3yr basenji urinating in crate

Question
QUESTION: i have my sisters 3yr old basenji who from day one has peed in his crate.  He
tries to pee outside the crate and some gets in and some gets out.  i have
tried putting the incontinance pants on him but he chewed them off and still
peed in the crate . HELP ME PLEASE!!!!!!  we have him until december and i
have to try something. aside from the peeing he also chews/shreds anything
with in reach.  i have plastic under the crate and old towels around that to
absorb and save the wood floors.  i think in part it is spiteful and in part
separation anxiety.  i have had sveral of my own dogs through the years and
never have i experienced this persistant crate peeing and chewinf.

ANSWER: Dogs cant comprehend spite, so nope,  not that.  How was he at your sisters? Is he neutered? Im surprised he still chews at his age.  Basenjis are notorious characters,  and certainly not a dog I would ever wish to own.

Tell me a bit more about what he was like before he came to you.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: he was the same at my sisters  ---peeing and chewing in the crate.  he recently chewed a sofa pillow when he was left  inside and we were outside in the yard.  yes he is neutered. i am surprised by the chewing too but more than very frustrated by the mess each day in his crate ... i considered getting a smaller crate because i think the one we have is too big.  but    he tries to pee outside the crate so i dont think that would help the issue
any suggestions would be great

Answer
I'm going to ask a good friend who is very knowledgable on these matters.  I will followup when I get her answer.

Got her answer.

Thanks Tracy.

Well you know these people never like my answers but.... (And I do like Basenji's)

My questions would be....
~where did they get the dog? (Dogs from puppy mills and poor breeders tend to pee in the crate because they are never let out. They don't want pee in the crate so they will try to shoot it out.)

~how much time does it spend in a crate?

~Does he have toys and bones in the crate to chew - appropriate chewing?

~Where is the crate? (Should be in their bedroom with them.)

~Is it a cage or a crate? A cage is a wire thing that is not very comforting to a dog. A crate is a cozy plastic airline carrier type thing that soothes dogs. (You can't pee out of it either. If you pee you are sitting in it.)

~Have they tried training him? To pee on cue (using all the usual steps you would with a young pup)? To chew on only appropriate items.? Saying "oops" when they catch him chewing on something he shouldn't and replacing it with something he can chew on. Never leaving him alone so that he gets a chance to practice chewing things he isn't supposed to. (I've attached my handout on chewing.)

I think a couple of things may be going on. A dog that was never trained properly was dumped off somewhere where the people don't like or want him and can't get wait to get  rid of him. I might be a bit jittery too.

Some things that they could do are:

~get a proper plastic crate and put some great bones in it for him to chew.

~make sure he is not in the crate for too long. No longer than 5 hours at a time except at night (when crate is in their bedroom)

~one hour of aerobic exercise per day - preferably with other dogs

~join a group dog class (with a trainer who uses positive methods - basenji's don't do well with punishment)

~housetrain him and give him plenty of chew toys - at least 6.

~calm him nerves using valerian root,  or comfort zone,  or lavender aromatherapy, or calm's forte. Rescue Remedy, whatever it takes.

~put themselves in the dogs shoes and be nice. Empathize. He is in a strange place with new people and doesn't know why.

~there is a wrap a lot of people who board dogs in their home use. Like an anxiety wrap. I think you can get instructions from Tellington T Touch.

~sometimes an x pen works better than a crate

~hopefully they have checked the dog to make sure it does not have a UTI