>>I basically have two concerns, first I have a 10 wk. old german shepard, and she keeps peeing in her cage. She does great when she's out in the house, I leave the back door open and she goes out when she wants, but when I leave for a couple of hours she pees or poops, usually pees though, in her bed. I know she has a smaller bladder than my big dog, but she's never in there for more than 2 hours, and she does good while we sleep which is like 6 hrs., so I know she can hold it. Any suggestions as to why she does it and how to get her to stop? Second concern is she pees every day so she gets pretty smelly I want to know what happens if I over bathe her, will she just not look pretty or are there real health concerns, because I give her a bath about twice a week because she starts to smell real bad.
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During sleep, the body circulates a hormone that quiets the bowels and bladder. When the dog is asleep it is normal to be able to hold it much longer than when awake. In fact, when she is awake her body needs to catch up on eliminating what was not eliminated during sleep. I recommend taking the dog out once per hour during the times you are at home and awake.
If she's soiling the crate, she needs to be out of there until you get her on a good schedule. Otherwise you'll ruin her instincts to keep clean.
I have several how-to articles on housetraining at this link:
http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=SRC&S=1&SourceID=47
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Kathy Diamond Davis, author, "Therapy Dogs: Training Your Dog to Reach Others," 2nd edition, and the free Canine Behavior Series at www.veterinaryforum.com