How do I keep my dog from peeing in his kennel when we get home?

Question

My husband and I just adopted a new dog and he's still pretty young (somewhere b/w 11 months and 1yr and 8 months). We keep him in his kennel when we're not home. He won't pee while we're not home, but when we do get home, he'll see us, and as we're walking towards him with a leash, he'll lift his leg and start peeing (although he is aiming for outside of hte kennel). He does this every morning and every night. We tell him NO! but he keeps on peeing. My husband is ready to give him back to the adoption agency, but I think this is a problem that we can fix. Does anyone have any advice?

Answer 1

It is possible that this is a form of 'piddling'. It is an excitement thing. Most dogs (that arent crated) that 'piddle' will do this when an owner comes home or when a new exciting person comes up to them and greets them, sometimes peeing right on their feet. Basically they are so excited that they pee their pants. The easiest way to help a normal piddler is to be very nonchalant when coming home. DO NOT do the whole 'i'm so excited to see you' thing. It is very hard for us not to be excited to see them, but you will have to do the best you can.Try letting him out first and then get the leash. Instead of yelling at him when he starts to piddle, quickly walk away from him. Yelling only increases the excitement level (nervous excitement) and will make the problem worse.You can also practice the crate release often. Put him in the crate when you are home for a little bit of time...with a special chew toy and praise him calmly so he wont think he is being punished. After leaving him in thier for just a bit...start out for only 5-10 minutes or so....open his crate and walk away from him. Ask him to come to you for a treat or to go out for a walk. With a bit of practice he should learn to stay calm when you get home. Remember everything is no big deal, boring, boring, boring when you come home. You should notice a difference in a few days.

Answer 2

1st of all, if you give him back to the adoption agency they may put a DNA (do no adopt) out on you for giving up too easily. That means they won't give you another dog or will tell other agencies not to adopt to you. -- That is if you dont show that you've put in effort to help the dog change. Consider contacting the agency - they often have trainers that will work with people who have adopted dogs from them, for free or at a discounted price.

Secondly telling the dog "no" is probably making the matter worse. The dog is probably peeing from submission and excitement. What breed of dog is it? I foster coonhounds and rescues-hounds sometimes have a major problem with this. My foster would hold it the whole time too, then pee in her crate when I approached her -- I tried not making eye contact with her, running to quickly let her out, putting the crate closer to the door, covering the crate with a blanket so she couldn't see me, telling her no, None of that worked! The reason why telling him NO doesnt work is because he is already in a submissive state - yelling at him is telling him you want him to be more submissive, so he continues to pee (what dogs do to show submissiveness)

Anyway, what eventually worked for me was ignoring the dog completely when I came in the door. Don't look at him, don't even say hello. Have a drink of water. watch some tv, do what you would normally do. Once he settles down (no barking, excessive wagging of the tail, not looking at you), THEN take him outside. The first few days he will probably continue to pee when he sees you. But, when he realizes you aren't going to let him out as soon as you get home, he will stop. This is a good exercise for dogs anyway, because it can help prevent separation anxiety and stop them from barking when you aren't home. It is teaching them not to get excited just because you come home.

Also, once he has mastered sitting quietly when you get home, come at him with the leash a few times. This will teach him not to pee when he sees the leash.

Good Luck!

Answer 3

Young dogs tend to pee when they get excited, so that's part of the problem. The other part is that you are expecting too much from a young dog. Young dogs are just like young children ... their bladders a very small and they haven't learned to "hold it" yet. You didn't say how long you're leaving the puppy in the kennel at a stretch, but my guess is it's too long. Walk the puppy at night just before you go to bed, then kennel him. First thing in the morning, walk the puppy again --- 6 to 8 hours at the most between "pit stops". Walk him again just before you leave for work, and kennel him for the day. If possible, have someone come home to walk him at lunch time. When you get home, walk him again. Always, always always ... praise him when he goes outside, scold him when he goes inside. He just needs some time & practice to get better, and so do his people. :)

Answer 4

Number one...don't leave him in the kennel for more than 4 hours at a time...he may just be exploding to go when you get home. Hire a dog walker to come at midday to let him out. Also,when you arrive, don't come to him holding his leash...that probably gets him overexcited, and don't make eye contact, or say a word...his peeing may also be a result of being overly happy to see you. Just place his kennel near an exit door, and get him in the yard as quickly as possible, and after he pees give him praise. He may still have piddles for a bit but just scoot him outside and clean up the pee and don't say a word...it will soon stop!

Answer 5

He is young and even though he can hold it for that length of time, you are at the limit of time to have him in a kennel without peeing. Naturally, when he sees you he is very excited and happy and relaxed .. so naturally he releases his urine. You should leave him in the kennel one weekend for 4 hours instead of 8 hours and see if he still does it ... I think his bladder is about to burst by time he sees you. If you have any kind of dog bed in the kennel , you will have to throw it out and get a new one .. there can be NO smell of urine anywhere near him .. or he will just do it again. Good Luck ! :)

Answer 6

sounds like a learned behavior... and it can be corrected with LOTS of patience. I discovered that waiting a few minutes after you walk in the door before opening the crate helps... don't call the dogs name, don't say anything. ignore, ignore, ignore... after the dog calms down, open the crate door. Do not have the leash in your hand... it serves as a signal to pee. Keep the leash by the outside door and be putting it on as you walk out the door.

Answer 7

this is becuase he is excited.. make sure you take away his water 2 hours before you put him in the kennel and that he goes out to pee before kenneling...

you said "he does this every morning and every night" - that makes me wonder... how much time is the poor dog in the kennel?? he shouldnt be in there except at night time.. so the "morning" made sense

you need to get to his kennel quicker and without talking so he isnt excited...
perhaps he needs to get out more.. is he kenneled all day and all night?? thats way too much - you need to have somebody come mid day to let him out

call the agency and ask if they have other ideas before you simply return him, my guess is he needs to go so bad and gets excited to see you ..

Answer 8

i think he is peeing in his kennel because he did it once maybe by accident or when he couldnt help himself./. lol and the scent of his urine is still there,,, dogs tend to go to the same spot to urinate when they can smell theyve urinated there b4 i think if u can remove the odour to your dog.. u can stop this,, i know because one time my dog kept peeeeing in the same spot in my house even when she was fully potty trained.. after i bought dog urine scent remover from the pet shop.. she never peed there again.. also maybe move the kennel arround.. your dog might be doing it out of familiaraty.. i had a problem when i moved house and i have a lil pee grass thing.. for her to urinate in and thats how i trained my dog however when i moved houses... the grass i put it in a different location obviously cos new house but my dog kept peeing not at the grass.. it kept peeing next to my outdoor chair... it turns out in my old house the grass was next to my outdoor chair so she saw the chair as familiar to go relieve herself.... this was a problem in my new place and i had to reteach her to pee in the grass in a different location... and not near the outdoor chair.. lol

Answer 9

It's part excitement and part subservience that is causing him to pee.....It can be cured ...Find a good dog trainer.

Answer 10

There may be something of use here.