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DORG - The Dachshund Magazine On-Line!

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DORG - The Dachshund Magazine On-Line!
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Re: Re: Crate Unrination & Defecation

Hi Pat
Thanks for the response, I will answer all of your questions.

How long is she in her crate?
She is usually in her crate for no longer than 5 hours. There has been times when she has been there for longer due to work related issues. Prior to leaving for work I walk her and she goes to the bathroom just before I leave.

Was she completely crate trained before and is this a recent behavior?
Prior to these recent incidents with her she was crate trained. However, in thinking back there were times when I came home to find her blanket wet which I thought was from licking. Although it did not smell like urine, I am wondering now if it was. This behavior started a week ago when I attended a Dr.'s appointment and had an alomst three hour wait in the office, so I was late getting home. Within 5 hours she had urinated and deficated in her crate and was covered in it.

Has anything changed in her or your daily routines?
I had surgery in January and was home for three weeks recovering, during this time she was able to be out of her crate and I also started to have her sleep on her pillows in my room. She did not have any accidents during the night and she managed well with being out of her crate during the hours she is normally in it while I am at work.

Is she exercised twice a day and you also play games with her?
During my recovery she was not walked as often as she normally is. Yes, I play games with her, go fetch, hide & seek, etc.

Why is she crated? Separation anxiety, destructive, or barking?
She is crated while I am at work because I do not want her chewing furniture, etc. Mind you I do think she is experiencing seperation anxiety because of the urination & defecation in her crate, recent lack of exercise, and I have returned to work this week. Mind you when this started happening I was still home recovering but would have to step out for an appointment.

Maybe it’s time for her to be in a room with a baby gate in the doorway or possibly an x-pen would be better.Usually down sizing the crate helps because they don’t like their “den” dirty. How small is the crate?
I have put her in the bathroom with a baby gate across the door. In the bathroom with her I have put her pillow which she chewed today and pulled out the cotton stuffing that is in it and 2 of her chew toys. She has not deficated in the bathroom, however she has urinated. In a way I am pleased that she has not deficated in the bathroom, however I want to decrease the urinating as soon as possible. What is an x-pen? Her crate was the small one from Petmate. When she has urinated I have been looking for blood in the urine to indicate a bladder infection/problem but have noticed nothing.

I hope I have answered everything for you, any further advice is much appreciated.

Thanks,
Leanne

Re: Re: Re: Crate Unrination & Defecation

I really think you answered your own questions. There was a change in the household due to your surgery and the time you had to recoup. I hope you are doing well now. Looks like she couldn’t cope with the change in daily routine. I believe you have to start Crate training and SA 101 all over again. It will take a lot of time but I think with lots of patience and training you can get her use to the crate and staying home alone. Maybe one or two days a week she could go to day camp. How about a dog walker coming to your home to take her out? This way she will get one walk during the 5 hours you are gone.

Another consideration to lessen her stress and/or anxiety is giving her a frozen KONG to chew on. I wouldn’t give pillows or stuffy toys. As you have found out they like to de-stuff them and I’m afraid she might eat the stuffing which could cause a bigger problem. There is also a medication called Clomicalm for SA. You need your vet’s prescription for this. If you don’t like the idea of medicating, there is a plug-in called D.A.P. (Dog Appeasing Pheromone) which is very helpful to stress related behavior in pups and dogs.

Sometimes the naked eye cannot see blood in the urine. By the time you see blood it usually means it is a really bad infection and may have possibly gone into the kidneys. Signs of a UTI is frequent and inappropriate urination. Only the vet can tell for sure if she has a UTI.

As soon as you’re well enough I would consider obedience training for her. I’m sure it would be a big help in you becoming leader of the pack and it would be something you both enjoy. BTW how is your male doing?

Here’s links to help you with crates and SA training.

Crate training your pup and older dog
http://www.thedachshundnetwork.com/cratebenefits.htm

Sometimes dogs prefer wire crates
http://www.petsmart.com/global/search/search_results.jsp?cm_ven=goo&cm_cat=adwords&cm_pla=Dog&cm_ite=CagesCrates&ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=2534374302023689&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302035809&N=2035809&Ne=2&TS=2%7CALL&bmUID=1170816188743

I hope this link works; it has a cool set up of a crate and x-pen
http://www.jemarpet.com/shop/imageview.asp?file=XpenSilver2.jpg

If it doesn’t work I got it from this site. I enlarged the photo.
http://www.jemarpet.com/shop/item.asp?itemid=2619&catid=45

Separation Anxiety
http://www.ygrr.org/doginfo/behavior-anxiety.html

Re: Re: Re: Re: Crate Unrination & Defecation

Hi Pat:

Thanks for the links! I am sure I will use them. This week I have put Mya in the bathroom with a baby gate blocking the door so she can not get out. I have left her with two toys to keep her amused. She has had only one accident this week during my absence. AS soon as she sees her crate she begins to tremble & shake. When I leave for work, she barks a little but that is it. Again, thanks for your advice. Duncan, me little guy is doing much better. I have been reinforcing the obedience with him daily and am using it with Mya as well. Things here are turning around for all of us.
Leanne

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Crate Unrination & Defecation

Hi Leanne,

Thank you for the update. I’m happy to hear all is going well. It’ll take time but I’m sure with that and patience you’ll have everything worked out very soon. Dachshunds are a little different as you can’t give them an inch or they will want a mile. :

Keep up the good work and take care,

Patt