There are lots of reasons for finding pee in the dog crate but most of the time it's because we didn't follow the tips and crate training techniques used for successful crate training. Maybe it was late at night and you forgot to take the little puppy out.
Or the very common, give them a big drink of water just before leaving the dog in his crate for a couple of hours.

This by far is the most common reason why your pet will urinate in their crate. This is why is important to be certain that your puppy has went to the bathroom and is completely empty just before being put in his crate.

Assuming the crate has been sized correctly, your puppy will be very reluctant to pee or urinate in the same area where they sleep. Rarely does a dog urinate in their crate if it's the right size and they're old enough to hold their water.

The younger the puppy, the harder time they have keeping control of their bowels and bladder. This simply means that if you want to start housetraining a little early, like at 8-10 weeks, you need to take a little more responsibility for making sure they've gone. The reason is that after they've eaten or had a big drink of water, their stomachs push on their bladder and intestines causing them to have accidents. It's at these times when you will probably find urine in the dog crate occasionally. To deal with this, you simply need to take some extra time to get them to go outside and go to the bathroom.

Puppies obtained in pet stores or kept in small cages when very young may be harder to house break simply because they had no option but to go where they sleep. This breaks their natural preference and you end up with more pee accidents in the crate when training. When they're very young is the time most puppies learn to eliminate outside their sleeping area. Confining them with their urine breaks the preference and can make it much harder to successfully and completely housetrain the pet.

The thing to remember however is that while it may take longer to housetrain these puppies, they CAN be successfully housetrained. It's even very rare for even adult dogs with many bad habits not to sooner or later understand what you want them to do and where you want them to do it.

So if or more likely WHEN you find pee in the dog crate, the first order of business is NOT TO SCOLD you pup! This may sound odd but the fact is that dogs live in the moment. This means that if you scold, hit or speak harshly to your dog, they will NOT understand why you're upset.

If however you see them actually squatting and peeing in the dog crate or anywhere you don't want them to go, walk QUIETLY over to them, grab them by the scruff of the neck, give a firm NO command and take them outside. YOU go outside with them so when they finish their business, you can give them lots of praise and love.

This will reinforce what you want them to do and if you can catch them in the act, help them understand what you do NOT want them to do. Notice that you will pick up your puppy a lot like their mother did by the loose skin and fur on the neck. This is not cruel or unkind but it does put you in control and allow you a great training opportunity.

Finally, when you end up with pee in the dog crate, it will need cleaned up. Blot the liquid with paper towels then clean with an enzyme based cleaner.

Don't use household cleaners unless you want to liberally wash and rinse with clean water to remove all residue. The last thing you want is to leave poison cleaner where your dog peed that he can lick up and end up sick. Lastly, don't use any ammonia based cleaners as the smell is similar to urine and the whole point of cleaning the dog crate is to remove the odor.

So remember these tips:

• • Don't scold, punish or hit your dog. . . ever
  
  
  • Take control of your puppy by the nape of the neck if and when you see them squatting or getting ready to go anywhere but where you want them to
  
  
  • Pee in the dog crate is usually caused by not making sure your dog has an empty bladder before placing him in his crate.
  
  
  • Pee accidents need to be cleaned up completely with safe cleaners that remove all traced of smell.
  
  

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