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Peeing in the crate at night

Basenji Training
  • I would try to take her out just before bedtime, and make sure she is not drinking any water after 6:00. Good Luck!

  • And make sure you clean the crate COMPLETELY EVERY day. You need to eliminate any urine odors that may be encouraging her to think that is an appropriate place to urinate.

  • And make sure that when you take her out for the last time at night she actually goes…you have to see it for yourself ;)

    My guess is that something is waking her up, and then she has to go. She still might not be able to hold it seven hours...but she will in time. One of my dogs did this during her first year, and we just changed the bedding and cleaned up the crate. She grew out of it, and now is one of the VERY cleanest dogs ever.

    I don't know that I would restrict her water as early as 6pm...but I might take water out of her crate if she has access to it overnight. 12 hours is a long time to go without water, IMO.

  • I never take my B's water up, but then she holds her urine until morning when sleeping at night. I was just offering this b/c her B can't seem to hold his, I would take it up maybe a little later depending on bed time.

  • I have had this problem with Zahra. I don't know if it is because she came from the pet store where she could be in her kennel and it was no big deal.

    Anyway, I have found that if I made the crate smaller, just big enough for her to turn around in that it stopped her from doing it. When she had full access to the crate she would pee on one side and then sleep on the other.

    Hope this helps.

  • Cindy, some Basenjis just seem to do this - you can hope she'll grow out of it…. I do agree, one thing is to make certain you thoroughly clean the crate; we use Nature's Miracle. We have one girl who will still pee in her crate at age 6 - usually when she wakes up early and doesn't get to go out right away. She was raised the same way as her 4 brothers, none of them will pee in the crate. But then, we also have carpet pieces in her daytime run area and those are her first choice of a place to pee even outside! We don't restrict water, but we do make sure she goes just before bedtime.

    Terry

  • I notice having a smaller crate keeps Cali from relieving herself in her crate. Sometimes she sleeps in my bed at night, but when she sleeps in her crate I notice that she holds it longer. l do not let her have anything to drink after 8pm and her crate is just big enough for her to lay down with not much extra room. I take her out one last time at about 10pm and she holds it until 6 or 7 in the morning.
    tlbuddy

  • Thanks for all the advice. On Saturday night, due to some miscommunication, Tori was left out of her crate during the night. She did not pee anywhere in the house. We have since left her out for two more nights and she has either slept in a chair, on the heat register or in her open crate. It is interesting to note that when she slept in her open crate, she did not pee during the night. If this solves our night time peeing problem, and she does not tear up the house, I think we will keep letting her stay out of her crate during the night. Yesterday, I had to crate her during the day while I was at work for about 7 hours and when I came home, she had peed in the crate so she must think that it is okay to go in a locked crate. We will definitely try the Nature's Miracle and clean it completely to see if it makes a difference. It just gets so gross and smelly, I hate to see her in a crate when it is like this. Thanks again. Cindy

  • @cindyb514:

    Yesterday, I had to crate her during the day while I was at work for about 7 hours and when I came home, she had peed in the crate so she must think that it is okay to go in a locked crate.

    being locked in may be causing her some anxiety. if leaving the door open solves the problem, and she's not destructive, I say go for it!

  • Mine did the same thing - and still will on occasion, I'm sorry to say (she'll be 8 in December). I never wanted to run the risk of leaving her out, though. I use Simple Solution to clean her crate, etc. and it definitely takes away the odor. I also go to Wal-mart and buy scraps of fleece from the sewing area and line her crate with that. That way, I can wash it and toss it when it gets yucky, with very little expense. I hope this helps.

  • I was always told that 7 hours is a long time for a dog not to pee, especially if it has been drinking water.:eek: I solved this problem myself by getting underground fencing, and a doggie door. Now when I am out she is free to go outside and potty. She is fully trained now, and will now go even when it is raining, wonder of wonder.:eek:

  • I adopted my B and the foster parent that I picked her up from said she would pee in her crate at night if there was a blanket or any kind of bedding in there but is fine otherwise. When I adopted her we decided to leave her out at night and she also seems to be fine with that.

