[kutya]

I have an 8 month old beagle Charlie who has been giving me some issues with potty training, his crate and alone time.

First let me say at 14 weeks or so we bought one of those 36 inch high pens and charlie climbed it like a monkey in 30 seconds.

For about 6 months or so we had charlie in a wire mesh crate. Anytime he was alone in the crate for a few hours he would always pee out the side of the crate. To counteract this I tie-wrapped some plexiglass to the outside but unfortunately his angle of pee did not splash back at him to make him stop, it just kind of went down between the pexiglass and the wire mesh and onto the floor! argh! He also somehow made the mesh crate implode twice(its the folding kind) and he got out. In that 6 months He only poo'd once in the crate and I think he had stomach problem that day.

My wife and I got tired of cleaning pee outside the crate every morning and after work. We also noticed that charlie had a scratch on his nose that I think he got from trying to poke his nose at the latch on his crate. So one night around 7 months of age, we let him stay in our bedroom in his dog bed. He held it all night and didn't even want to get up in the morning. We have let him stay in our bedroom at night for the last month and he has not had one accident. He holds it till we wake up and take him out. I probably shouldn't speak so soon! lol

About a week ago we got charlie a plastic crate, we figured he would stop peeing if he realized he will get stuck sitting in it. Well that hasn't prevented him and we ended up giving him a lot of baths! Just the other day I came home and he Pee'd and poo'd in the plastic crate and what a mess! I was really at wits end that day. I ended up putting the messy crate outside and giving charlie a bath. I had to make a quick errand and my wife wasn't home so i barricaded him in a back room. I took him out before I left, but when I returned he somehow escaped and pee'd and poo'd in the room I left him in. Good thing the downstairs is all tile!

After Houdini got out of that I bought the tallest baby/pet gate I could find at 41 inches and left him downstairs. We left the house for 2 hours and he somehow rammed the gate down and peed in the downstairs room.

To sum up my long winded post...charlie is good when we are with him. He lets us know when he wants to go out and accidents hardly ever happen when we are home. But he doesn't seem to like crates or being left alone. Is this separation anxiety causing him to potty in the house and escape all barricades? has anyone had these issues?

 

[Smeagle]

Originally Posted By: kutya
I have an 8 month old beagle Charlie who has been giving me some issues with potty training, his crate and alone time.

First let me say at 14 weeks or so we bought one of those 36 inch high pens and charlie climbed it like a monkey in 30 seconds.

For about 6 months or so we had charlie in a wire mesh crate. Anytime he was alone in the crate for a few hours he would always pee out the side of the crate. To counteract this I tie-wrapped some plexiglass to the outside but unfortunately his angle of pee did not splash back at him to make him stop, it just kind of went down between the pexiglass and the wire mesh and onto the floor! argh! He also somehow made the mesh crate implode twice(its the folding kind) and he got out. In that 6 months He only poo'd once in the crate and I think he had stomach problem that day.

Where was he supposed to pee if he needed to pee though? Puppies don't fully develop bladder control until they are at least six months of age, you can't force them to hold it when they haven't developed bladder control.

How long was he left in the crate? How long did you expect him to go without toileting?

I wouldn't expect a pup to go any more than an hour or two without needing to toilet.

Quote:
To sum up my long winded post...charlie is good when we are with him. He lets us know when he wants to go out and accidents hardly ever happen when we are home. But he doesn't seem to like crates or being left alone. Is this separation anxiety causing him to potty in the house and escape all barricades? has anyone had these issues?

I wouldn't like being crated all day either. I know it's popular to crate dogs all day in the US but I would never do so with my dogs.

It sounds like he knows what to do when you are home, by asking to go outside to toilet, but that he just cannot physically hold his urge to pee or poo for however long you are leaving him crated. Is there anywhere else you can leave him so he has access to outside, or could you put paper down for him so he has somewhere to go to toilet?

 

[kutya]

I understand puppies at a young age can't hold it all day. I felt I had to give a summary of some issues I've had with him since we got him and then lead up to the latest problems now that hes almost 9 months old.

