Hi everyone,
I've been reading threads on this forum for a few weeks now but just joined today. I have a 12 week old little rattie boy named Caesar Ebeneezer. I adopted him at 8 weeks from the animal shelter where I used to work. He is very smart and is doing AWESOME on housebreaking... he has only had one or two accidents (pee) in the house the past week. He sleeps with my boyfriend and I in bed and has been holding it all night for the past week and a half.
The problem I am having is with his kennel.
He is only crated for a maximum of four hours, which is between the time I leave for work and when I come home for lunch. I figured in the beginning he would not be able to hold it that long and there would be accidents. Well... we have crated him for as short as an hour and he has peed. This was right after he peed outside. I know he can hold it for longer than an hour since he holds it all night.
I am doing everything I am supposed to. I am using a crate that is not too big. I have taken the blanket out (when there is no blanket, he just pees and lays in it, which results in more baths than we feel like giving). At least when the blanket is left in, it absorbs the pee so he's not soaking in it. I have tried leaving his food bowl in there, thinking that would deter him. Nothing.
He doesn't have a problem with being in the crate. He goes in on his own and lays down, and sometimes when we put him in at night, he doesn't cry. We tried leaving him out of the crate in the afternoons after I go back to work since there is only a 2 1/2 hour gap from the time I go back to work until my boyfriend gets home. He didn't potty in the house, but he did find something to destroy. So it's back to the kennel when he is alone, but how do I stop the peeing? CAN the peeing be stopped? Do I just give up and get a bigger crate and put a potty pad on one side, or do I just live with a yellow-legged dog? I thought it was instinct to not want to lay in their own pee, but he doesn't seem to mind.
Thanks! |