Hi all,

Apologies in advance for the long post but I really need some advice!

I need to ask some crate training/house training advice about my 14 week old golden. I can't put her in it in the day without her peeing in it in fact she goes in there to pee. I'm vigilant about house training - after play, meals every 1/2 hour and when she does go outside she gets lots of praise and a little ham (the only time she gets this treat so to make it extra special) She's getting to a point where she starting to go to the back door when she wants a poo as well but doesn't do the same for wanting a pee. In fact she's really unpredictable with peeing. Sometimes she won't go for 2.5 hours and then next time she goes 4 times an hour. At night, she settles in her crate really well - she's now getting to the point that when I pop her bedding in (I can't leave it in there in the day - I'm having to wash her bedding every couple of hours) she runs in there and is now settling and going to sleep even after I've gone up to bed myself (i.e I now don't stay with her till she goes to sleep like I did for her first week) so this is going really well. However, when I have to pop her in her crate in day, say for example if I have to have a shower or pop to the corner shop, I'll pop her in there with something to chew eat and play but as soon as she notices I'm not there she barks, whines and pees. I always take her out to the garden and encourage her to go for a pee before I put her in there, but this morning, after she pee'd twice before I put her in there with her breakfast within a few minutes she'd ignored her breakfast and pee'd! She's in a large crate- is this too big and do I need to make it smaller?

I always wait until she's quiet until I let her out, and ensure that I don't make a fuss of her when she comes out so as not to make an issue of her being in there. She also paces and crys when I leave the room. I understand she has to learn being without me, but am at a bit of a loss to get her used to this. She doesn't do this with my partner and I think this is because I do all her meals and most of the training and playing. I've told him to do more playing and and training - will this help her to see us both as 'leaders' and be less attached to me? I want her to bond with both of us, but it seems that she only has this issue with me.

Any help anyone can offer would be greatly appreciated!

Karen

Hi Karen

I think it will come with time.  It sounds like it's not the actual crate that she dislikes, since she is fine in there at night.  But you still might want to have a read of this link about how to introduce the crate and make it a positive place, just in case:

http://www.ddfl.org/behavior/crate-train.pdf

It sounds like you're doing most things right.  A few suggestions:

It does sound like the crate may be too big - the question is - is the crate big enough that she can wee in one place in it, and then lie down in another place?  If so, it's too big and you need to make it smaller.  The reason she won't want to pee in it, is because it's her bed.  If you make it big enough that she can wee in it, then it's not serving that purpose.

I would put her in the crate when you're in the room quite often.  Get her used to just relaxing in there while you're reading a book or doing the ironing, or whatever. 

I would then practise repeatedly leaving the room and coming back in immediately.  Over and over again, before she even has a chance to whine or notice you've gone.  Just walk in and out loads.  Then start to wait 1 second before coming back in.  And so on.  Build it up gradually.  When you are out of the room, sometimes it helps if you make noise so the dog knows you are still around, you're just not in the room with it - bang some cupboards in the kitchen, sniff, cough etc - don't talk to her though, and don't return until she's quiet. 

Here's a link - this is written for an adult dog with full-blown SA, so I wouldn't advise things like clomipramine (drug)!  But some of the other suggestions are useful:  http://www.clickersolutions.com/articles/2002/sa.htm

ps forgot to say - sometimes it is really draining and worrying when you have a pup like this, but keep practising coming and going, keep extending the amount of time you leave for, and it WILL get better.  Just don't give up, because then you'll be stuck with it for life and as an adult dog, it will be a much harder thing to solve.

Thanks so much, it's good to get confirmation that I'm on the right track.