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Permalink Reply by Anna Morelli on June 18, 2011 at 12:00pm

Rebecca, can you give a little more information? Is he otherwise housebroken and only peeing in his crate?  Does he have to be crated, when and for how long? He probably was crated too long before you got him and, as a young pup, learned that's what you do in a crate and then you just lay in it.  That's what happens when the crate is abused.... I adopted a 6 month old female that peed and pooped in her crate, it was a LOT of work, and I almost threw in the towel :-0  but it paid off and she is now quite reliable, both in her crate and in the house.

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Permalink Reply by Rebecca on June 18, 2011 at 7:11pm

 Hi Anna, ok when i first got him home i let him go potty outside. Then brought him in the house he did start marking  in the kitchen. I said no and took him outside right away n said potty outside. We crated him overnite, was pee in the morning. We worked alot with saying potty outside, and letting him out constantly. he got better within a week. No more marking. But still pee in crate. and sometimes on kitchen floor. He is crated overnite and when i go to work. But i come home for lunch so he is in there for 4 hrs., then let out, for an hour. He can be crated for 2 hrs and he will pee in there. Lately i have tried keeping him out of crate overnight and he did pretty good, couple times he pees on his blanket, strange.( his blanket). He is a very excited dog, almost like he has ( a d d ). I asked the vet about this, she said dogs can have it. For example, he will be playing and then run at you and turn and slam you with his side. He does this to Gracie also our other corgi. Could be just the puppy in him, but i am working with him to settle down a bit, and just letting him outside by himself and not the other dogs.

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Permalink Reply by Beth on June 18, 2011 at 12:25pm

Many shelter dogs have been forced to eliminate in a cage and therefore crate-training is not always the best housebreaking method for them.

 

I would confine him in a slightly larger area with papers on the floor so he can get away from the mess if he wants to, and that way you may possibly re-awaken his instinct to be clean.

 

While you are home and awake, I'd suggest maybe leashing him to you so you are by him at all times.  Take him out every hour at first, praise and treat profusely for going outside, and if you catch him trying to go inside on the leash, give him one quiet "No", clap your hands loudly to startle him, and take him right outside.

 

Good luck!

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Permalink Reply by Jane on June 18, 2011 at 12:54pm

Yep, as the others said he may have been forced to eliminate in his crate previously so he thinks that is normal. I would do like Beth said and give him a little more room, try using an xpen when you're gone instead of the crate so he gets used to being able to get away from his mess.

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Permalink Reply by Bev Levy on June 18, 2011 at 4:30pm

I also agree with Beth. He has lost his natural desire not to mess his area. In time if allowed a larger space with a clear spot (newspapers) for pottying he may re-learn it.  Be sure to walk him before leaving him in a puppy proof space and praise ANY outdoor pottying . It is a shame that his early life was neglected and it is great that you are giving him a new chance!

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Permalink Reply by Anna Morelli on June 18, 2011 at 8:07pm

Rebecca, I will start with the body slamming ( to you and Gracie) this is not ADD, but a classical sign of dominance.  He should get a very firm NO! when he does this.  Marking is also a dominant behavior ( in the kitchen ) and I wouls scold him, if you catch him in the act.  Beth's suggestion of keeping him on leash is good if you don't trust him.  By now you may have a feel for when he's more likely to do  it.  You are aiming for zero mistakes and anything that will help him achieve that will forward the cause.   As far as the crate is concerned, you absolutely have to do away with any kind of material (blanket, towel, crate pad) until there has been no peeing in the crate for a couple of months.  Cleaning the crate is hard, dogs can smell parts per billion, so odor elimination is not easy.  Don't use ammonia based products, they smell like pee.  Clean under running water and then use a white vinegar-water mixture.  Rinse off the dog too, as he will have that smell on him.  With mine, I did not crate her more than two hours at a time after I had seen her go potty.  I got up every 2 hrs at night the first week I got serious about it. Then, when I had zero accidents, I went to three hours, then four, until she could do the night. It only took a few weeks, but it was hard.   DO NOT SCOLD when you find the crate soiled.  This is not marking but the result of habits he is not responsible for having acquired.  Don't give him  water in the evening past 8PM (feed around 6)  until he's dry at night for a couple of months.  If you have a small area where you can get him used to staying with a pet gate during the day - it can even be a corridor -  and it's not carpeted, you can start training him to stay in there one hour at a time, when you are home and on weekends, or when you go out for short periods, no more than an hour at first, gradually building the time if there is no marking, so that eventually you can leave him there when you go to work.  He's young and you're determined, he'll learn!

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Permalink Reply by Rebecca on June 18, 2011 at 10:53pm

Thanks Anna for all the info. I did take out towel and blankets from crate, there hasn't been anything in there for awhile. The blanket on kitchen floor nexts to gracies bed, he has soiled a couple of times. That will be taken away also.

Thanks Beth and everyone for all your help. We will work hard at it, cause he is a good boy, very loving. He is a big corgi, big boned and double coat.

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