Help - peeing in the crate
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Hello everyone,
We have had our new family member now for just over a week. She is 9 weeks old and a bundle of energy and joy. She is doing great in the crate at night although she has been peeing in the crate during the day. Is that normal and should we be worried. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. We have been very diligent in taking her out often as well.
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She spends several hours ata time in the crate during the day. It doesn't always happen but i was under the impression dogs will not pee in the crate. I have not spoken with her breeder yet. thx for replying i'm new to the forum and i'm finding it very helpful.
Jeff
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The general rule of thumb for puppies is that they should not be expected to hold their pee for more than however many months they are plus one hour. So for your puppy who is 2 months old, the most you could expect her to hold it is 3 hours.
Dogs generally don't like to pee in their crates but will if they can't hold it any longer. Some will develop a habit of doing it if they have been crated for long periods of time where they had to pee in their crates.
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She's just a baby. Sometimes, even with older "pups", they get excited and just can't hold one second longer. Honestly, if it's not something that happens every day, and she's healthy, I'd just keep the crate clean otherwise ignore those accidents. Also I've noticed my intact young female will have an accident if she's at the begining of her season.
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And people will find that crating during the day is much different then overnight. My pups could at 9 to 10 wks hold it 90% of the time for 6 hours or more, but crates were in our room where we slept. During the day there is daylight, noises, shadows.. things that will wake up a puppy…
And I have always been of the belief that if you have to crate during the day, then at night they sleep in bed with the humans... there is sometimes way to much crate time. So, I was able to set up the house to have a dog room with access to our back yard (totally secure)... so when I would crate them at night, I didn't feel guilty that they were spending more time in the crate then out.
If you don't mind sharing, who did you get your pup from?
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Dogs are diurnal, which means their metabolism, mental activity and physical activity is higher during daylight hours. Even if it seems they aren't very active, their bodies are.
That's probably why she has no problem holding it all night, but has accidents during the daytime. She is just a puppy, so if she'd not outside every three hours or so, it should be expected she'll have an occasional accident.
If nobody can be there to let her out, perhaps a pee pad in the crate would help.
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Think of this 9-week-old puppy as a 9-month-old baby.
We don't expect a baby to go without a diaper because we know he/she would have accidents all over the place.
A puppy needs to work on the training…. but with assistance from the owner. Go through the information that Debbi gave you... you should have some stuff about crate training/house breaking that should help.
There are many 'tricks of the trade' that we all do.. some are different than others.
I live in the PNW where it is cold and wet and snowy when I have puppies.
I put mine outside when they are 4-weeks-old to start pottying. I don't use a litterbox or papers. This works FOR ME. When my puppies leave, they are fairly well potty trained. If it isn't followed up with in the new home, then they revert back.. but that isn't often.
Good luck.. this is a fun time with your puppy!! -
Thank you very much for the reply….Can I ask you another question. Both my wife and I work from the home. There are times were we have to leave Elsa in the crate alone. The crying is killing me!!!!!!How long will it take her to get used to be alone in the crate. Thanks again,
Sincerely very anxious new papa,
Jeff
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We got her from Debbie Hauri in New Hampshire
Welcome and congrats on your new pup…how exciting! Is this one of the pups from the Tango & Dora breeding?
One thing that I did when I brought my pup home last winter was set up a crate, a litter box (with wood shaving pellets - equine pine) and put an xpen around it (also had a top on the xpen). That way when Liyah was crated for an extended time when I wasn't home, if she had to potty she could use the litter box. It was a great setup and consequently she never went to the bathroom in her crate...sometimes she partially missed the litterbox, but she was just a baby so I was happy she did as well as she did. I left the crate door open with treats, toys and soft bedding so she would choose on her own to go in the crate to sleep. I clipped the xpen closed. If you have space, I highly recommend this sort of setup so that your pup can keep her crate clean.
The only other thing I would add is don't hesitate to contact Debbi with questions. She is a wonderful person, super helpful and a good breeder. Not to mention she is a good trainer so I'm sure she'd have plenty of tips.
Please post pics when you get a chance...we love pics!
