Puppy eliminating in crate

[DSrugis]

We have a 3 month old Shepherd/Shib inu mix and he has been great so far. We have him potty trained and listens very well. The problem is that everytime we put him in his crate he eliminates in there. We have left for 30 minutes and when we get back he has eliminated in the crate. We also both work all day and he is sometimes alone for 8 hours. He has made it the 8 hours without eliminating also even though we know that is too long as a pup. We take him for 2 walks a day and play with him alot so he gets plenty of energy. We always make sure he goes before we put him in there too. We have tried many different locations in the house and every location seems to work for 0-1 time but then everytime there after he goes. He will go into his crate to relax but when he sees we are ready to leave he won't go. This has been happening for about 3 weeks consistently now and we don't know what else to do. Should we give him a full room with a babygate? Do we keep on trucking? We need some advice as we are getting frustrated and starting to loose faith. Please help.

Dave

[zoe08]

How big is the crate compared to him? The crate should just be big enough for him. If it is too big there is more chance he will potty in there. They usually do not like to potty in their sleepy place....does he sleep in there at night?

[DSrugis]

At first he wasn't sleeping in there but now we have him sleeping in there. He is good at night, just when we go or are out of the room is when he gets excited. We have a divider but it doesn't make a difference...right now we have it in but he also had equal luck with the whole crate.

Dave

[zoe08]

so he is sitting in it?

Is he just peeing in it? Is it because he just got excited? Also have you cleaned it out thoroughly to get the odor out?

[MrsRottie]

He will go into his crate to relax but when he sees we are ready to leave he won't go. This has been happening for about 3 weeks consistently now and we don't know what else to do.

Dave

Sorry for picking out this one point, but I think IMO this may be the key....

So pup goes into crate, but if he knows you are going out he won't go? Is that right?
I think you may be at the start of a seperation anxiety problem here - hence the eliminating, it could be something so simple as confusion, or that he's clocked that if he eliminates he gets let out....
How does pup know that you're going out? Do you say goodbye, give him a treat etc or do specific things - not neccesarily with the dog, but perhaps he sees you pick up your keys etc?

When you leave the house, you need to walk out without another look back. If you fuss him, then in his mind you are 'asking' to go out, therefore deferring to him. Which puts him in the alpha position, and each time you leave quite simply put he worries about you.
Reverse this, and you will relieve him of his duties and have a happy relaxed dog that will snore until you get back.

I suggest you read a book along the lines of the dog listener by Jan Fennell, anything by John Fisher or anything which deals with 'dog whispering'.

Asides from that, don't loose faith :) You have to learn to speak dog, and in time especially when you've had a dog from a pup that becomes quite easy - honest!!

Good Luck and let us know how you get on.

[DSrugis]

Thanks for the advice but we have already tried these things too. We realize that it is all seperation anxiety because of the symptoms. We never look back or say anything to him once he is in the crate like "see you soon" or anything like that.

We also tried changing up our schedules where we will get ready for work then take him for a walk, take him for a walk before, play with him put him in his crate, let him sleep then put in his crate...all sorts of things but he knows when we are getting ready that we are going within the hour and gets sad.

He seems very bright...maybe too bright.

This weekend we are going to buy some baby gates and give him some more space for 15 minutes at a time to see how it works for us.

We also were recommended by our obedience class instructors - who have been working with us through this - to try an all natural calmer like rescue remedy. If the enlarged area does not work, we will probably try this.

Thanks for the advice and please keep it coming.

Dave

[lassie]

have you tired a DAP diffuser??
http://www.petremedies.co.uk/prodtype.asp?PT_ID=64&strPageHistory=cat

[DSrugis]

We had two successful cratings yesterday...if he starts going in his crate again, we are going to try giving him a baby gated room and if that does work we are going to try an all natural medication like that. Lets just hope he is getting better and that these 2 good cratings weren't just a fluzzy. Thanks for the advice.

Dave

[lassie]

oh well fingers crossed.