Lab urinating in crate

[pawsitivepetgrooming]

Ok, my close friend has a sweet black lab who, unfortunately, spends a lot of time in a crate. He's 3 yrs. old and nuetered. Over the past 3 weeks he has started urinating in his crate. They got a new kitten about a month ago and thought maybe this has something to do with it. However, he is in my shop right now and I have him in the back playroom, I left the crate door open in case he wanted to lay in there, well, he just peed in it. His urine has a very strong odor. My 1st thought is medical and they already have a vet appt. But could this also be behavioral? Why would he go in the crate to purposely urinate?

[edderland]

I see this a lot in puppies that are confined too much; they have to urinate, so they do, and it becomes imprinted in their mind that the crate is the place to do it. When they come in for grooming; as soon as they get into the crate/cage they urinate and defecate. they are usually stained around the feet and often reek of urine even tho bathed often.
It is really hard to retrain them.
I would bet this dog has developed either an UTI or prostate problems, and has had to relieve himself in the crate, and now has decided that it is the place to go.

[Dog Daze]

It's a good thing they are bringing him to the vet he may have a urinary tract infection. How many hours at a time do they leave him in there? They really aren't meant to spend more than 3-4 hours during the day in there.

Most dogs don't like to pee where they sleep so there may be a medical problem there.

Maybe they need to find someone to take him out mid-day maybe he just can't hold it as long as they are leaving him in there and he peed in your crate because that's where he is used to going now or your crate smells like another dog and he is marking it?

[pawsitivepetgrooming]

Thanks, I, also thought it might be a little bit of both a medical prob and behavioral. His urine has a very strange odor to it, and, yes, he is in that crate for probably 10 hrs./day. That's so sad, they don't mean to be bad parents, they just have really busy lives, which isn't fair to the dog. We talked yesterday though and they are going to build him a big outdoor kennel so he can get out and explore and enjoy the sun, etc. I think that will be so much better for him. He's an awful sweetie, handsome too.

[Helly]

A UTI is indeed a strong possibility. So is diabetes, Cushing's disease, or hypothyroidism. Or all three, as they do tend to go hand in hand at times.

Urinalyisis and blood work are in order. If they have a chance to catch some urine before the appointment, it'll speed things along.