Hi Everyone,

I'm a little confused about my puppy's behavior. I have a GSD male 12 weeks old. When it's supper time for us, I put him in his crate and he whines for a bit, then pees in it. I take him outside right away, but he does not do anything. I don't scold him or get upset with him. Weh I come back in I put him back in the crate, after it's cleaned, and he will whine and sometimes pee again.
As an example, last night he went outside to pee 3 times in 2 hours, and when I put him in the crate so we could sit down for dinner, he peed in the crate.
Now I know he could be doing this to get out of the crate, but I'm not letting him stay out, I take him outside and put him right back in the crate. What am I doping wrong?

Thanks
Paul

How big is his crate? Put him in a crate barely bigger than he is and leave the house for a few hours, he'll quickly learn that if he pees in his crate he has to lay down in it. Unless your dog has some kinda pee fetish that is, but lets not go there <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> Make sure you take him out before crating him though.

He's doing it for attention. Ignore it. Let him sit in the crate, pee and all, until you are finished eating, and have cleaned up the kitchen. Then take him out. Does he pee in the crate any other time??

I may be wrong, but I don't think a 12 wk. old puppy is peeing in his crate to get attention. Try this article from Ed's website. http://www.leerburg.com/housebrk.htm I think that may help you get to the root of the problem. Good luck.

Oh! I didn't see the part about him being 12 weeks old! At 3 months of age, he should be taken outside to pee at least every 3 hours or so. But, even then, if he's only peeing in the crate when put in there so the owner can eat dinner, after being taken out beforehand, I would still say it was for attention.

If your housebreaking correctly he shouldnt be doing that. Get him to the vet and have a urinalysis done. Could be a UTI. Bring a urine sample with you(the fresher and least contaminated the sample the better).
Some signs that can be seen, but not always, are;
-an unusual, unexplained increase in thirst
-increases in the frequency and/or volume of urine that the dog voids (also when brought outside he goes a small amount but numerous times)
-a reluctance to urinate
-the dog appears to strain when urinating
-an abnormal odor or color of the voided urine

Good luck,

Pat

#1 I don't buy the "he is doing it for attention". A dog does not sit there and think "Oh they are ignoring me, let me force a pee out so they will come give me attention!"

#2 Don't leave him sat in it. Urine burns/rash can be pretty nasty and very uncomfortable, no pup deserves that. The day after when his skin is burning and itching, you think he is going to remember WHY? Heck no. In addition, getting him used to being in his own mess is not a wise move.

I second what Sammy has said.

First let me thank everyone for their replies. Now let em see if I can address each of your comments.

The crate is slightly bigger than he is. He is a big boy. To give you and idea is father is 150lbs. My vet told me right away that he was going to grow fast and be a big dog.
So with that said, the crate is not that big that he can pee in one end and move to the other.

I somewhat agree that he may do it because he wants to be around the dinner table and not locked in there, but as I said before what confuese me is the fact that I don't take him out and let stay out, I go out with him and then put him right back in the crate.

I cannot see how letting him stand/sit in his own pee is going to teach him anything. I don;t want him to develop any bad habits such as leaking his own urine or developng any rashes. Besides, I would have to end up bathing him.

I will take a look at eh housebreakig article. I just got done watching my fisrt DVD (Your Puppy 8 weeks to 8 months)but there was nothing specifically addressing this issue.

Thanks again

Hello all...when I purchased my GSD, the breeder gave me some advise that I tried following to a tee. I did it as described, and Rommel was crate trained in 2 weeks. What I was told was IF i caught him peeing, to pick him up by the nape of the neck and shake the snot out of him while giving him your correction word.(Mine being phooey.) I only had to do that twice. Keep in mind when i did this, he was around 11 weeks old. With your dog being older, hes probably alot heavier and that would be difficult. Some on here may not think alot of that method but it sure seems to have worked for me. Just remember what Mr. Frawley reccomends about correcting...the correction needs to come no later than 1 1/2 seconds from the infraction. Best of luck to you.