Crate Problems...

Zarafay · Post by **Zarafay** » Tue Sep 01, 2009 4:35 pm

Our dog has been pooing and peeing in her crate basically every day now. I think that it is because her crate is too big (she is a Chihuahua and we got her the Medium sized crate at Petsmart) and I'm trying to find something like a cardboard box to take up some space so the crate has less room.

My question is: What is a good way to clean her crate?

We've been power-washing it outside in the yard and putting a little bleach in it and spraying some vinegar in it everyday. We've also started to feed her 1 meal in the late evening. Usually, if she doesnt poop in the morning outside, she poos in her crate, but we dont have much time to wait for her to poo. If she does poo then she pees. We put her in her crate at around 7:15AM, and come back from school at 3:15PM, is that too long for her to hold it?

maximoo · Post by **maximoo** » Tue Sep 01, 2009 4:48 pm

Forget the bleach just use the vinegar.

How old is she? How long have you had her? is this a new thing or has your schedule chg'd? Does she stay clean overnight? Her crate is much too big. Can you rtn it & get the very small size?

emmabeth · Post by **emmabeth** » Tue Sep 01, 2009 6:52 pm

I would say that 8 hours IS too long for a Chi to hold it in really... I certainly wouldnt expect any of my dogs to hang on that long during teh day (overnight is different as the digestive system, including urine production, slows right down when teh animals is asleep).

Try feeding her breakfast an hour earlier, perhaps make the meal a little smaller also, in the hope that she will then need to poo earlier and she wont be as full so that a few hours down the line she doesnt need to go again.

It might also be that she is anxious being left alone, which will often trigger poo/pee issues.

In all honesty whatever the problem here I would recommend either coming home at lunch time or employing someone to come in and let her out for an hour in the middle of the day. Two 3.5 hour crated periods, with an hours break in the middle is a lot easier to cope with for any dog.

Dont forget that asides from the 8 hours you are gone during the day, for 6 - 8 hours every day you are also asleep.. and so not amusing or interacting with her... and then theres the time you spend there, but busy doing something else.... it all adds up to a lot of time alone or ignored for a little dog.

DogzRule1996 · Post by **DogzRule1996** » Tue Sep 01, 2009 7:38 pm

I also hear that bleach has a scent that can actually cause dogs to pee. I would suggest you put vinegar and try to cover up the scent of the bleach.

Kristen · Post by **Kristen** » Tue Sep 01, 2009 8:07 pm

DogzRule1996 wrote:I also hear that bleach has a scent that can actually cause dogs to pee. I would suggest you put vinegar and try to cover up the scent of the bleach.

Is that why when I mop the floor with a bleach solution, the dogs pee on it again?

Nettle · Post by **Nettle** » Wed Sep 02, 2009 2:11 am

If you haven't much time in the morning - sorry but this means getting up earlier until this is sorted.

If you take her for a little walk, this will stimulate her bowels.

Zarafay · Post by **Zarafay** » Wed Sep 02, 2009 8:54 pm

In replying to maximoo's questions:
She is 5 years old, we've had her for 3 months, I guess our schedule changed since school started and all. She is fine at night. I dont think we can return it unfortunately but I'm not sure of the Petsmart Returning Policies.

Emmabeth:
Isn't it okay for a dog to just eat in the evening? because I think it would be easier to just feed her in the evening instead of the morning, ever since we've changed that, it's been a little better. and I am pretty sure she has Separation Anxiety also. She's not really good w/ new people and it even took her like a weeks to even get her to let my mom take her out on a walk (she's very attached to me) and I do spend a lot of time w/ her when I'm with her and on the weekends and such.

Others:
Oh okay then, my sister thinks that I should drop the vinegar and use Hydrogen Peroxide to get rid of the bacteria and stuff. Should I? and usually she wont poo/pee directly in our yard so we have to go on a small walk.

Zarafay · Post by **Zarafay** » Wed Sep 02, 2009 9:05 pm

OH! and really important, she's been starting to shake when I pick her up to put her in the crate. I am reading a Seperation Anxiety article that I've found on this form and she definitely has it. As i'm reading, I've found another detail that I might want to point out to you guys, I think that she's been hurting herself in the crate, she has a small wound on her face and 2 other places on her body. Also, during late July/Early August, we started to really get her used to her crate and being left alone in her crate and she was doing pretty good in the end. She might bark once or whine a little bit but she was pretty good. We didn't leave the house however but we were in a separate room and we even closed and opened the garage doors and other sound cues and she was fine. But if we do that now, she would be really anxious, whine, bark, try to get out, and eventually pee.

