beagle problem
I have a friend that has a problem with his hunting beagle. She is an outside dog and has a kennel and special made dog box to keep her warm in the winter. He also puts bedding in the box to help her warm. He says that she goes to the bathroom inside the box, instead of outside on the concrete. Not only does she go in the box, but then she also goes in there and lays in it. Isn’t this unusual for animals to want to sleep or lay where they go to the bathroom? The box is not very big either. It is just big enough for her to lay down and turn around. It is made that way to help keep her warm. I have told him to try a few things but nothing works. It is weird cause if he takes all the bedding out and leaves it bare wood, she doesn’t do it, but when he puts bedding in there she does. Does anyone have any ideas of how to get her to stop this?
boxerlover
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It sounds to me like the beagle refuses to urinate where the surface causes it to splash back onto her. Who can blame her for that? The bedding in her box absorbs the urine and prevents splashing, so for her it feels like a cleaner environment.
Has your friend tried covering the concrete in the kennel with sand or sawdust to provide a non-splashing, absorbent surface? It would, unfortunately, make it more difficult to clean, but it may inspire the beagle to do her business outside of her sleeping box.
Tempest
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Urinating is not the problem.
boxerlover
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The solution may be the same regardless of whether she’s eliminating liquid or solid. Some dogs have a very strong instinct to bury their own eliminations, and this beagle sounds like one of them. She may be eliminating on the bedding in her box because it is the only material she has available to cover it - esp. if it is loose material like straw or old blankets.
The best way to move that behavior outside of her sleeping box may be to provide some loose cover - sawdust or sand - over the concrete in her kennel so she can bury her eliminations out there. It may also help if the bedding material in her box is something less “diggable” like a sheet of foam padding cut the same size as the floor of the box.
Tempest