[CoppersMama]

I'm at the end of my leash!!

I'm a new beagle owner. My husband and I have never had a small breed dog before so we are wondering if this behavior is normal.

My pup is roughly 17 weeks old. He's very smart. He knows all of his commands without fail but I cannot get him to stop urinating in his crate at night

He goes out every morning at 6 am. Eats at 615 and is out again at 630. He is left most of the day alone and in his crate. When I come home again at 3pm he is covered in urine. He eats again at 5 pm and has water till about 7 pm.

He gets a small ammount of water while I'm away at work. Only a half quarter cup of water. I fear he'll become dehydrated if I don't, but I've been thinking he'll stop if I don't provide water. So last week I tried that. No water while I'm gone.... And still, when I get home from work, he's covered in urine.

There have been a few times that I'm gone for longer than 8 hours and I'll get home and find him licking up his mess.

I've tried confinement in another room, confinement in the same room and now a crate. The crate is only big enough for him to sleep in.
He never poops in his crate but does on the floor. Its not as frequent as the urine messes though.

My husband and I are beside ourselves. We have had Copper for about 7 weeks. We have read all the training tips and nothing seems to be working. I give treats and praise when he's good and tell him he's bad when he is. He hates being told he's a bad boy so I wonder if he's messing out of spite.

As a puppy he slept, ate and messed outside in a kennel with his mother and siblings. I wonder if this is the reason for his bad behaivour. I'm at the end of my leash with him. We have talked about making Copper and outside dog or adopting him out. Neither option makes me happy.

Someone please help!

 

[oldhounddog]

I'm at the end of my leash!!

I'm a new beagle owner. My husband and I have never had a small breed dog before so we are wondering if this behavior is normal.

My pup is roughly 17 weeks old. He's very smart. He knows all of his commands without fail but I cannot get him to stop urinating in his crate at night

He goes out every morning at 6 am. Eats at 615 and is out again at 630. He is left most of the day alone and in his crate. When I come home again at 3pm he is covered in urine. He eats again at 5 pm and has water till about 7 pm.

He gets a small ammount of water while I'm away at work. Only a half quarter cup of water. I fear he'll become dehydrated if I don't, but I've been thinking he'll stop if I don't provide water. So last week I tried that. No water while I'm gone.... And still, when I get home from work, he's covered in urine.

There have been a few times that I'm gone for longer than 8 hours and I'll get home and find him licking up his mess.

I've tried confinement in another room, confinement in the same room and now a crate. The crate is only big enough for him to sleep in.
He never poops in his crate but does on the floor. Its not as frequent as the urine messes though.

My husband and I are beside ourselves. We have had Copper for about 7 weeks. We have read all the training tips and nothing seems to be working. I give treats and praise when he's good and tell him he's bad when he is. He hates being told he's a bad boy so I wonder if he's messing out of spite.

As a puppy he slept, ate and messed outside in a kennel with his mother and siblings. I wonder if this is the reason for his bad behaivour. I'm at the end of my leash with him. We have talked about making Copper and outside dog or adopting him out. Neither option makes me happy.

Someone please help!

CoppersMama,

The first thing would be to rule out any medical issues.


1. A 17 week old pup can't wait 8 plus hrs for a potty break. Starting at about 8 months of age Cooper will be able to hold his business longer , perhaps even 8 hours.

2. The reason for licking the urine up may be to hide the evidence out of fear. Has anyone fussed a Cooper about having an accident? Separation anxiety or just plain fear of being alone may also play into this. Does he cry when you leave?

3. What is Cooper's day like after you come home?

4. A dog never does anything out of spite. Dogs always want to please their owners. This is simply a case of he can not hold it that long, and , just like a human,
when the pain or need to relieve ones self is strong enough he will go in his crate given no other choice.

3. Is there any safe way to have Cooper outside during the day where he would have access to an area for potty use.

 

[CoppersMama]

Hey
Thanks for the response.

I've been considering leaving him out during the day but he does whine a lot when I leave and I don't want the neighbour to complain. I have a garage he can go into but its old, not well ventilated and I think he could dig out the gravel and get out.

I thinkt he biggest issue is the time spent away from home in most cases but he even pee's right after I've let him out and he's gone two or 3 times. The vet says he's fine.

I just hate that he has to be inside his crate all the time when I'm home because he can't hold it and my rugs are antique.
When we are outside he always uses the same areas to void his bowels. After that, we have about 10 acres for him to run. He's the son of a 3rd generation champion blood line of runners. We play ball and Copper chases my older Lab around. Then he usually uses the "potty" again before we go in the house for either breakfast or dinner. My whole morning and evening routine involves as much attention as I can offer him. Maybe I give him too much. I've raised 6 different dogs in my time and he's the hardest one to get a grasp on. I'm aware of his cries and what they mean (when he uses them) I try to have as much patience as needed but my husband, not so much. He's the one who is hardest on Copper. We both give discipline equally but my husband has a stronger and more frightning voice when Copper is bad so I think he may fear that about him. We both snuggle him when he's good and when he acts up, he goes in his bed.

I've always had large breed dogs so maybe I expect from Copper, the same learning curve that I would expect from a large breed. I've never had a small breed before, but believe me when I say a dog WILL act out of spite. I had a rotty that did exactly the opposite of when was asked of him. After 3 years I gave up and sent him for adoption.

 

[oldhounddog]

CoppersMama ,

It is very possible Cooper is not outside long enough to get his bladder empty. Could be that with a very full bladder he can not empty on the first couple of tries and ends up back inside and finds he still needs to go pee. Try to take him out as much as you can to the same spot to pee and praise/reward. Remember that the combined time in crate from overnight and day hours is a lot , and , 17 weeks is still very young so just keep working and do the best you can to give as much outside time as possible. Also , a Beagle is a very soft dog and the personality will be very different from Rotties and GSD's , just something to keep in mind... IMO. I'm sending you a PM that I think will give you some extra help.

oldhounddog