Olivia Posted March 17, 2014 Report Share Posted March 17, 2014 I have 3 border collies of my own and work with East TN Border Collie Rescue. This cute little boy came in 3 days ago and I picked him up yesterday with intent to see if he fits into my household and if not he is foster until adopted. He is 4 months old, purebred with papers, very sweet and bidable. Now the questions, he seems to be perfectly reverse crate trained. If he is in the crate he will poop, haven't gotten him to poop outside yet. He has urinated outside 2 times today and once yesterday after a huge amount of walking him around the backyard. He also will bark non-stop (and I mean non-stop, not just randomly) when in his crate. He barked for 4.5 hours last night. I took him out, gave him bedding (he was in a bare bottom crate, no more of that with the potty problems), cleaned up poop. He only quieted down when I put one of my dogs into the crate room with him. I hate to do that every night as my dogs are used to sleeping in my bedroom with me. I don't have room in my bedroom for a crate for him so I can't move him in there. I've had plenty of foster puppies but they have all given up crying in the crate after 30 minutes or so. Never had a pup like this. Any suggestions? Olivia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d112358 Posted March 17, 2014 Report Share Posted March 17, 2014 Do you have an ex-pen you can set up for him with a bed and puppy pads? That should keep him from destroying whatever den instinct he has left. It sounds like it could be separation anxiety, though he's still awfully young for something like that. If he's been left for long times in a crate (like in a pet store or puppy mill) that can also lead to crate-soiling. There's no quick fix for getting him back in the crate and not pooping in it. The road is longer if it is separation anxiety of some sort. Start feeding in the crate (maybe with the door open so he doesn't have a chance to flip out if it is anxiety); that should help some with reinforcing it as off-limits for elimination. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olivia Posted March 19, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 19, 2014 I started putting him in an ex-pen with a bed on one end and potty pads on the other during the day and in the crate at night. He is doing much better and is urinating reliably outside and he pooped outside for the first time yesterday and has done so twice today! He is getting a party every time he goes outside and he is so eager to please I think (hope!) he is starting to catch on. He is such a sweetie pie, very eager to learn and tries so hard. We are working on basic obedience skills and he is catching on very quickly. Thanks for the advice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GentleLake Posted March 19, 2014 Report Share Posted March 19, 2014 Awesome! Keep up the great work . . . and thanks for giving him a chance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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