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Poopin' in the crate…

Basenji Training
  • WrobelzooW

    Hi everyone!
    We have a new baby, "Juma", who is 11 weeks old. She is absolutely fantastic in every way…great with our kids, cats, older dog...etc. However, we are perplexed by the fact that she is pooping in her crate. We have tried the small crate and almost as soon as we shut the door, she poops. We feed her in the crate and have had her in the crate while we are in the room, but we can't quite figure out the poopin' thing. We are slowly but surely making baby steps as far as getting her to pee outside (yeah right, when it's cold outside), but can't understand her pooping schedule. She's only been in the crate a maximum of 2 1/2 hours when we are gone, and we exercise, feed and play pretty hard when she is out of the crate. OOPS...gotta go, she found a pencil.;)

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  • nomrbddgsN

    I have to admit, I was worried about mine (same age) peeing in the crate on the blanket. But I'm glad she's not pooping! Just remember, she is very young, and will have lots of accidents. Keep an eye on her as soon as you put her in-when she starts giving signs she going to go, whisk her out into a potty box (I use a cardboard box, lined with newspapers and shredded paper), and praise her when she goes in the proper spot. Be consistent whatever method you choose to use-whether you whisk her outside or to a nearby potty box. (I won't put mine outside yet, too many parasites, too wet, or maybe I'm just lazy!) You'll both have lots of accidents! Good luck!

    Arlene, the Basenji Brats with the Boxenji![](images/smilies/biggrin.png "Big Grin")

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  • jessi76J

    You say she poops almost as soon as you close the door…. have you tried doing very short incriments? for example... start with her in the crate and don't shut the door at all. praise her. if she starts to squat to poo - whisk her outside.

    then start closing the door - first for 10 seconds, then 30 seconds, then a minute, and so on. Try this on the weekend when you're home and can devote some time to it. praise her lavishly when she doesn't poo in it.

    just out of curiousity, what type of crate do you have? as insignificant as it sounds, it may be an issue for your pup. I favor the all over wire crates, so I can see in, and the pup can see out. I do not cover the crate. and then again, some other dogs prefer the plastic vari-kennel kind.

    my dog never pooped in his crate, but at 11 wks old, did have a couple pee accidents in there. be sure to clean the crate really well, and keep the space available small, yet large enough for her to stand, turn around, and lay down comfortably. it should be like a cozy den, like a small nest. not enough room for her to poo and then lay down away from the poo.

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  • WrobelzooW

    Hi and thanks for the help!
    We have the all over wire crate, and we have tried the vari-kennel. Little miss is very social, so I think she prefers the all over wire crate. We have odor/scent remover and clean it as soon as poop happens. We have also made the crate smaller. I'm thinking it is some kind of anxiety that we're leaving, because this AM I put her in her crate to eat, shut the door and went to make toast. As soon as I was out of sight, she pooped IN HER FOOD….little stinker! So, good thing I'm a teacher and have next week off for spring break. Looks like we'll be doing some intensive poopy training. A funny note, however. As we were all getting ready this morning little Juma decided that a perfect spot to poop was on top of the "Basenji Training Manual". Ha ha ha very funny.:rolleyes:

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  • jessi76J

    LOL that is pretty funny! good luck!

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  • DukeD

    My sympathies about all these puppy training issues. Mine is 14 weeks and we've had her 5 weeks. She's still not trained. But soon, I do expect her to make the connection for outdoor duty. It's been cold most weeks we've had her. Now that the weather is beginning to get nicer . . . Good luck - attention to Juma's signals and plenty of patience and paper towel and it'll be done.

    btw - Juma is an unusual name. I like it. What does it mean?

    Jill

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  • WrobelzooW

    Juma means "born on Friday" in Swahili. We thought about finding an African name, and we loved Juma.

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  • youngandtiredY

    Sounds like a typical B to me with the pooping on the B training manual. You sure you don't have my B, she is quite smart also. Be patient your B will get the idea, and being home next week so you can work with her/him will help. They are very smart, my B learned pretty fast, and when she would go outside I always gave her a treat that she liked. You have to have the treat in your pocket and give it right away after he/she goes to potty, they only remember 30sec. after the fact. Good Luck!

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    Piggy only has problems pooping when she gets panicky too. For example if we leave her home in a crate and someone comes in the house but doesn't come down to see her or let her out she will do it. We can't put anything in her crate or she shreds it, we tried everything. For a while I was even buying fleece baby blankets at the dollar store and tossing them if she pooped. We gave up on that after a while. The mess was terrible, so I can relate to hours of cleanup… by the time you get her cleaned up and the crate. We did some desensitizing and left for short periods like I described before, and that helped a lot. My friend that has a B went to the vet about her anxiety, hers would cry incessantly, and they actually gave her meds, prozac I think, for it. I think she tried it, but didn't think it worked enough to do it. Sounded crazy to me. It hasn't happened in a while so we have been lucky. She has come to terms with her crate now and will once in a while go hang out in it by choice, so I know she doesn't hate it. Have you tried one of those snuggle buddy things? I wonder if you could find some way to protect it if Darwin had an accident. Best of luck and lots of patience!