Finally! Caught in the act!
|
|
Congrats! I'm glad you finally got it on tape. But, no, I've never seen my dog lick up his pee.  |
| That means two things, number one, he was thirsty, and the animal kingdom will do whatever it takes with no compunctions, and two, he doesn't like to sit in his own mess, which is a good thing. I think you will find as he gets a little more mature he won't do this anymore, but in the meantime, is there anyone who could let him out to pee a little earlier? |
It  sounds like Truman might be licking it up to keep his crate area clean, as dogs do not like "going" in their bed. Our sheepie still has to be let out around 4 or 5 in the morning. She is just over 1 and I think 8-10 hours during the night is still too long for her to hold. We have 3 uprights so this is just "old hat" to us. |
| I don't think he's doing that because he's thirsty because we always have water in his crate with him. Also, he just turned 2 years old and he can go all night from 10:30 pm to 6 am with no problem and he had been out to pee only an hour before he went into his crate and he tried licking it off the grass then too! I just hope he doesn't have some bizarre quirk that makes him do this. I appreciate everyone's input - keep it coming. We can use all the help we can get. I'm making notes of your ideas to present to the behaviorist. Every little bit helps! A big plus: you guys don't charge for your advice!!! |
| I think if you removed the water from his crate it would solve the problem. It won't hurt him to go without it through the night if he has access to water all day. |
| My parent's sheepie did the same thing with the pee and licking. |
| Woo hoo. Congrats! |
| I would recommend removing the water in the crate too.
Glad you got it on tape - and I look forward to hearing what the Behaviorist has to say. Kristen |
| I've heard of dogs something they have barfed up, eating their #2 and even Farley show interest in Abby's pee but he's never lapped it up. That is odd. It will be interesting to hear from a Behaviorist. Good luck Deskwench. |
| We had a mutt (bearded collie & terrier we think) that ate yellow snow, but never touched it in liquid form. We never got a 'for sure' answer on this one. Kind of like the eating poop or grass question...lots of guesses and some that make sense, but no one really seems to know for sure.
You said there was enough available water during the day. Have you asked the vet? Is your dog otherwise healthy? I'm thinking about things like signs of diabetes, such as being excesively thirsty. If this was my dog, I'd make sure he/she was fed a good quality food (so you know it's not missing nutrients) and remove the water at night (to be sure it's not a question of being able to hold it). Then see what happens. |
| Deskwench, have you met with the behaviorist yet? I'm really interested in what he or she says because it seems lately, Clyde's been having a nearly identical problem and we're looking for any advice that would stop this behavior! |
| ButterScotch - We dropped off the tape, a log of activity and results of the medical stuff we had done yesterday. The behaviorist will go over all this stuff and then meet with us. I'll be sure to post whatever she has to say. I will say this - we've not had any problem since we've been leaving Truman out of his crate during the day and letting him have the run of the part of the house with tile floors (just in case, you know!). |
Deskwench wrote: I will say this - we've not had any problem since we've been leaving Truman out of his crate during the day and letting him have the run of the part of the house with tile floors (just in case, you know!). I hope you've found the answer here.
I know back in November you were already concerned that Truman was spending too much time in the crate, because I had told someone else that I thought their dog was spending too much time (16 or 17 hours a day) crated. Some disagreed, others supported, but I didn't want to weigh in again with just my opinion. I know that there is alot of room for opinion on that issue, but I still believe that 2/3 of the day in a crate on a consistent basis is just too much. But, that's just opinion, and it's worth the paper that this post is written on. 
I just hope that things work out well for you and for heroic "Truman, Savior of Riley" |
| Thanks, Ron. I hope this all works out too!!! |
| I have to agree with Ron on the crate time. I know our dog was in the crate alot due to major misbehaviors and used to pee as a response to the lack of freedom and affection (since we were a lil upset he basically ate our house) Try to keep him out more often and make sure he has a good amount of pup time. You may see an improvement |
| I agree about the crate. We leave the door open at night and he sleeps wherever he wants, sometimes in the crate, sometimes on the NEW loveseat where he never goes when we're around!! Sneaky little guy! Also, even without the consult from the behaviorist, we've decided to leave him out of the crate during the daytime also. We blocked off the living room and give him the run of the rec room and kitchen which are tiled. He also can go down the hall to "his" bedroom and go in his crate if he wants to. He lays/sleeps in his crate a lot on his own. I think maybe he just didn't like to be in it when we weren't home. We're still going ahead with the appt. with the behaviorist because we want to hear what she has to say and see if she has any further recommendations. |
| Well I hope everything starts to improve and the appointment goes well. You know if you need any more ideas or support you have a ton of OES moms and dads to consult with. Wish you the best |
| Ok, we got the scoop from the behaviorist and here's what she had to say: Truman does NOT have separation anxiety. Whew! That's a relief. She said that many dogs who do have this problem are very destructive. We don't have that problem, thank heavens! She said that from the log we kept and from viewing the tape she came to the conclusion that he was having periodic panic attacks while in his crate. While we don't know what sets off the attacks, the one caught on tape was during the time there was a workman in the garage fixint the garage door opener. Truman could hear the garage door going up and down and he started pacing in his cage and then peeeee! She sent us a behavior plan for calming techniques and also suggested we not crate him during the day. We had already started leaving him out of his crate and (knock on wood) no problems to date. She thought that perhaps part of the problem was that in his crate, he can't investigate whatever sets off these panic episodes (doorbell, trash collecters, etc.). Outside his crate, he has access to the rec room windows (they come down almost to the floor) and the glass panel by the front door. If there is a strange noise, he can check it out. If anyone is interested in the "Protocol for Calming and Relaxation" please e-mail me and I'll send it to you. |
| That's great that you have answers now... and I'm glad to hear he is doing well out of his crate |
| So glad to hear you finally got some answers! |
Didn't find exactly what you're looking for? Search again here:
Custom Search
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|