sudden behavior change in a negative way

Question
I have a one and a half year old beagle mix. I have had him for about 2 months. When i first got him, he had excellent behavior, improved by our obedience classes. We had no issues getting him into his crate (as long as he had his kong!) and he displayed no destructive behavior. We moved about 2 weeks ago, and he was perfectly content, no change in behavior. All of a sudden, about 3 days ago, he started acting different.

We have started having to forcibly put him in his crate when we have to leave, he has starting peeing in his crate, and tonight when i got home, only gone for about an hour, he had pulled his bed (which was outside of, but right against, his crate) halfway through and torn it to shreds, peed on it and ate some of hte insides of the bed.

he has also started peeing in the house. he isnt marking, he just pees right on the floor.

he has never done any of this before, never had any issues until a couple of days ago.

Thanks for your advice

Answer
Dear Michael,

I'm no veterinarian, but this sounds suspiciously like a urinary tract infection.  Call your vet and tell them what you've told me, and they'll tell you how to bring in a fresh urine sample, or they'll just get it themselves when you bring him in.  You've got to rule out a medical reason for this sudden change in behavior.

If and when you rule out a health issue, I'd be interested to know why a 1 1/2 year old adult dog has to be in a crate when you're gone.  If you haven't chew-trained him by now please do so:  Instructions are at my website http://www.dogdaysusa.com/mouthtraining.cfm#chewing

Apparently he has been housetrained previously, so this is not your reason for crating him.  However, if you do rule out a UTI or other health issue, and he's still peeing in the house, you need to housetrain him again and detailed instructions are also at my site at http://www.dogdaysusa.com/housetraining.cfm

If I was a responsible adult dog I wouldn't want to go into a crate either -- would you?  Get this dog out of the crate and your problems should be solved!

Good luck and thanks for writing.
Suzanne Harris, BSc, CPDT
http://www.dogdaysUSA.com