Dog Owners - Crate Odor, etc

[AZTheta]

OK this is something I have a lot of experience with, both my dogs have their own crates as well as their own beds out in the open. I do not have any problems whatsoever with dog accidents or odors or smells. And I don't bathe my dogs a lot, I just brush daily (they are Belgian Shepherds, double-coated, if I don't stay on top of it, it's out of control).

What kind of crate? Plastic? or metal? Are you using a crate pad? If you are, you need to have two of them and wash one every day. Sorry! Don't yell at me. If they're sharing a crate and it's big enough to pee in, they'll pee in it.

What type of floor is the crate sitting on? Carpet, wood, tile?

Males? Females? Neutered/spayed? Or intact?

Reason you are crating them together? My dogs each have their own crate. It is important to have a small enough crate that the dog will not urinate in it.

How old are the dogs?

Can you put up baby gates (keep them in a kitchen) or an x-pen in your house instead of a crate?

Answer (or not) as you see fit. Those are the questions that popped into my head when I read what you wrote.

[thetalady]

I am seriously into big dogs. I run a Labrador rescue and have at least a dozen crates. I have never seen a 4'x4' crate. Are you sure on the size? And I agree that the dogs really really need to be crated separately. Lots of reasons.... mostly safety issues.

[amanda6035]

Actually, it is an X-pen, I just called it a crate because have it secured in one corner of the room because these two play so much that if it weren't secured, they'd move it all over the place and who knows where it would be when we got home.

The beagle is a 3 year old girl and the bagel is a 7 year old male.

Flooring - laminate, but we have an area rug under the crate/pen to keep it from getting too cold.

No crate pad, just the area rug and a big blanket that they share. I think the blanket may be the problem.... but we wash it very regularly. I wonder if we should get something different to put in there with them. Maybe this is the same concepts as the 2 crate pads and washing one every day.... ugh. I'll do that if that's what it takes to get rid of the gawd awful smell though!

We're crating them together because the Freckles (the male) doesn't do well by himself. That's why we got Sadie.

They haven't urinated in there. It's "sort of" a wet dog smell, but something a little more that I cannot quite put my finger on. I just don't get it.

Thanks, everyone!