Puppy pees in her cage

Question
My puppy is almost 8 months old.  She is a beagle from a breeder.  We have another beagle who is almost 4 years old.  The puppy is having trouble with peeing all the time in her cage.  Rarely when we put her in there does she come out without having peed.  She doesn't go in the house any longer.  We've made her cage big, we've made it small. We've had bigs towels in the cage, shreds of towels in the cage, and none at all.  She has finished antibiotic treatments for a UTI and is now all clear.  I've tried keeping her in the same room with me at night and taking her out when she wakes up.  Even though she went out 3 times during the night, she still woke up with pee in the cage.  We've even tried moving her cage next to the older dog for company.  We've found that she can be in there for as little as 15 minutes and will have peed.  And she'll be stinky when she comes out of there. We've also been pulling her water up by a certain time at night, usually 7 or 8 for a 9 or 10 bedtime.  She's a very heavy drinker so if she has any, its usually a lot.  We clean her cage every time she messes with an enzyme spray to rid it of the smell.  To me it seems like a behavioral issue.  But I thought dogs don't like to mess in their space.  I thought they were more likely to hold it in their cage than anywhere else.  Any suggestions?

Answer
Kristin,

This is a common problem for dogs that were kept crated 24/7 when they were young and had no where else to relieve themselves.   It seems she has just accepted the fact that the crate is the only place to go.   

This is very hard to break, but they do seem to grow out of it.  How long have you had your dog?   I had a lab who had the same problem and it took me 6 months to get her retrained.  She's fine now, but it was really a nightmare getting her like that.

I wouldn't recommend taking her water away as that will only cause her to drink more when you give it back.  The excessive water drinking should stop when she realizes it will always be there.  

If she is getting the pee on her, you'll need to give her a bath as if she smells it, she'll just go again.  

I don't have a magical solution for you unfortunately.  Just take her out lots and lots and give her tons of praise when she goes outside.  

She will learn.

Also, UTI's can come back quickly, so you might want to check that out again depending on the last time it was checked.

Also, what type of crate are you using?  If you are using one of the plastic airline carriers, she could be having anxiety over it.   I always recommend a nice open wire crate.