peeing in crate

edited March 2009 in Behavior & Training
My little baby, Winnie, Is about 12 weeks old now. Ive had her since 8 weeks and as much as I read and try to be persistent her behavior has gotten progressively worse. Im not sure if it was just her getting used to her new home and her feeling like she owns the place now or what but i need to learn how to correct her! Due to her being so young and not having her shots my vet advised me to keep Winnie inside as much as possible so i started her by pad training. This had been going really well and she hadnt peed inside her crate ever until three days ago. Since then any time i leave the house or go to bed and shes in the crate she pees a little puddle. for the past month she has held her pee for a few hours at a time so i know she has no problem holding it, and when im home she doesnt even run to the pad like she has to pee really bad. I feel like shes trying to tell me something. Any idea what? Also, when shes runnning around the apt playing, usually when she would have to go she would walk over to the pad, circle a few times and pee a big puddle on the pad. Recently she walks over to a run and just pees a tiny bit and walks away. Any advice?

Comments

  • edited November -1
    She may have vaginitis or a bladder infection, but your Vet would be able to tell if that was actually the case. She is not marking her territory or anything or trying to dominate you. At 12 weeks she should be able to go for a few hours. If she doesn't have an infection, any accidents she does have will be the result of human error, so in any case, I wouldn't "correct her" for whatever pee accidents she has as puppies make mistakes. If she is having frequent urination and urgency with small amounts or you see blood in the urine, take her to see your Vet.

    Timing her meals and her water intake with the play times and exercise times is important and will assist you in potty training her. I personally would find it to be more work to use wee pads because then you have to retrain the dog later to pee off the pads so it's confusing for them, and I would rather cut out the middle man so to speak.

    Proper crate size is important, too large a crate will give the pup room to wee in a corner and then go to a clean corner to sleep. Activity will stimulate the need to wee, so a good play session while not allowing her to guzzle water just before crating may help curb any accidents for a few hours. Also, at 12 weeks old she should have at least 1 or even 2 sets of shots by that age. They can be given 2-4 weeks apart depending on the Vet, and some breeders may give them as early as 6 weeks, most starting at 8-9 weeks. She should be able to go outside in your yard or in front of your house, in a friends yard, but do avoid areas where many dogs visit or where sick dogs may potty/play such as dog parks until you have the 2 boosters. The benefits outweigh the risks.
  • edited November -1
    Im definitely going to call the vet about that today, that makes sense. I keep reminding myself that shes a puppy and that the mistakes the makes are really cause i haven't taught her the correct way but i dont know what the correct way is sometimes!!! the breeder that I got my pup from said that Shibas won't over eat so it was fine to just leave food and water out and let them drink when they want but it makes sense that feeding on a schedule would make potty training easier.
    Thanks for your help! Ill keep on it
  • edited March 2009
    Ditto on what Lindsay advised. Get her checked by the vet and her shots. You can then gradually get her to retrained to go outside. For puppies of that age I do not allow them to run all over the house for play since they will have so many accidents in too large of an open space. They drink and play play play and then pee. Peeing machines in fact. Every half hour to 45 minutes during play. I only withhold water right before bedtime in the evening. Get your pup on a routine and stick to it. If you have to, set a timer so you remind yourself it has been 15 mins of play or whatever. Also, I would not leave kibble out for her all day. (Just so you know there are Shibas the do overeat, but usually that is out of boredom or health problems). In any case know what goes in comes out and with puppies that is very often! So you have to control elimination by putting them on a schedule and sticking to a routine. Especially helpful if you have to maintain a routine yourself for work etc.


    Here is a quick link to get you started. (Great org. and has tons of other tips too!)
    http://www.diamondsintheruff.com/


    Snf
  • edited November -1
    hmm, I would say that some Shibas like to be little piggies and eat everything and anything edible. :)
    Toby is never satisfied with his meal. If we left food out all day ... well. There would be no food. It would be gone in seconds. ;)
  • edited November -1
    Also,
    To chime in to what everyone else has said, I hope you are using some strong (yet safe) cleaners to get rid of the pee in the crate once she does have an accident inside.

    Jesse
  • edited November -1
    Nature's Miracle works great to clean and de-smell your pup's crate. I pretty much have stock in it, because it cleans stains so well (Nola loves to track in mud). They also make laundry detergent if you happen to have a crate pad or blanket in the crate that may have been soiled.
  • edited November -1
    Like Steph I have a "foodie" shiba also and I would never leave her with food dish all day. I have images of her with knife and fork with bib while I was gone and hogging it all from the rest of the dogs. She is also the dog that knows how to open cabinet doors and pop door knobs. Heck she will eat jasmine tea leaves and drink coffee with cream and sugar if you leave it within paws reach. Certainly has quite a diverse cuisine with the exception of celery (LOL)...go figure.

    She does not have health problems, but we concluded she had to have something to do. Therefore, we give her cash pots for breakfast, such as hidden kongs, suffed dices and suffed jaxs to keep her occupied. This seems to work as a good alternative to bust boredom and random sampling of goods (mainly paper) when we leave for work etc.

    Snf
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