CRATE SOILING

Question
Hi, Charlotte -

I have a one-year old boxer and she still soils her crate overnight and when leaving her alone while I work.  She has no problem in laying in it.  This is very frustrating.  I put down papers in the crate.  If I don't, she licks up her urine.  
I limit her water but she seems to never get enough water.  This has been an ongoing problem. She is crated at all times when I am not home and during the night.
She does great out of her crate.  She lets me know when she has to go out.
What suggestions would you have for me?

Answer
Hi Lisa;
I do not use crates.
They are not natural, and dogs DO NOT like them.
They will sometimes go in a crate, if the door is open so they can come and go as they please. But being closed up in a crate is traumatic.
I don't know what addled mind came up with keeping pets in crates, but they started something that in my opinion and the opinion of people who REALLY know dogs,is cruelty.
When you are running a Veterinary Hospital or an animal shelter, crates are a necessary evil.
But when you take an animal into your home to be a family member, they should not be treated in such a way.
Your dog has no choice but to go in the crate. She is closed up in there, and can't get out.
You say she is STILL soiling in her crate and doesn't mind laying in it.
That souinds like she has always been crated since ahe was a puppy.
She grew up laying in it, so she doesn't know any better.
Got her out of that crate and into an area where she can move around and have room to have a place to go where she doesn't HAVE to lie in it.
Depriving her of fluids by limiting the amount of water she gets will ruin her health, and could cause organ failure.
She is in that crate overnight and all day while you are at work.
The great majority of her life is inside that crate.
You are not going to like my answer, but you asked me.
The way she is living is cruel, abusive and unhealthy.
She licks up her urine for two reasons. The first is to get some liquids into her body. The other is to not have a pool of water to lie in.
Please, if you can't take her out of the crate and give her a better situation, find a home for her where she will not have to live penned up like that.
Living so much of her life in such a confined state will make her Arthritis so much worse so much sooner, and create a lot of health problems for her.
I know you don't think of yourself as an abusive animal owner, but this is what this is.
I am not trying to chew you out or put you down.
I think you are just not aware of what an animal needs, and should wait until you have better facilities efore you try to have a dog.
Cats can stay on their own all day ( Not in a crate), and they don't need as much attention as a dog does.
A dog can die of lonliness. Cats really don't gicve a hoot if we stay gone all day, just so they have toys, food they want and a nice pillow to lie on, prefferably in a window where they can look out.
Dogs are more closely related to humans in their needs.
But room to move around and get enough exercise is very important to their health maintenance.
Charlotte