Dog peeing in Dog Run

[mykel]

I have a 2 year old Lab/Boxer mix. He IS house broken (asks to go outside etc) and has been trained at a dog trainer (professionally). He is well behaved (if a little ADHD ) for the most part but my problem is this: No matter the size of the kennel, he pees inside of it! Even if he has to stand in the pee afterwards! No warnings, just pees!

I have had medium sized Kennels (he is 40 lbs) where he can barely turn around which was his own. I have had large kennels where he has plenty of room. I currently have a 6x18' cage in my garage (which he shares with my boxer/staffy of the same age) which has a doggie door to an enclosed 12x25' dog run. I have provided fresh water outside, I purchased a 12x12 gazebo for shelter from the rain and I have a nice warm bed inside the garage. The dog run is cleaned every other day and hosed down, so lurking smells should be washed away.

Our living situation. We have a 2 girls: 2 and 3 and 2 boys 8 and 11. The dogs are walked regularly and are not (usually) in the cage more than 8 hours at a time (when we are sleeping). During the day my wife is a stay at home Mom and has them inside with her. We have lived in this house for about a year now. This is an issue that was happening in our previous house as well - so its not a "we moved" issue. When we are inside he will whine to be let out to pee.

I am hoping for help on how to break him of this habit. As I said above, the size of the kennel doesn't matter - he only whines AFTER he has gone pee. The time in the kennel doesn't matter to him either, I have tried staying up till midnight, letting him out at 4 and then getting up at 6. When he wants to pee, he pees. I have taken him to the vet and had him checked for a bladder infection - clean as a whistle. He can be in the kennel for 8 hours with no issue, or he can be in there a half hour (this just happened prompting this message) and pees/poops.

All help appreciated!

[***Melissa***]

What kind of trainer was he trained by? What methods were used?

The fact that he is house trained does not necessarily mean he is "kennel" trained. He may also scent mark the kennel if he feels insecure in there. Was he trained to like the kennel (like crate training)?

Can you give more details as to exactly what you mean with he urinates in his kennel? Is it immediately, is it after a few hours, is it on his bedding, in the corner - the more info the better.

Can you also provide details as to their daily routine, what kind of exercise they get (how long, mental and physical), what are they fed, etc - anything you can think of.

[Nettle]

I'd get him separate quarters. You have two male dogs just at maturity, and it may well be that one is threatening the other. Threats don't have to be obvious to us to be upsetting for a dog. He could be unable to pee outside because the other won't let him, or he could be trying to make himself feel more secure by making the sleep area smell of him.

I've just sorted a similar issue with some clients. They kept their dogs crated together, and the peeing stopped as soon as each dog had its own crate AND the crates were put a distance from each other.

[mykel]

What kind of trainer was he trained by? What methods were used?
The trainer ran a training school and used a shock collar (sparingly). This is a trainer that numerous people have used in our friend and family circle

The fact that he is house trained does not necessarily mean he is "kennel" trained. He may also scent mark the kennel if he feels insecure in there. Was he trained to like the kennel (like crate training)?
Yes - I crate trained them both immediately upon receiving them before sending them to training at 6 months old. I got them at 8 weeks

Can you give more details as to exactly what you mean with he urinates in his kennel? Is it immediately, is it after a few hours, is it on his bedding, in the corner - the more info the better.
When I say he pees in his kennel I am talking about the 6x18 dog run which serves as a kennel. Previously he had a medium sized crate. When he was in the crate he would just lift his leg and pee in it - right on the side and sit in it until I woke up to his whining. Now he will pee when he feels like it. Sometimes it is immediate, sometimes he can be in there for an hour or 2 before doing it. He simply doesn't feel like going outside to where he defecates. He has peed on the doggie door. He has peed on the walls, he has peed on the sides and he has peed on his bedding.

Can you also provide details as to their daily routine, what kind of exercise they get (how long, mental and physical), what are they fed, etc - anything you can think of.
We feed them duck and potato dog food twice a day. We walk them daily (actually my boys get on their scooters and take a half mile loop around our neighborhood) once per day. We cuddle with them on the couch while inside and my boys will rough house with them.

I'd get him separate quarters. You have two male dogs just at maturity, and it may well be that one is threatening the other. Threats don't have to be obvious to us to be upsetting for a dog. He could be unable to pee outside because the other won't let him, or he could be trying to make himself feel more secure by making the sleep area smell of him.
I actually have both a male and a female, both fixed. The male is the one peeing all over. I have crated them seperately and this still happens. Also they are very attached to eachother and cuddle up on beds/couch together and if we put them in seperate rooms they moan for each other. Even while seperated the male dog still pees his kennel (we were on vacation for a week and had them at seperate sitters and this issue kept going on).

I am not trying to be difficult, I really want to sort this out and have turned here because I have tried everything that I can think of to sort this out! HELP!

[***Melissa***]

Shock collars (and choke chains and whatnot) are harsh tools to use on dogs. It does more damage than good. It may "stop" the problem, but it does not address the problem. Please don't use it (or allow anybody else to use it) on your dogs?

Rough housing is not the *best* way to play with dogs, sorry. Could your boys rather try clicker training instead of rough housing? Here's a link to clicker training: viewtopic.php?f=20&t=513
Clicker training tires the mind, and only about 10 minutes is necessary.

It does seem the urinating may be due to insecurity. Clicker training will boost his confidence too, AND you can use clicker training with potty training too
Dogs wee where it already smells of wee, so be sure to clean up with bio-degradeble washing powder or vinegar (other products don't take out the smell, even if you can't smell it, he still can). All the weeing made him think that it's okay to go there.

So it's a vicous circle: Dog scent marks bc of insecurity = wee smell attracts dog to wee there again = he learns that that is where he should wee

So you will have to work on all 3 issues, and yes, go back to potty training again.

Insecurity - continue to let him have his own space. You can set it up so he can decide to be with the other dog or to be alone. And do clicker training to boost his confidence.
Smell: bio-degradeble washing powder / vinegar
Potty training: viewtopic.php?f=20&t=6125