry i dont know more but i hope you can figure it out!

gotambull? · 12-09-2009

I agree we need more info. If he's peeing, it sounds as though it could be stress induced. But if he's marking, that's a whole different behavior.

Also, on another note- You mentioned his urine is very yellow. How much water does he drink? He might be slightly dehydrated, causing the yellow urine. It will be extremely odorous and so yellow it's almost opaque when the dogs are borderline dehydrated. Please understand I'm not trying to say you're starving your dog for water, it just could be that he's thirstier than your other JRT and needs more water. My girl's urine was like that and I switched to one of those auto-waterers and now her urine is almost like water itself, and has almost no odor.