How to stop a dog from pooping in its crate?

Question

My 13 week old Bernese Mountain dog puppy views her crate as her bathroom. Sometimes the puppy will go to the bathroom outside and after returning to the indoors will walk in to her crate and go again. My trainer is stumped on how to resovle this issue so any help would be great.

Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

You can resolve the issue this way.

1. Put newspaper in the crate for a few days and let the pup get used to it being there. (you may have done this already)

2. After the pup is used to the paper being there for a few days, get a different crate of slightly different size. Move the new crate to a slightly different location right next to where the old one was located. Close the opening to it so the pup can not enter. Put the newspaper on the ground in the exact same spot the old crate was. It's best to put some newspaper he has already soiled a little. Put something under the backside and under the new crate so it is raised about two or three inches higher than the front.

3. The pup will go on the newspaper eventually. After he does this a couple of times you can then open the crate door and will then need to gradually move the newspaper towards the door the pup uses to go outside. Eventually, moving it outside altogether.

This method should do the trick for you. If not, let me know and I'll be happy to help out with more suggestions.

Answer 2

I had a similar problem with a border collie puppy when I was at dog training school. The solution required a number of approaches because unfortunately once a puppy defecates in their sleeping place more than a few times their natural inhibition against soiling their den is weakened if not lost altogether.

Here are the tactics I would try:

1. Either get a smaller crate or use some sort of empty box to block off some of the space in her existing crate. I really wouldn't be too concerned about making the crate too small as hopefully this will be very temporary.

2. Make sure any accidents in the crate are cleaned thoroughly with an enzymatic cleaner like Nature's Miracle.

3. Increase the frequency of the dog's potty breaks. An average 13 week old pup would need a break about every 3 hours. In your case I would cut it to 2.5 or even 2.

4. When you take the dog out go to the same spot every time, hold the dog on a leash and stand like a post. Do not make potty time a time for a walk. If the dog potties and you then want to walk, fine. If after 10 minutes the dog has not pottied, put her back in her crate. I would usually tell clients to then wait an hour before trying another 10 minute potty break, but in cases like yours I say three minutes (which I know sounds very tedious). Keep repeating 10 minutes staionary outside and 3 minutes in the crate until the job is done. When the dog does potty outside, praise enthusiastically and reward either with high value food (hot dog, chicken meat, etc) or a game of fetch etc.

5. Your mention of the dog pottying outside and then going again inside could have two causes. My border collie was famous for this and the cause turned out to be that she was afraid of pottying outside. (Pottying does put dogs in a vulnerable position.) The answer in her case was to find a place that was sheltered on three sides, had little foot or road traffic and to give her plenty of time to get comfortable with the spot. The other possibility is that your dog just needs more time to potty. If that is the case you may have to adjust the ten minute guideline I gave above.

One cautionary note: do NOT take your dog on a walk, wait for her to potty and then walk home. The dog will learn that pottying ends the walk and will then hold out as long as possible. Make pottying the price of a walk - to be paid up front.

Good luck. I hope this works for you.

Answer 3

I don't know how big the crate is compared to your dog, but maybe it's too big. If the dog has enough room to poop in one corner and still sleep in another, the crate's too big. Small dogs also have absolutely no control over having to go. You need to assume that the dog needs to do #1 and #2 everytime you take it out. Puppies typically have to go every 30 minutes, and especially after they eat, sleep, or play. You need to be patient when you take the dog out to do it's business. Praise it and get it a treat immediately after it goes outside (because puppies only have a 3 second memory) and tell the dog it's bad immediately after it goes inside. It's very little so it's still just learning. Housetraining can take a while depending on the age of the dog, so you need to be patient.

Answer 4

Although you're frustrated, crate training is the best way to go. Remember that she is only 13 weeks. It took me 5 weeks to potty train my puppy, and that was through crate training. Please be patient. I had to resolve it by putting her in at 30 minute intervals. Eventually, it sank in.
Depending how long you're keeping her in the crate & the circumstances when you put her in the crate & the size of the crate & whether or not other dogs are around, it's hard to tell what is going on. All of these play a part in her training.
You're on the right track & good luck to you and your new friend!

Answer 5

It could be the crate is too big for your dog. A dog will not defecate where it sleeps. The crate should only be big enough for the dog to stand and turn around no bigger,if the dog can poop and find a spot away from it in the crate he will go in it.

Answer 6

Tony, k9rescue has the correct way of training your new pup. I have tried many methods and if you have to crate train then this is a better way. My choice has always been to teach them outdoors, with a simple hurry-up several times, keeping them on a short leash, and going to the area you want them to permenantly use. By keeping them on a short leash they only have a small area and with a little jerk up on the leash and the hurry-ups they soon catch on, go potty and alot of praise and right back into the house. Using the leg of the couch, computer desk, ect; places where you and or family members can keep an eye on him/her, use the handle on a short leash and hook it under the legs of funiture, I have even used my bed legs before. After the pup has successfully pottied outside then try placing him near you like this. He wont be able to sniff around and have an accident but still can get up and move around as if he was in a created area. Get the picture? I have trained over 12 standard poodles this was and with great success in about 3 weeks tops.Good Luck

Answer 7

I never heard of that either. How odd for a dog to foul up his sleeping place. I don't mean to insult your dog, but is she not very smart in other ways? Have you tried putting her in a different crate? I wish you luck. It sure would be interesting to know the answer to this question.

Answer 8

Your puppy is confused about housebreaking! Make sure she has enough time outside to finish her business. Keep a close eye on her when she comes in, and if she makes signs of having to go, rush her back out. Praise her when she goes. It sounds like your puppy was left in the crate too long and allowed to learn how to be dirty. Most puppies hate to mess on themselves and will try very hard to hold it, but if left too long will have no choice but to go. This can make housebreaking very difficult. Go to http://www.siriuspup.com for more training info.

Answer 9

Smaller crate... They do not like to go in a home that is just the right size... and actually put her in there for a couple of nights... These is what we have done with all our dogs... And hen you take them out of the kennel, take her out...

Answer 10

clean the crat really good so that there is no sent left in it, make sure that you take the dog to where it should poop after it eats, after play time and after a nap, and encourage it to poop