Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My son recently rescued an approximately 6 month old female pit bull off the streets. Of course, we have no idea of her history prior to this.

We are having a problem with her urinating and defecating in her crate. It's not in any specific spot and she will even lay in it. She's taken out often especially if she indicates that she needs to go. This seems to happen mainly overnight or when nobody is home and she is always taken out before then. We put towels down for bedding so they can be easily removed and washed when this happens which is daily.

I need to find a way to stop this.

How long before you leave her in her crate do you feed and let her have water? Maybe you should feed her a couple hrs before hand so she has time to go the bathroom before going into the crate.
I'm sure other will have better advice.

I had the same problem with my JRT/Pug mix, Duncan. He would go to the bathroom in his crate. I thought that maybe I wasnt giving him enough space, so I tried giving him a penned in area in the kitchen. Well, that was even worse because he would go and then smear it everywhere. I believe that this was because when I rescued him he had been in a crate 24/7 and never had a choice on where to go to the bathroom, so he thought it was okay.
Although it may be discouraging it took about 4-6 months for him to grow out of this habit, and he still is not 100% house trained. I still need to leave him in his crate when I leave the house and he can never be unsupervised. There are times when he will still go in his crate, maybe once a month.
My best advice to you would be to make sure that when the dog goes to the bathroom outside to reward it immediatly. Make sure you have treats in your pocket when you bring it out. Eventually it will learn that this behavior is rewarded. Also, make sure that you have the dog on a regular schedule. Feed the dog at least a hour before it is crated and take it out right before you are about to leave.
I hope that this helps! I understand completely what you are going through!

Emily (APBT) & Duncan (JRT/Pug)

Thanks! Since she's a rescue we don't know what her living conditions were previously. While she's very friendly and eager to be loved she's also extremely timid. We've stopped giving her any food in the evening and I try to take her out at least once an hour and any time she whines. She gets lots of praises when she goes outside. We also make sure she goes out right before bed or when we are going out.

One thing of note is that she does have some sort of bladder/urinary tract problem. She was leaking. There was some bacteria in her urine and she was placed on an antibiotic. It's improved a lot but not 100%. When she's sleeping she ends leaving a damp spot.

Last night was good - no piles or puddles this morning!!!!!

Oh... here is her pictures. She's on the right. The one on the left is Butch, a 1-1/2 yo male.