Hi...I am new to the forum and SO thankful I've found it. I have a male yorkie that I've had since he was 12 weeks old. He was neutered at 4 months and I have been crate training him since I got him. Since I've had him, he's ALWAYS had issues going potty in his crate. Ever since day 1. I thought he'd get the hang of it as he got older since most dogs don't want to go where they sit, but he hasn't. For his crate... It's a small crate....definitely not too big. He's only 5 lbs and it's the smallest crate I can find. He doesn't get food or water in the crate and is always pottied right before he goes into it. It's driving me insane...It's been 4 years of accidents in the crate. I am TIRED of bathing a dog and cleaning crates all the time. I'm a registered veterinary technician, so he's been checked from top to bottom and there are no medical issues causing it. I've even taken him to work with me and put him in a small cage in the kennel and let him out during the day, and he'll STILL pee in his cage, even with me letting him out every hour.
Sometimes he will go for a few days or even almost a week with no accidents, but most of the time it's a weekly, if not daily issue. Now, for the interesting part...If we're home and he's out in the house, he'll go to the door and hop around when he has to go out. And he will sleep in our bed all night without getting out of it, so as long as he's not in his crate at night, he's ok. If he's in his crate at night, it's always hit or miss if I"ll wake up to a mess. He is "housetrained", meaning that when he's out of his crate when we're home, he'll always go to the door to be let out. I am thankful for that, but it's an issue when we have to leave the house and have to crate him...even if I run to the store for a few minutes, he'll still pee/poop in his crate. I've tried just leaving him out in the house when I leave, but he'll have accidents in the house, too, if nobody is there to let him out. I just found the name of a really good dog trainer in the area I am going to contact as well, but if anyone has any advice on what I can do, PLEASE help. I have done everything that I know to do...I have no clue how to keep him from peeing in his crate in short of sitting in front of it 24/7 to correct him, which I can't do. I tried the petite Pet a Potty in his crate, and he just slept on it and peed in the crate.
I thought about trying pee pads tucked inside a dog litter box in a large dog crate with a dog bed for him to lay on....any other ideas? Any tips on pad training an older dog? He's a fantastic dog otherwise...so sweet, funny and is great with our daughter, but this issue is really starting to get to me. He's part of the family and I can't get rid of him but I NEED to find some kind of solution for him during the day because I cannot clean stuff every day anymore...I am exhausted...I'd much rather have a clean dog and just have to throw away a pee pad every day than deal with this mess....any suggestions? (sorry sooo long!)