Why does this rescued greyhound pee when left alone in his crate?
Urgency:Need to know
Category:Behavior & Training
Asked by: Jessica F. (frosty73) 2 months ago
My friends recently adopted a greyhound, and he's a wonderful dog except he had a lot of separation anxiety and will chew and destroy things when they leave him at home.
But when they leave him in a crate, no matter how long they are gone, he will pee in the crate sometimes. The crate is not too big, and they feel terrible coming home and finding him standing in a wet crate. Any suggestions or ideas?
Answers from Zootooers
Answered by Sara S. (MochaWheels) 1 month ago
i dunno about the chewing, but chances are the previous owner left him in his crate too much or, worse, purposely trained him to go to the bathroom in his crate. our english cocker spaniel had the same problem, but we could leave her out cuz she didn't chew everything.
Answered by Kelly W. (o2bindixie) 1 month ago
I went through the exact same thing with my newly adopted Coonhound. We cannot leave him uncrated because he will tear the house apart. When we crated him, he would pee everywhere. Not just a little - everywhere.
What finally worked for him is what I call "Independence Training". I believe that Separation Anxiety is not triggered from the act of owner leaving, but from finding themselves alone and not knowing what to do in that situation. So, training consisted of me not being there even when I was there.
In other words, I showed him how to be OK by himself while I was at home. One part of that was making him stay outside without me for a while, while I was home. The other was to crate him while I was home with a well-stuffed Kong so that he would associate being alone in the crate with good stuff. (It did no good to leave him with a stuffed Kong when I was NOT home b/c he simply peed on it. The key was to crate him with the Kong while I was at home, but in another room where he could not see me but still knew I was there).
It took a few weeks, but he no longer pees in his crate.
Answered by Jill R. (DocJill) 2 months ago
Also, talk to them about connecting with one of the big greyhound groups, like Greyhound Pets of America or the National Greyhound Adoption Program. They know everything about greyhounds from A to Z and can probably solve all this dog's problems from their vast experience.
Answered by Marta J. (2pitpuppies) 2 months ago
There are different ways to help dogs with separation anxiety. Have them consult some trainers and read up on it. The first thing is to make sure there is no physical problems like urinary infections. One thing you can have them try is to leave the house for 4 or 5 minutes at a time and come back in.Do that four or 5 times an hour. Do not speak at all the the dog, just leave and then come back in a few minutes later. Again say nothing. After a while the dog gets used to you coming and going and it stops becoming an issue. Have them do that as much as they can. Dogs don't have a real concept of time. 5 min or 5 hours - all the same to them. By leaving in shorter intervals, they soon realize you will be coming back.