I have a nine week old puppy that pees in her crate if I leave her in there for longer than thirty minutes. She does use the restroom outside when I taker her out there, and I praise her profusely for going in her "outside spot." She has no medical problems, and yet the behavior continues. Any suggestions?

I would say time. I have had pups that at 9 weeks would scream bloody murder prior to urinating in their crate and others that did it until 5 months old.

Size of the crate can also play a role. If the pup can urinate without laying in it they are more likely to let go than hold.

How big is the crate in relation to the pup? The pup should have just enough room to turn around. I know this can get costly as you end up buying crates as the pup get bigger.

Hope that helps.

Tammy, first make sure that the crate is big enough only for her to lay in & not big enough for her to use one end as a bathroom. Use the same word when you take her out...ie do potty or I use hurry up outside & then praise with the same words...I still say hurry up outside to my 3 yr old female. Also, try taking her out to pee every 25 minutes if possible during the day & see if that helps. Then gradually increase the time. You will still have to take her out several times during the night for a while.I took my now 4 1/2 month old pup out every hour when he was smaller & still take him out every 3-4 hours during the day. He has so far never messed in his crate or the house. He even woke me up the other morning very early 'cause he had to go out in a hurry. I used to stay up until 12 or 1 am & take him out & then go to bed & get up at 3 or 4 & again 5-7am again to take him out. Take her out immediately after waking up & eating. Play with her outside if possilbe try to have her go again before bringing her in to put her into her crate & try make her tired while playing so that will encourage her to sleep when she is in her crate. Good luck with your pup. She will figure it out be patient, she is very young & doesn't have much bladder control yet.

One quick note, if you can't afford to buy multiple crates and only have one that is too big, then you can partition it off using boxes and cardboard. It works well and keeps costs down. Other than that, I second what Anne and Ron have posted.

This is a very good idea. However mine ate boxes and cardboard, so I used oven racks wired to the crate to block off part of the crate. Depending on the size of the crate you have, you could use a different type of rack (e.g., cooling rack) to do the same thing.

Thank you very much for your help. I went and purchased a smaller crate and I am taking her out every twentyfive minutes. We are having quite the snow storm, but she doesn't seem to mind too much. Thank you for your advice. We'll see how it goes.

My chocolate lab puppy-13 weeks old-does this also and his crate is small-just the right size for him and has a towel(easy clean up and less hassle). I go to work in the AM and my fiance works in shifts, so the puppy is sometimes in his crate for at least 4 hours at a time(I go home for lunch to let him out) and if he urinates in his crate, the towel soaks it up, but it smells and I know he doesn't like to sit in his own mess. But puppies need to go outside every 15-30 minutes. About 15 minutes after they eat, play and as soon as they wake up or are let out of their crate. If you don't have it already, you should think about getting Leerburg's Your Puppy 8 Weeks to 8 Months. Great DVD! Very informative, I learned a few things I wish I would have known when I was younger and my parents got me a poodle/shih tzu mix. She would have been potty trained a lot sooner-3yrs old before she was.