Leigha · Post by **Leigha** » Wed Sep 02, 2009 9:09 pm

Everything I've read in other websites says to get an enzymatic cleaner that breaks up the urine so she can't smell it anymore. You might not be able to, but she can so she knows it as her potty place.

When we got ours as a puppy his crate was too big, so we got a shoe box and it filled up half of the crate so as he grew we just manipulated or cut the shoe box to take up less and less space until he could fit in the whole thing.

emmabeth · Post by **emmabeth** » Wed Sep 02, 2009 11:02 pm

Im really not a fan of feeding dogs just once a day, with the exception of certain types of dog (namely working sighthounds who are generally rather 'take it or leave it' regarding food anyway).

I suspect that feeding in the evening will make it more of an event as shes more hungry... and thus more of a thing to look forward to and more of a reason to dislike being crated.

It does sound as if she has fairly bad seperation anxiety so really regardless of when you feed her, she is liable to wee/poo when left. Also if you go with feeding in the evening then you cant use food filled Kongs during the day to keep her amused.

Its really late so ill get back to you tomorrow with some links and more info wrt seperation anxiety (search the forum too though theres a fair bit) - as far as cleaner goes...

Wee (not poo though) is in fact sterile when it comes out - stuff gets into it after that but as icky things go its not so bad. Biological washing powder diluted in water will remove urine, vinegar is good too. Bleach and products containing bleach will draw a dog back to that area again and again so dont use that.

What happens if you leave her out of the crate? Do you know?...

Zarafay · Post by **Zarafay** » Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:55 pm

We have tried at first to give her fill Kongs but she doesnt touch them. We don't trust her to be home alone by herself, but we have recently tried leaving her with just one person in the house (not me) and she has been pretty good, she would just follow them as she would regularly do w/ me when I'm around. We also just looked at Petsmart's return policy and we'll try to get her a smaller crate.by the way, should we stick to her fiberglass type crate or get a wired-crate? Thanks for all of your answers! We really appreciate all of them.

maximoo · Post by **maximoo** » Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:35 pm

What are you filling Kongs with? and is she hungry when you give it to her? have you tried peanut butter or cheeze whiz? If she is famished she will love probably love a Kong
Petsmart will let you do a return w/o a receipt--done it many times. But you are actually exchanging--not a big deal at all. Whatever type crate you like best is fine. Get the smallest one. It must be cozy, den-like. Put a nice little blanket, or bed in it for her and let her come & go as she pleases while you are home. Throw her favorite treats in. Give her a small marrow bone (freeze it) to gnaw on. You can get them from the meat dept or butcher.
I think you should work on not having her follow you around so much. Once she gets more confident and shows independence you will have a happier dog.
Keep us updated!

Zarafay · Post by **Zarafay** » Fri Sep 04, 2009 3:26 pm

I usually fill it up w/ peanut butter or sometimes melt some string cheese. She should be hungry. The last time we fed her a Kong in her crate home alone, it had some left over mac & Cheese but she pooped all over it. She'll eat anything from it when we're around, and we save just beef bones and give them to her one at a time (we freeze the rest). Though, we've stopped giving it to her in her crate since she's been pooing and peeing. If we get her a smaller crate, will she her eliminating improve? I'm also pretty sure that she has Separation Anxiety ever since we got her about 3 months ago from another owner who couldn't take care of her, and that owner got her from a breeder who apparently over-bred her. So she's been through a lot

And yes, we say their website and thanks goodness they have that policy! We're hopefully going to Petsmart today.

Also, tomorrow we're going on a vacation just on Sat. and so we're hoping to let a friend take care of her. (crossing my fingers that she behaves).

Hmm.. I've seen some other posts on this forum that help to dog to not follow their owners as much (the making tea example). I'll probably try that sometime soon.

Mattie · Post by **Mattie** » Sat Sep 05, 2009 3:39 am

The best way for a dog to gain confidence enough to go off and do their own thing is to ignore them while you are working round the house. You have to make yourself very boring to your dog when working, housework etc. Some dogs take longer than others to go off on their own but this is much better than shutting them in a room for a couple of minutes and extending it as they get used to it. By ignoring your dog it is their decision to move on and not yours so causes your dog no stress, shutting them in a room causes them a lot of stress.

All 6 of my dogs came with SA, this is how I solved it with every one of them and they are all happy to be left now.