I agree with Pat. Its best to put the crate in the bedroom where you sleep. It helps if the puppy can see you so they feel safe. In the old days, we used to use a windup alarm clock because the rhythmic ticking reminds the puppy of the mothers heart beat. Of course you do not want to put it in the kennel/crate, but you can put it on top or next to it so the puppy hears the sound. You might be surprised, but another thing that can work is music. I do not mean rock and roll (lol), but soothing soft music can help. You want to make sure the bottom of the crate, towel, pad, or whatever is on the bottom remains dry. A wet cushion, towel, or bottom of crate can put a basenji puppy in distress and will eventually cause them to scream. They do not want to be trapped in the crate if they have an accident.
Tayda, lover of her crate, now hates it?
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So sorry that she is having issues…. you might want, if you have not ask the people on the Fanconi list what they think.... She could just be feeling not so good and when you leave she just pees without really thinking about it or feeling like she can't hold it (if that makes any sense).... I would guess it has something to do with the UTI... and also you could email Dr. Gonto and see what he thinks...
Do you have to crate her?
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I probably wouldn't need to crate Tayda, but I don't trust Lenny uncrated - and I think he would go absolutely BONKERS if I crated him but left Tayda loose….
Is it normal for a dog with a UTI to have accidents during the day but be able to hold it for the entire night?
I have just emailed Dr. Gonto and the Fanconi list......
Another strange thing - and she has always been like this - Tayda will not eat in her crate if the door is closed. I put the food in there, she goes in, and I close the door. She will just stand there until I open the door, and THEN she will eat. I used to put her food in her crate and then leave for work. I'd come home from work 8 hours later and the food would be untouched... but as soon as I opened the door to the crate, she would step out of the crate, turn around and put her head back in the crate and eat the food.
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Don't really have any answers for you… but as far as the accidents, you are dealing with two things, 1. the Fanconi and 2. the UTI... so maybe at night she is not stressed and can make it... but in the crate she gets too stressed? And her behavior with eating in the crate does lead me to believe she does have some crate phobia, but sort of controls it?... again, don't know.
Do you think that if you crated Lenny but left Tayda loose with the crate door open she would "go far"? Seems that since she hung around her crate before, she would do that again? Could you try for a short period and see how Lenny reacts?
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I know one other possibility is that she may be mad/frustrated about something. Some dogs use urinating/accidents as a tool to display their frustration. I've seen it first had myself.
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I was gonna say try leaving her out for a bit like Pat suggested. Maybe Lenny can have an extra special goodie, like a frozen kong treat or something. I wonder if she is getting upset when you leave because she is worried that if she has to go, she can't get out to potty. When you're home and everyone is asleep she rests more easily knowing that you're there to let her out if she suddenly has to go. But maybe because she's had accidents lately due to the uti/fanconi issues, maybe she's getting worked up because she's worried she won't be let out in time to potty outside? And of course once she gets stressed, she's gonna have to go sooner. Seems a stretch for her since she's normally so mellow, but who knows. I am baffled too. Anything else change in your routine lately? Different work days, or times? Any change in routines with the neighbors? Are they coming and going at different times, where she might think it's your car coming home, not theirs?
Also about her eating, yes she is not one to like to eat much in the crate, neither is Mojo. He's gotten better over the years, especially now that there's more of a "pack" here. But most of the time when Tayda was here, she DID eat in the crate with closed doors. With so many dogs around, it's the way things went around here. And she made her decision to eat or not right away. I tried keeping them separate sometimes to leave food in with her, and it would still be there when I came back. I'm sure some of the time she didn't eat was because mommy was gone, but other times it was just Tayda. lol Mojo is very quirky too. He is much less likely to eat with a closed door as well, and also if I'm not in the same room with him. Or if it's morning. Or if we're traveling or getting up too early. And probably if the wind is blowing. lol
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Thanks everyone for your replies. I'm going to try removing the crate divider so they can share one big crate again, now that I've confirmed that it was Tayda wetting the crate. Even though, when they have the whole big crate, usually they are sitting on top of each other anyway. Maybe they just love each other THAT much and can't bear to be separated by the crate divider. lol.
If that doesn't work, I'll see what I can come up with to leave Tayda out and Lenny in, or I might even just quarantine them both off in the kitchen and see how that works….
My work schedule has not changed, not sure about the neighbors though. My neighbors driveway is just out the window where their crate is, it's possible they are coming and going more often. Not sure.
I think its very likely that she is somehow more stressed being in the crate when I'm not here now because of her urgency to pee more often. Aside from the one accident she had right in front of me the other day, all accidents have been in the crate when I'm gone.
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I know one other possibility is that she may be mad/frustrated about something. Some dogs use urinating/accidents as a tool to display their frustration. I've seen it first had myself.
oh yes, i've seen this too… on my BED! :eek::mad:
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Could you possible set up an ex-pen for them so you could provide a potty box of some sort? Maybe knowing she has a potty area could reduce her stress. You could use a litter box or a small sod box.
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An update on the Tayda vs. the crate….
Today was the first day since last thursday that Tayda was in the crate all day while I was at work (I was off friday-monday) and no wetting the crate! Yay! I did write to Dr. Gonto about it and he responded that he gets "basenji used to love crate and now hates it" emails about once a week. He is apparently strenuously opposed to crating dogs (I didn't know that!) He did suggest that I clean and sterilize the crate REALLY thoroughly. I had been washing all of the bedding, but I had not wiped down the crate itself. So I wiped it down with antibacterial wipes, and put completely new bedding down. She has also been on the UTI antibiotics for about 7 days so that may have something to do with it also but so far, seems to be getting better.
I would like to try to leave them out of the crate - I have done it twice now for about an hour at a time and no real dramas. The first time, I came home and found a can of tennis balls, opened and balls scattered around the floor, and the 2nd time, Lenny pulled Tayda's left over food bowl down from the counter and brought it into the crate and ate it. That's it so far . I'm going to have to learn to put things away better.....
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Sounds like progress… and I was pretty sure that Dr Gonto would prefer that a Fanconi afflicted dog if at all possible be able to be not crated. It, I would guess be very stressful at times....
And there is the idea that lvoss suggested about an x-pen with a litter or sod box.... that might be an option if you can't leave them uncrated. Or at least Tayda....