For example, today we took him out for potty and then left for the store. We know he can hold his potty all night for 8 hours. We got home and there was poo and pee in the crate only after 3 hours or less. He only poo'd in his wire crate once when he was sick a long time ago, but now this is about 3 times he poo'd in the plastic crate in a week or so.

 

[Smeagle]

Originally Posted By: kutyaI understand puppies at a young age can't hold it all day. I felt I had to give a summary of some issues I've had with him since we got him and then lead up to the latest problems now that hes almost 9 months old.

For example, today we took him out for potty and then left for the store. We know he can hold his potty all night for 8 hours. We got home and there was poo and pee in the crate only after 3 hours or less. He only poo'd in his wire crate once when he was sick a long time ago, but now this is about 3 times he poo'd in the plastic crate in a week or so.

But when they have to go, they have to go.

Do you have to crate him? Is there no where else you can leave him that gives him access to an area where he can toilet if he needs to? I leave my dogs outside when we aren't home, but we have a well fenced and secure yard.

 

[Quinn&Grayson]

I don't get the whole being able to hold it all night but not during the day. I think this is because they are on the same clock schedule as we are. When it's night, it's bed time and they can sleep through the night. However, when it's light out, it's time to play. They've slept all night and certainly aren't going to sleep all day like that, too!

 

[Smeagle]

It also depends on when they've last been fed or had a drink.

Often we feed our dogs earlier in the night and then they have several hours between then and bed time. In the morning, you might feed them, take them out to toilet and leave them crated but they still have to digest and toilet the food they'd eaten that morning.

 

[ecemom]

The first thing that comes to my mind is does he have a potty schedule or is it just whenever he claws at the door? Id he regular and predictable? If he's not then maybe you could work on getting him on a schedule of potty breaks.

Our Rocky is really good about the toileting and hasn't had an accident inside in forever! he needs to go within 10 minutes in the morning, soon after he naps and within a half hour of eating. And for bedtime I take him out for a final pee just before I head up to bed, no matter the hour-usually around 12am and he goes all night.
He's 5.5mths old btw.

 

[araine]

Here is my training methods to puppy potty training. I have been training dogs for over 4 years now, so hope that this will help. Let me know if you have any questions.

Does the dog free feed? Feed the dog 2 times a day, and only leave it out for 20 minutes. If he has not eaten, then that's his problem. Usually a dog will have to poo 10-20 minutes after eating (and playing and napping). This will help with irregular bathroom breaks, and will get him more on a routine. Routine is KEY!There should always be water available for the dog to drink, but since it's a puppy, there needs to be constant attention...it's harder to break a dog unless you catch him in the habit. For example, when he walks out of your site, follow him. You should be watching your puppy anyways until he is fully potty trained in the first place. If he goes to squat and pee, PICK HIM UP and tell him no! (HE WILL STOP PEEING), then emediatly take him outside and tell him your word for bathroom go potty, and praise him when he is done. There is no point in disciplining a dog when the potty accident has already happened. You never want to punish a natural function.

 

[kutya]

We finally caught charlie in the act. My wife took him out and he went poo and pee. She put him in the crate and 2 second later she heard him peeing in the crate. He just went outside, this can not be a potty training issue. He still is very good at holding it in while we are home, we haven't had an accident in a long time knock on wood. But as soon as he gets in that crate.....

 

[Quinn&Grayson]

What are you cleaning the crate with? It might still smell like waste. After all, I've been told you can never clean well enough for a beagle. I've also been told that water and vinegar make the best floor cleaner to get the smell out. What is the flooring of the crate made out of? Evan's crate had some sort of cardboard/wood on the bottom. Because the pee always soaked into this, the crate pretty much turned into a bathroom for the dogs. We haven't set it back up because he needs to buy a new piece of that flooring to rid the crate of the urine smell.

Try that maybe?

 

[Smeagle]

What does he think of the crate?

Does he like going in there? Does he ever go in of his own accord? What do you do to crate train him and make him feel comfortable and safe in his crate?

