How long can i leave in the crate/kennel?

[Levans9201]

HI

I have recenty had many problems with both of my male BC's and two Shih-tzu's Peeing in the house.The BC's only do it right after i leave t he house. Put up hidden camera to figure that out.But the shih-tzus will do it anywhere anytime in front of anyone.

 

I have kennels in the house that i use for short periods of time while I am away. My question is can i leave them in their kennels for long periods of time. Up to 6 hours while i am at work?

 

And if so do i provide water? OR just their chewies and a toys?

 

I Am so tired of cleaning carpet and trying to save my wood floors. I need some advice in a hurry.

 

The BC never pee in the house till we got the shih-tzus and one is 11 year old and is having some health issues.

 

Thank you

Lenore

[lrayburn]

The general rule of thumb is that you can take the dog's age in months and add one to get the number of hours that a dog can "hold it". So a 4 month old border collie shouldn't be crated more than 5 hours at a stretch. In my opinion, 8 hours is the max that I ask my adult dogs to hold it so 6 should not be a problem for an adult border collie. If you haven't been crating, you may want to slowly build up to 6 hours at a time instead of doing it all at once.

 

Small breed dogs can be more difficult to house train than larger dogs but I see no reason why an adult Shihtzu can't hold it for 6 hours at a time. Start with a shorter period of time and build up if necessary. If there are health problems that prevent them from holding it for that long, set them up with a puppy pad system so they aren't forced to soil their crates.

 

Food and water depends on you. Many people provide hanging water buckets in their crates while they are gone. I don't because my guys tend to make a mess. I also don't leave food in the crate. You could provide safe chewies as long is its not something that could pose a potential choking hazard (I don't leave rawhides in their crates for this reason).

 

Make sure you are using an enzymatic cleaner to clean up the messes. I find that adult dogs often regress to marking under stress or if another dog is going to the bathroom in the house. I would treat all of the dogs as though they weren't housebroken for a little while to get this new habit under control.

 

Lisa

[MaggieDog]

Have you taken the dogs who potty the most to the vet to make sure it's not a urinary tract infection? UTIs will cause a regression in house training pretty quickly.

 

Other than that, what Lisa said is right on target as far as crating time. I generally leave just toys, often the ones that hold treats, in the crate, no water as it makes a mess and I doubt my girls like lying in water for hours.

[bsms99]

I'm not a huge crate fan, but when a dog is making a mess everywhere...Most of my puppies have been able to make it thru the night by 10-12 weeks. Our 4 1/2 month old Aussie can make it 8+ hours in our bedroom without peeing. Adults have had no trouble going 12 hours in the house without wetting - so I don't see that as part of the issue. We don't crate adult dogs, but the young ones (4-7 months) have been able to go 6-8 hours plus when needed. We've been lucky and mostly had someone around the house regularly, so the crate was a backup.

 

As long as they get enough exercise during the remaining day, I don't see why there should be any problem. I usually leave water if we're going to be gone over 4 hours.

[Ninso]

I crate my adult BC for 9-10/day during the week while I am at work. He doesn't need to be crated, but he likes his crate and his routine, so I've just continued to do it since I got him. He doesn't get water in his crate to reduce the chance of accidents, but of course he has access to water at all times when out of his crate.

 

lrayburn gave some good advice. Make sure you are thoroughly cleaning the spots with an enzyme cleaner. I use Nature's Miracle and it works great! If you don't get the smell out the dogs will be tempted to return to that spot to pee again. I also like the idea of treating all of them as if they were not housebroken until you get things under control--that means taking everyone out to potty on a schedule every couple of hours and not leaving them unsupervised.

[Levans9201]

Thankyou for all of the suggestions. I would not be so frustrated over this but we have a doggie door and there is absoutly no reason why they do not go outside to pee.

 

From now on they are going in the kennel. I will have about 3 weeks to work the time up to 6 hours before I will have to leave them that long.

 

I will go buy a case of Nature Miracle and see how that works. Any suggestions with lament floors? I have been using damp mop and swifter for wood,but comcern there is still a odor there.

 

I am also very watch full of the shih-tzu's when upstairs,I am postive they are doing it upstairs and try to catch them in the act so I can dicipline them.

