Peeing in the crate

[roland008]

My bulldog is about 3 months old. I am trying to crate train him. He just keeps peeing in there. I have been told dogs won't pee where they sleep. I am beginning to think that this is a load. He pees during the day. He pees at night. There is no rhyme or reason to it. His crate is not too big. I have made it so small that he just barely fits. Some say that dog has to be calm to put him in the crate. This is not always the case with my dog. He doesn't always want to go in there, but if the dog has to be calm doesn't that defeat the purpose of crate training in the first place. I rarely feed him after six oclock and I restrict his water at night as well. I am really getting frustrated with him. He will come in and promptly pee in his crate. He has made it through a night so I know he can. I am starting to think he just does it because he can. What the heck else can I do? Should I just give up? My brother got a great dane puppy at the same time and age and she doesn't seem to do it nearly as ofter or at all. The only time she seems to is if I take him out and leave her in the cage to take out second.

 

[Vikinggirl]

Hi, I know the puppy stage can be frustrating, and especially with bullies, they can be stubborn. It took me 5 months before my guys were fully trained. How often during the day do you take him out? Are there any towels, pillows, or blankets in the crate with him? My guys chew and eat their blankets, and stuffed animals so they can't have any, they sleep on the plastic tray. Some people on here have had the same issues, their bullies will pee on their bedding. Try taking it out and see if it helps. When I put my guys back in the crate at night, or when I'm going out, I use either a few pieces of their kibble, or a few Cheerios to get them back into the crate without having to coax them , or chase them, or force them. I throw a couple of the treat into the crate, and then theybjustbwalk in to eat it, then I close the door, and they are fine. Try placing a treat in the crate, and he will willingly go in, and he will get used to it. My guys like to sleep in the crate, and they like to go in there to relax from each other after they play hard. It's their safe place, and it's where they go to sleep, and relax. I don't put them in there to punish them, and it's never been used as a bad place to go, so they don't mind.

I found when my two were puppies and I was training them, a schedule helped, this is the schedule that I used with Bulldozer and Blossom:


Hi new Bully parents, my name is Monica, and I have 2 English Bulldog pups, they are both 9 months old, and are brother and sister, their names are Bulldozer and Blossom. I've noticed a lot of new puppy owners have posted questions regarding potty training for their new babies. Since my 2 are now 9 months old, and I have been through this already, I thought I might share what worked for us. The puppy stage is very much like having a baby in the house, the training takes time and patience, and sleepless nights, but it is a temporary phase. The best thing that you can do to make potty training go smooth and without accidents is to first crate train your new baby, this will make your life much easier. Crate training your pup is not a cruel thing to do, they actually learn that the crate is a safe place. You can use it for sleeping, and for a safe place to put puppy in when you can't watch or supervise them, and for when you need to go out. The other important thing to do for successful puppy training is establishing a schedule. This worked the best for us, and our babies were fully trained by 5 months old. The schedule that worked for us was:


6 am: Take puppy out for their first pee and poop of the day


7 am: Feed puppy breakfast 1/3 of a cup kibble mixed with water.
Place puppy back in crate for 10 mins to let tummy settle after eating.
Then take puppy out for potty again.


7 am: From 7 am to 2 pm take your puppy out every hour or two throughout the day , and increase the
time by an hour each week , so they learn to hold.


2 pm: Feed puppy lunch 1/3 of a cup of kibble mixed with water.
Place puppy in crate for 10 mins to let tummy settle after eating.
Then take puppy out for potty again.


2 pm: From 2 pm to 8 pm, take your puppy out every hour or two during the day.


8 pm: Feed puppy dinner 1/3 of a cup of kibble mixed with water.
Place puppy back in crate of 10 mins to,let tummy settle after eating.
Then take puppy out again.


8 pm: From 8 pm to 11 pm , take your puppy out every hour or two, until around 11 pm or 11:30 pm.
The last pee and poo break will be at around 11 pm before you go to bed.
Take your puppy's water away around 8 or 9 pm, otherwise you will have many accidents throughout
the night.


2 am: We would set our cell phone for 2 am to go out for a pee. The time between 11 pm and 6 am when
they go out for their first pee is too long for the new puppy to hold, but again this a temporary phase,
and the puppy will eventually be able to hold all night. This happened for us when the pups were 5
months old. After they were 5 months old, we were able to eliminate the 2 am outing, and they were
able to hold for 4 or 5 hours at a time during the day.


I hope this helps any new puppy owner that has maybe never owned a pup before, and doesn't know how to train a puppy, or anyone who has a new puppy and is struggling to train them. At first it's like you are training when the puppies will go, but eventually they will tell you when they need to go out, they will either go to the door, or bark, or whine, my female Blossom will whine, when she wants out, my male Dozer will bark. Another thing to do is take your puppy out before and after they play, as they will always go pee after they have been excited.


Good luck to everyone, and remember this is a temporary phase , your puppy will be trained before
You know it. Enjoy your new baby.

 

[ModernFemme]

We had the same issue as you - as many here have. Don't worry, help is on the way.

Similar to what @Vikinggirl is saying, some bullies just love to pee on the super absorbent bedding material and once it's soaked in, sleeping on it doesn't bother them.

Also - Remi would pee in his crate if we allowed him too much space. When Remi was 3 months, he only had a quarter or a 3rd of a large crate to occupy. Since you're already doing that, the next step would be to remove his bedding. Once he stops peeing, you can start introducing thin bedding like towels. Then once he proves himself trustworthy, you can give him a nicer more permanent bed.

It's a process - welcome to puppyhood

The only time you should restrict water is when they are drinking too much and they make themselves sick. Otherwise, let them drink what they want before bed. Some owners suggest also having water in the crate. I don't personally do this, but water is readily available all other times.

 

[RachaelJ]

I agree with everyone here.

 

[RachaelJ]

You've gotten some valuable advice. I agree consistency and a schedule are key in potty training. I think you should also make sure when you clean the crate, you clean it with an enzymatic cleaner. And if you need to take the pup out more often then that could help too.