Crate Training

[Coach]

I picked up a great GSP from a local breeder and am having some issues. We got her at 8 weeks old.

In the past instead we have not done a lot of crate training, we just have the pup sleep with us until she is house trained, this has worked great with the 4 other dogs we have had past and present.

Over time it just disrupted out sleep too much, so we started crate training last week. The problem we are having right now is she is peeing in the crate. Sometimes multiple times a night. Last night she was put in the crate at 9:30pm. I took her out and she peed outside beforehand. At 11:30 she started making noise in the Kennel. She had peed in the kennel. Took her out and cleaned everything up, back in the kennel. Noisy again at 2:30a. Same routine. Again at 5:30am

That is by far the worst night we have had. Typical night is in the crate at 10pm. Up and out around 2am, and she usually has us up at sunrise. She also has made it a couple nights without peeing in the crate.

A little back history is she came from the breeder with a severe UTI. It took a bit to figure this out, but has definitely made house training a chore. She never seems to empty her bladder completely......instead of peeing a lot every hour or so....she pees every 15-20 minutes. She has been back to the vet a couple times and the UTI is gone.

Any ideas?

[aksportsman]

first off I have a few questions how large is the crate she is sleeping in/ bed? does she have constant access to water? how long ago has the UTI cleared?

The pup is young, and mixed with the UTI I think progress may take a little while as frustrating as getting up every night may be. I'd be a little cautious about letting her out every time she whines as well, while I wouldn't want the dog sleeping in the pee with a history of UTIs already I wouldn't want to reward the behavior or whining either. I'd restrict her water intake a few hours before putting her up and use as small of a crate as possible, but still comfortable for the dog. larger crates allow a pup to compartmentalize the crate to an extent and give them too much room to defecate inside.

I haven't done this but I know some people who use a flexible barrier, attach the sides to the crate while leaving it open so that the dog can pee outside the crate in a penned off area, on a mat that you have laid out for the purpose. This may help teach the dog that it should leave the crate to pee and give you some time to sleep. Maybe some others have additional thought about this method as well.

[Sharon]

deleted ( Thought it was a puppy)

[Coach]

first off I have a few questions how large is the crate she is sleeping in/ bed? does she have constant access to water? how long ago has the UTI cleared?

The pup is young, and mixed with the UTI I think progress may take a little while as frustrating as getting up every night may be. I'd be a little cautious about letting her out every time she whines as well, while I wouldn't want the dog sleeping in the pee with a history of UTIs already I wouldn't want to reward the behavior or whining either. I'd restrict her water intake a few hours before putting her up and use as small of a crate as possible, but still comfortable for the dog. larger crates allow a pup to compartmentalize the crate to an extent and give them too much room to defecate inside.

I haven't done this but I know some people who use a flexible barrier, attach the sides to the crate while leaving it open so that the dog can pee outside the crate in a penned off area, on a mat that you have laid out for the purpose. This may help teach the dog that it should leave the crate to pee and give you some time to sleep. Maybe some others have additional thought about this method as well.

She is about a week shy of 5 months old and 40+ lbs right now. She just graduated from a med crate to a large crate. I really can not see her in a smaller crate and be comfortable.



UTI has been cleared for a month.

[Sharon]

You say "no UTI" and " she came from the breeder with a severe UTI" quote ................. 5 months ago roughly

At that age , there must be some kind of bladder /ureter damage. Has the vet not been able to tell you exactly what the damage is? I couldn't live with that ,but it's your dog so your choice.

[cjhills]

Judging From the photo it looks like she has a rather large vulva for a dog of her age. Might be some issue withy that.............Cj

[shags]

I would be thinking about having a really thorough workup done, maybe at a specialty clinic or vet school. Maybe she has an anatomical abnormality that is contributing to the problem.

Good luck.

[Coach]

The vet did notice the extra skin around the vulva and mentioned that might have been the cause of the original UTI.

4 hours seems to be the number.

She was crated last night at 10pm. Woke up to her whining at 2am. She has peed in the crate, but not a significant amount. Same story at 6am.

[aksportsman]

Im sorry I had not realized the age of the dog currently, I believe the others have provided good advice and it would make sense that this is a lingering issue from the UTI.