Crying in crate after 6 years
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My basenji started crying in her crate any where from 3:30 - 5:00 in the morning. She is 6 1/2 years old and we have had her for all but the first year. We have always crated her at bedtime and whenever we are not home. She has always been excellent, going in on command and never making any noise during the night. She stays quiet until we decide its time to come out in the morning. Now she cries and whines and is even peeing on her blanket. She gets a long walk every night. I know she can hold her pee for many hours, because she does this if it's raining or snowing. Not sure of any change in her routine that could cause her to be crying.
Vet told us to stay consistent, which I think we have.
Thanks for any help that might be out there.
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How often does she get her walks? You mention a long walk every night, is that it? One walk a day?
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When you took her to the vet did they test for a UTI? Ruling out a health issue would be the first step in figuring out why she may have had this change.
+1. Maybe a change in health is causing her to need to pee - hence her waking up early and crying and peeing in her crate.
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Ditto above. Sounds completely like her bladder is waking her up early, and she REALLY has to go. Could be a UTI, or could be a change in routine like she is drinking a bunch of water before bed because it is really warm outside? I would be fairly confident that this IS not a housetraining issue.
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When you took her to the vet did they test for a UTI? Ruling out a health issue would be the first step in figuring out why she may have had this change.
I second this suggestion. Any change like this is suspect to a problem and should be checked. Bladder infections are painful. Does she squat a lot on her walks like she's trying to pee?
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Whilst you are getting her health checked out I would go to her, make no eye contact, don't speak to her or touch her, but let her out into the garden/ slip her lead on and take her out (whatever is appropriate) and give her chance to pee. You are facilitating her being able to get to pee - nothing else, so be neither friendly nor mean, completely neutral.
i find that not rewarding the Basenji with eye contact, praise etc it helps prevent the whining be rewarding by getting attention from you and thus increasing its frequency, but allows the animal to relieve itself if necessary. I've had a couple of times when this has happened with my boy - I've reacted instantly to his whines with taking him out (and when I was living in a 7th floor apt this was no easy feat) on each occasion he immediately pee'd and then went straight back into his crate to sleep for the rest of the night. To be honest, if he was comfy he'd hate going out into the cold night unless it was absolutely essential!
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I agree that with the recommendations that you have her checked. Do I understand correctly that all your vet said was be consistent? Did he not check her samples etc?
In my experience basenji bitches who are normally clean do get distressed if they wet their beds but I would also think that the whining is because she is unwell and possibly in pain/discomfort.
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No problem going pee when we walk. She can hold it for many hours. Never has accidents in the house. She acts normal in every way except for crying and whinning in her crate during the early hours 3-4, sometimes earlier. Went to Drs yesterday and nothing medically wrong. No UTI. Possibly something scared her in the crate at some point and now she associates being there with that? The difficult part is how good she always behaved in her crate prior to this. She would wait until we let her out with out making a sound if it was 5:00 Am or 9:00 Am
Glad nothing medically wrong, but still frustrated. -
No problem going pee when we walk. She can hold it for many hours. Never has accidents in the house. She acts normal in every way except for crying and whinning in her crate during the early hours 3-4, sometimes earlier. Went to Drs yesterday and nothing medically wrong. No UTI. Possibly something scared her in the crate at some point and now she associates being there with that? The difficult part is how good she always behaved in her crate prior to this. She would wait until we let her out with out making a sound if it was 5:00 Am or 9:00 Am
Glad nothing medically wrong, but still frustrated.Back in 94 I adopted a RW and he used to sleep in the living room. For a while he would wake up at 2am and scratch at the hallway door and whine. He would have this anxiety and so I would get up and sit with him on the couch, pet him and talk to him to calm him for about 10 minutes and he would go back to sleep. He stopped doing it after a few months.
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The fact that she is peeing on her blanket makes me suspect that something is physically wrong. Did you tell the vet about the peeing? If his/her only response is to "stay consistent" then I would ask another vet for a second opinion.
I agree with Wizard - also, the crying may be the result of her need to pee when she knows she should not be doing that in her crate -
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If no UTI, perhaps a different crate? If she is used to plastic, try open wire, or vice-versa. Is the crate in your bedroom? If not, she may be having some anxiety issues, and moving the crate and changing it may help.
Most 'good dogs' who are comfortable in their routine don't start waking up and crying and peeing for no reason.