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  • And he is peeing now!

    Basenji Training 28 Feb 2010, 04:37
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    @Nemo: Can you give more details of the situations when he pees on the couch? Well, it happened in two occasions in two different days. The first time we had been playing, we had gone for a walk after, we came back home, then I went to the kitchen to have some water and when I came back to the living room I saw him getting down the couch and voila! He had wetted the couch so I took him out right away. The second time was yesterday but I just noticed that the couch was wet, but did not see the moment it exactly happened, so I can't give many details. But I find it extrange, as mentioned, since he has been doing really well on potty training, I wonder what makes him peeing there.
  • Crate training

    Basenji Training 26 Sept 2009, 19:52
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    When you feed him in the crate and close do you walk away? I had a foster that was terrified of the crate and also suffered terrible anxiety w/peeing in the crate too. So I would feed him in the crate and then close the door and sit right there with him. At first I only closed the door half way, did that way for about a week then was able to close it all the (without latching) for another week. I would sit right next to the crate and praise him for eating his meals. Then I would scoot a few feet back at one meal, move back at the next and do that for a for a few times. Then I would stay at the few feet back. It is a slow process but it really really helped him in his crate training process and getting him over his fear. I was soon able to feed him in his crate and walk away. He was running to his crate and sitting for his meals. He still had his anxiety for long periods w/the peeing problem but we even worked on that were we could leave for short times and he wouldn't pee in his crate
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    Patricia McConnell has a book called I'll Be Home Soon that addresses Separation Anxiety. http://www.patriciamcconnell.com/product/dog-separation-anxiety
  • Pooping in crate - why?

    Basenji Training 7 Dec 2008, 19:09
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    Congrats… Now you have a happy Basenji and a tree smack dab in front of your front door!!! LOL What we do for these little beasties...:rolleyes:
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    Our dogs do wander in and out of each other crates. They will even lay down in the others crates. Having said that, I am of the opinion that each dogs individual crate should be their own safe place. I know our Boston uses hers as a place to retreat when she does not wish to be bothered by the Basenji or just senses she needs to be out of the way. Roo our Basenji actually seems to respect that and will usually leave her be. Of course her crate is smaller so it would be difficult for both of them to be in it at once. Jason
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    We have really good luck with our little 9 week old at night now (wish I could say that about daytime)… He falls asleep on one of our laps typically around 9:30pm (usually my fiance' is watching tv) and then we wake him back up once he is good and asleep and WARM, and take him outside to pee, this way he does it very fast and wants to go back to sleep, so then we put him in his dog bed. After he is asleep we move the whole dog bed into his small crate in our bedroom. Mind you we won't use the crate once we can TRUST HIM. Our bedroom has brand new carpet and new paint and all new very expensive furniture (basically we did that right before we decided to get a Basenji :P) So then if he wakes up and whines, I get up and rush right to him and immediately take him outside on the leash, he goes immediately, then I give him half a treat and he lays next to me on the bed to fall asleep (he will NOT go back to sleep if I put him in the crate and my fiance' can't handle the screaming (she needs her sleep as she commutes a LONG drive every day)) so then if he falls asleep before I do, I move him back to the crate. Obviously the downfall to this is that sometimes I fall asleep first and then he gets to sleep in my bed... but he always wakes me up if he has to go (I keep my arm around him). But we started this method about a week and a half ago and only had an incident in our bed the first night, since then its been better and better every night! Now he only has to get up one time per night, which is usually around 3:30am now, it used to be 2, then 2:30, etc... so he is getting better. However I have learned to give up on the idea of getting him to fall back asleep after my fiance' gets up for work, he will just fight me the whole time. I sure wish I had the ability to be home all day to not have to crate my dog, but it is not an option, people have to work. So a lot of dogs will have to be crated for long periods of time. Hopefully eventually they get used to it. :)