Hello all! I am new to this forum. I have a 13 week old male Husky named Attila! I've had him since he was 8 weeks old. He's pretty much potty trained (in house) and hasn't had an accident in about 2 weeks (knock on wood). However, when he's in the crate it's a guaranteed accident at least 2-3 times a day. I know that they have separation anxiety. I leave him just enough room in the crate to turn around and sleep. I stopped leaving toys and blankets in the crate because they would be covered with urine. I have to wipe him down at least 2 times a day because of the urine. He could be out all day and only have to get every few hours. I do wake up in the middle of the night to take him out and before I leave to work. I also go home for lunch. So it's never more than 4 hours at a time.

I have a nature sound machine that I leave for him while he's in there. Should I replace that with a radio? I never take him out of the crate while he's crying, only when he stops whining. Then I let him out to take him to potty.

Just a little history. He did have diarrhea bad for a couple of weeks which was resolved with medication. During this time I noticed his bladder control was bad. I took him back to the vet and they said he had a UTI. They gave him medication and he was on it for 12 days now. This has not helped. So I don't know if he's still got a UTI or if it's just SA from being in the crate.

I'm trying to be as patient as possible. But cleaning him off so many times a day is starting to take its toll on me and I'm a very patient person.

I've read the sticky thread about crate training and read some good tips there.

Any other suggestions would be great.

Thank you!

Welcome, Attila! You sound like a very level headed person, so I'm going to try to help you out.

You gave us just about everything that we usually ask for, too. Knowing that he doesn't have enough room to go pee in a 'corner' of the crate, he's probably not doing it on purpose. It is known that dogs don't like to lay in their own 'mess'.

Some owners here will leave their pup in a crate all day while at work for 8+ hours and come back to no mess.

A few suggestions.

Perhaps the UTI didn't go away?

Has he been tested for urine crystals?

http://www.petmd.com/dog/conditions/urinary/c_multi_crystalluria#.Ul6ynFBJPoR

While trying to figure out what the issue is, I landed upon this cool 'symptom checker' on petmd. Hmm. Will come in handy.
http://www.petmd.com/symptom-checker?icn=petMD-utility_bar&icl=2_symptom_checker#.Ul6zGlBJPoQ

I'm sure other members will chime in soon. I've never dealt with this before.

Thank you very much for the fast reply!

I've actually contacted my vet and she would like to run a blood test on him along with bladder test with a catheter? I'm assuming I understood her properly. She then said that after those two tests she may still want to do an x-ray of his bladder. My vet then asked me to get Attila to her with a full bladder to run the first test. I told her that's impossible since he runs right to the back door as soon as I let him out of the crate to go potty.

So I think you're on the money (possibly) with the urine crystals. I'm going to try and get him back to the vet within the next few days to drop him off.

Thanks again for the info and links!

I don't understand vet tech lingo, so I can't help you there. I know the x-ray is for the crystals though. Sounds like a lot of tests! I hope it doesn't cost you too much.

You're welcome! Try to give him a lot of water when he gets to the vet. Maybe he'll want to go pee then.

Paws crossed it's nothing too complicated!

VintageJeans wrote:

I don't understand vet tech lingo, so I can't help you there.  I know the x-ray is for the crystals though.  Sounds like a lot of tests!  I hope it doesn't cost you too much.  


You're welcome!  Try to give him a lot of water when he gets to the vet.  Maybe he'll want to go pee then.  


Paws crossed it's nothing too complicated!

So far I've shelled out just under $500 for the last two visits which did include his third shot and deworming. If she had to run all three tests it would cost me $360.00

The vet said that she would want to keep him there for the day so I'm sure they'll load him up with water.

Thanks again!

No problem!

I found this thread today and it sounds just like what you're going through.

https://www.itsahuskything.com/t4572-puppy-peeing-in-crate-on-herself-when-left-alone#174185

VintageJeans wrote:

No problem!

I found this thread today and it sounds just like what you're going through.

https://www.itsahuskything.com/t4572-puppy-peeing-in-crate-on-herself-when-left-alone#174185

Thank you for the great find! I've posted in there as well to see what others may have to say!