 

Sure hope this ends this issue, i am so tired of cleaning up floors every day.

[sweet_ceana]

Both of mine are crated while I am at work and they love it. In fact, we needed to clean out Poke's crate last night and forgot so we left him out. Instead of roaming he went and laid down in the spot where his crate normally is and would not move. I would not be suprised if he spent all day sleeping there. Some dogs just love it and would rather have their own place in you absence.

[bsms99]

Some dogs just love it and would rather have their own place in you absence.

My first dog (Chris) didn't experience a crate until we moved to England, when he was 9. He liked them, and would sleep in it at night with the door off. When we left England, the vet at the airport said it would be 'cruel and inhumane' to put him in that crate for 10 hours, and forced us to spend $150 on a crate that was roughly 6' x 3' x 4'. I asked him if Chris could take my seat and let me sleep in the crate for the trip...he was NOT amused. I guess when you rip someone off, you lose your sense of humor.

[JoeA]

6 hours is not bad at all, just make sure that you leave some safe toys inside, like kongs, something they can't destroy. my 9 months old bc love her crate, she goes in it on her own, but i only leave her in it for 4 hours and i know she sleeps while we are not home. she is a great dog.

good luck

Joe

[Mark Billadeau]

So how long are dogs inactive and hold it overnight while their owners are asleep in bed? I usually use this as a rule of thumb as how long they can handle being crated during the day, as long as they get sufficient activity while not crated.

Mark

[Shadows Mom]

I think it depends on the dog really. Shadow spends a LOT of time sleeping and tends to go 8-12 hours without a potty break overnight (shes in the bed for sleepies, not in a crate mind you). I offer to take her out, she rolls over and goes back to sleep LOL. She spends around 6-8 hours a day crated when I have classes, simply because my school is an hour drive from my house. Shes had this same schedule since she was around 4 months old, and only had accidents for a relatively short period of time a few months ago.. which I believe was a food issue, and not an issue with her ability to "hold it." Actually looking forward to being done my degree so she can have more time to run around and play, and less time in her "den."

 

My rule of thumb: no water 1/2 hour before going into the crate! She goes out for a potty break, then into the crate; when we get home she gets to go berzerk and get rid of her zoomies for a couple hours before she has to be calm... fed her once right after zoomies.. ICK hehe.. that was a mistake.

[Sassy Girl]

We crate as needed. When I was working (only dog training now) the dogs would be kennelled while I was at work for 6 hours, my daughter would let them out in the afternoon. Personally- I do agree, as long as the dog can sleep at night w/out a potty break is how long I will leave them during the day in a kennel. I don't leave my dogs longer than 8 hours. I don't leave water in their kennels unless I am gone closer to 6 - 8 hours, no toys as my dogs will get bored and eat them, though they dog get Galileo bones.

[bc4ever]

So how long are dogs inactive and hold it overnight while their owners are asleep in bed? I usually use this as a rule of thumb as how long they can handle being crated during the day, as long as they get sufficient activity while not crated.

Mark

I had it explained to me once like this...a dog asleep all night, crated or otherwise, is like humans who sleep through the night without peeing the bed. When awake and active, we're more likely to go more often.

[Mark Billadeau]

I had it explained to me once like this...a dog asleep all night, crated or otherwise, is like humans who sleep through the night without peeing the bed. When awake and active, we're more likely to go more often.

How active would you really be if you were confined to a crate?

The bathroom needs of a human moving around and being active are not the same as a dog crated.

A better analogy would be a human that is napping during the day compared to a crated dog.

Mark

[osioda]

You will have no problem crating your pup or dog for 8 hours there are just a few rules to do first never put bedding in the kennel, second put plenty of toys in for them to chew on and play with and make sure the kennel is big enough for them to move around some, and yes they might mess once or twice until they figure out they can not get out an after that they won't, now as for the water, and can not believe no one mentioned it, you most definetly give water but you do not just put water in you take a small cup that fastens to the kennel and you put in the freezer and freeze it up and as it thaws they will drink it an also lick on it. I have done this for several years an never had a problem with any of my borders.

 

Steve