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Boxer pee problem...

19 15:58:56

Question
My male boxer (Koji) just turned 1 year old this month. He's a pretty well behaved dog with the exception of the occassional carpet/shoe chewing. My girlfriend and I have a problem with him peeing in his crate during the day and peeing in his crate at night.

We keep a dog bed in his crate for comfort and we make sure he has a few toys to keep him occupied during the day while we're at work. We also make sure that his last drink is about an hour before we go to bed (usually around midnight or 1 am) and I always walk him right before bed. Generally we'll wake up to walk him between 5-7 AM, as he and our other dog wake us up to let us know they need to go out.

We noticed over the past couple months Koji has began going into his kennel to pee on his bed during the course of the night. We've tried washing his bed, then changing the bed out for a new one, but he still pees. This morning my girlfriend awoke to the sound of him peeing INTO his crate from the outside. I'm assuming this could be partially because I haven't thoroughly scrubbed his kennal from previous accidents.

We're very consistent when it comes to rewarding him with small treats and/or vocal approval when he relieves himself outside, and we're VERY vocal when he goes INSIDE. He definitely knows he's doing wrong, as I've caught him in the act and had to follow the trail of pee throughout the apartment, as he has a tendency to walk/run as he's letting loose.

I've heard that boxer's have small bladders, but I thought that taking his water away at night would solve this problem. He knows he's doing wrong, and he's quite aware we don't approve. How can we get him to stop?

Answer
Hi Ken...

Ok...let's clear something up first so you can stop thinking it.  Boxers have normal size dog bladders.  :)  You are the first person to ever told me that they've heard it but I can promise you, a Boxer's bladder is no smaller than any other dog's (relatively) and has no bearing on what's going on.

I'm going to assume because you've not said differently that you work 8 hours a day? Not including travel time, this is a very long time for a dog to be locked up (should shoot for four hours max).  Yes, I know people have to work (I have a full-time job) but you have a very young dog.  Have arrangements not been made to have a lunch break or to have someone come over and relieve him (and the other dog)?  This would be step one.

Step two - take the bedding out of the kennel all together.  
For as many times as he's urinated on it, you're not getting the smell out.  Ever.  

Step three - scrub his kennel with an enzymatic pet cleaner.  It's the only way to remove the smell from him (by that I mean so he won't smell it).

Step four - buy a smaller crate if the one you have is too large.  He should have enough room to stand, turn and lay down...not run laps.  You don't want him to pee in one corner and be able to lie in the other.  The reason I'm telling you to take out the bedding is because it soaks up urine and won't be as uncomfortable for him as a warm, wet puddle will be.

He only knows you don't approve during the times that you've caught him.  If you don't see him doing it, don't talk about it.  It does no good.  He'll associate the yelling with what he's doing at the moment...not with urinating in his kennel.

It's a very, very difficult habit to break.  Dogs are clean animals by nature and typically won't soil where they sleep.  Once they start it can be a nightmare to stop because the instinct has been shattered.  

What you need to do now is go back to potty training 101.  Pretend he's an 8 week old puppy you just brought home.  He must be supervised constantly and taken out every hour just as you would a puppy.  It's a bit of a pain, I know, but well worth the results.  Better to have a couple months of headache than 10 more years of a peeing dog!

Give it a month or so of very patient, consistent work on your part.  If he's not showing improvement...notice I say improvement, not saying problem solved...it may be time to seek a veterinarian or behaviorist to help you.