 

[Joe Johnston]

It sounds like our first Beagle. He HATED being crated, HATED being restrained in the bathroom. In each of these instances would would potty there. We figured he was sending us a message.

We solved the problem, by letting him roam free in the house when we were gone. Once we did that, he never had another accident. But also, alot of what Amber included in her post we had also incorporated into our routines. So I think all of that combined, helped solve the problem.

All he really wanted was to get up on the back of the couch so he could look out the window.

 

[Erin]

Wow. It sounds like he really hates his crate.

I'm curious, is his crate a positive experience for him? We no longer crate our two, but we did when we first got them at 2yrs of age. They weren't completely house broken but by that age they could hold it.

We really made their crate a good experience. Lots of praise, lots of treats. Sometimes we would put them in their crate, where they could see us, while we were at home so they didn't always associate it with us leaving them. We also found out that we could not put the crate in a back bedroom. It had to be out in the living room. As long as it was in the main room they were perfectly fine. We associated a word with it as well. So any time we wanted them to go to their crate, we said bedtime in a very happy voice and eventually they would run to their crate, go in, and sit and wait for the treats they knew were coming.

In general, it seems like it's a very stressful time for Charlie when you leave. He either has to be put in his crate (which he hates) or locked up in a room. It sounds to me like it could be some separation anxiety in combination with the schedule that everyone has mentioned. The only reason I say that is because you said he had a lot of accidents even when you shut him up in a room. I would really recommend, if you haven't already, bringing the crate somewhere in the house where he can see you and working with him going in it while you're there and making it a really good experience for him. That's of course, IF you must crate him. We crated ours until they were potty trained and then gave them free roam.

Hope that helps a little and keep us posted!

 

[kutya]

We never associated the plastic crate with bad behavior. Each time we say crate he goes in it and we give him a treat. He goes in willingly, but realizes that his stomach has fooled him again afterwords I guess! Before we used to put a rug in there and a bunch of toys, but we got tired of washing them all every day. I think the rug got worn out from all the pee and washing!

He really does not like being left alone at all. If I go get the mail and only close the storm door he will bark and bounce up and down like a jack rabbit. But he can see me walking the whole 50 ft to the mailbox.

If my wife leaves early for work he will go bananas when she leaves. He goes from the door to the window, back and forth and whimpers even though I am right there. He does the same if I go run and errand and my wife is home.

I think I might try to find a gate that is high enough and can be screwed into the wall, But my luck he will break the wall! A coworker told me a story of a beagle that went through the sheet rock after being locked in the bathroom!

I want to thank everyone for all the suggestions!!! Maybe I will try a different cleaner as well.

 

[Erin]

What a cutie!

Hmmm.... when he goes crazy like that, what do you guys do? For example, if you stand just outside the storm door and he barks, do you go back inside?

I wish I could be of more help! Maybe one of the other members has more experience with this.

 

[Dinoz]

does sound alot like separation anxiety. do some research on it, such as through google, and see what you can try to help it. in bad cases, it may even require professional help.

 

[kutya]

yes I just might look into some professional help because of this! oh oh u meant for the dog! lol ;-)

 

[Erin]

LOL at least you have a sense of humor about the whole thing!

It's always good to stay positive about stuff like this. It will definitely help!!

 

[kutya]

I try to be patient and positive, but my older brothers both had several dogs that I took care of when I was younger. We never had these issues! so it was kind of surprising and frustrating to me when all of this was happening.

 

[Shannon Rice]

Our Beagle seems to get a little destructive when we are away, so I think he too is dealing with some separation anxiety also. I recently read some tips about when leaving your dog, say the same thing to it everytime before walking out the door, whether it's see ya later, or goodbye. They're supossed to associate that verbal goodbye with the anticipation of your coming home later on in the day. Also, maybe your dog doesn't want to be crated. You mentioned that your downstairs is all tile. Perhaps if you and your wife allow him to be in one of those rooms, with a good quality gate put up to keep him in. Personally, I think crates are too small, and confining, but that is up to you. Also laying some puppypads down in that tiled room would help eliminate cleaning. It's worth a try. Good luck!