My puppy peed in her crate!

[Jamie]

Ok, so we have had Lola, now almost 14 weeks, for 11 days. She has never, ever peed in her crate. Every day is the same she goes outside at around 9am to pee and then she goes in her crate until about 11:30am. Today at about 10:45 while I was sitting in the same room with her she barked twice and I got up to take her out. She didn't go. I brought her back in only to notice she had already gone in her crate. The only thing different about today is my daughter was off from school and sitting with me. My husband thinks may be she went in her crate because she was mad my daughter was with me and she couldn't be. I have heard its horrible for dogs to pee in their crates. What do I do? She is even going about 4 hours or more at night now without going out.

[Jamie]

Thank you so much. I feel better now. I had read somewhere that it could be really bad, but it's great to hear that this is not always the case.

[Adina P]

I think Ian Dunbar goes on and on about how BAD it is if they make a mistake. He does it to encourage you to do your best to PREVENT mistakes...but in reality it's really not that bad if they do it.

[Adina P]

Okay, first, all will be fine! It is BEST to avoid the whole pee in crate business...but if it happens, it is NOT the end of the world. It will not cause permanent house training problems and no permanent scars, harm or trauma :-)

Second, she is NOT mad at you. She's only 14 weeks...a baby. A baby who will make a potty mistake now and then. Who probably drank more than usual or simply was more full of pee than usual and couldn't hold it. She probably barked initially to say "Ooops...I'm wet!" You took her out without noticing she'd already gone and then found the accident. Simple as it looks...NOTHING to read into this. Babies usually aren't mad at their parents. Puppies aren't 'mad' at their owners. To assume she was mad would mean she actually had the forethought and understanding to KNOW that pottying inside was 'wrong' or 'bad' and purposely squeezed her sphincters to push out some pee in hopes you would somehow understand what she was punishing you for and make you choose to never hang out with your daughter again. Way too much brain power and evil intent for a puppy! It just isn't there.

When potty accidents happen it's usually either 'a mistake' (due to fuller than usual bladder, had too much to drink, lapse of attention, owner not supervising or responding in time, etc) OR puppy has a Urinary Tract Infection. It's probably the first option. But if it continues then take a pee sample to the vet.

[Jamie]

Thank you so much! I think she must have drank more than usual because she really went more than I have ever seen, even when she has peed in the house. I know you are right about her not peeing from being mad. I had a minor freak out. ;) Our vet said we could bring in a urine specimen but that UTI's in puppies are uncommon but not unheard of. I am just happy to know her peeing in her crate doesn't mean she will continue to do so now.

Can I ask you when/how often puppies should have access to water? I am thinking three times with her meal is not enough, but having the bowl down all day doesn't seem to be working either.

Thank you again.

[Adina P]

I think puppies need free access to water outside of the crate. Except I did take up all water after a set time at night (about 2-3 hours before bed time).

[Jamie]

Thank you. This is what we have been doing. We take up her water at about 7:30 and we go to bed around 10:30. We are still working with her on not being afraid of our front door. I think this is really stalling her training. We are currently in a town home and we just talked to management about taking her out our back door and letting her go in our little back yard. They said it was fine. Now we can let her out our sliding glass door if we want. Hopefully it won't be too confusing for her. The area is more private with less distractions. The potty area they have designated is by the parking lot and a lot of neighborhood kids.

[Maggie Mae (n Mom, Kay)]

Hi Amanda,
I have a doggie door in the room that my Maggie stays in during the day. I think she's only peed in that room once and never poo'd. However, when I am home she will sometimes go into the living room and do her business (both!) instead of going outside even though the doggie door is available! She is just now 13 weeks old. If I take her outside (she's really not interested in being outside by herslef but she must go out during the day when I'm gone...) then she will potty outside. Is it just because I'm home and we're not outside that she would choose the living room??

[Ali]

Hi Kay,
Since your dog is still really young, they do not understand that the living room is not an area to go potty in. They don't potty in their areas that they use a lot, so I suggest you sit down with her in the area in the living that she potties in and play with her a couple of times. Just to kinda say, "hey we do use this area for other reasons."