PabloDH

Hello! My 6 year old greyhound Pablo has started to pee in the house every couple of days, but only at night. Pablo loves his crate and I have always kept the crate door open 24/7, but now at night, I close the crate to ensure that he doesn't pee in the house. I know there are a lot of crate haters out there, but I'm just so tired of cleaning up pee every couple of days and Pablo doesn't seem to care at all. He would never dare pee in his crate. The worst part about this is that I'm never there to correct him!! He has rarely peed in the house during the day (it has probably been over 1 year), but all of a sudden it's happening only at night when the crate door is open. It usually occurs in/around the kitchen. I have cleaned the area as thoroughly as I can, even multiple times after an incident, with Nature's Miracle, but maybe it's not good enough? I have no clue what's going on and how to fix it. It seems more behavioral than health-related. Any thoughts regarding this issue? I'd appreciate any insight and ways to fix it! Thank you.

I'm happy to hear that others have/had a similar experience. I'm a first time hound owner so sometimes I'm not sure if I should be worried about Pablo. Thanks guys!

Pablo is 6 years old now. When we moved, he was definitely affected, understandably. We weren't subtle about it. Packed up everything in front of him. However, once he realized his new home, he started to come back to "normal." Then I had my baby and he went back to staying in his crate most of the time. After a few months, he started going to his bed in the living room. Overall, he really hasn't changed. He goes through phases like this, and I'm always afraid I did something that makes him retreat. He's pretty much been like this since the beginning and I always thought it was because he was still coming out of his shell, but I think it might just be who he is. I think you're right though--he's probably chill to an extreme and there will be little things that surprise us in the coming years. Thanks!

Hi all. It's been awhile since I've posted here. When I first got my hound Pablo, you were all so helpful and I can't thank you enough. So here's the deal. We are approaching two years with Pablo. Overall, in terms of behavior, he is great. We've had a few pee accidents here and there at night, but they have been mostly my fault for not taking him on longer walks to empty out completely before bedtime. He is extremely low maintenance. However, he is the most un-dog dog I have ever come across. He stays in his crate all day and all night despite the door being open 24/7 and having another bed in the living room , and he has no interest in toys or being near us unless we are giving him food or taking him for walks. We all sleep upstairs and he willingly stays downstairs all the time. Going out for walks is literally the only time I see him with some emotion--pure excitement and happiness. Previously, I have seen Pablo be somewhat interested in toys and then just stop. Same with being out of his crate and coming upstairs to wake us up. But now it has all stopped for many months now. Just to add one more thing: We moved to another state about a year ago and I just had a baby about 9 months ago which may be contributing to this. Is this normal? I feel like greyhounds are supposed to have some personality, but I think I may have gotten the most boring (and maybe still in his shell?) dog ever. I feel like something is wrong and I'm hoping that there is something I can do to help him. However, if this is fairly normal and this is just the way Pablo is, then that's ok too. Not going to push anything on him.

My hound Pablo used to do this all the time! Found out that he has hookworm (fighting it for 3 months now) and also that he needed a bedtime snack to keep his stomach happy until breakfast. My current feeding schedule for Pablo is 1.5 cups dry food in AM, 1 cup in PM, and 1/2 cup before bed plus some treats in between...and it works great! Pablo doesn't realize eating would make him feel better so I usually had to entice him with a small amount of kibble mixed in with cheese or some other yummy treat. I have also just taken the uneaten food away after 30 minutes and kept right on schedule with meals. Don't worry, your hound can go without food for a day. Usually by the end of the day, the gurgling was gone and Pablo was ready to eat!

Thanks for your input everyone. I think it was a combination of elevation and a new home, but he is doing much better now and on his way to his old self again. I mixed in chicken broth with his dry food for the first two weeks to make sure he was getting additional fluids. The altitude is definitely tough out here. I'm just starting to feel comfortable with it, so I can imagine how tough it was for Pablo too!

Hello all! My husband and I moved with our hound Pablo (5 years old; have had him for 6 months now) two days ago to Santa Fe, NM which is at 7200 ft elevation. We tried to make the move as smooth as possible for Pablo, but ever since we've moved into our new home, Pablo rarely leaves his crate and when he does, it is to eat/drink and walk only. Otherwise, he seems extremely lethargic and disinterested in us. We almost feel like he's acting the way he did when we first adopted him. I'm worried that the stress of moving and altitude change is affecting him. Has anyone else experienced something like this? How long did it last and what can I do to make him feel better? Thank you!

My hound Pablo has been with us for about 4 months now. I don't think this is really a problem, but more of a reality check for me that his bathroom behavior is normal. So, three times a day, I take Pablo outside to my backyard to allow him to eliminate. This occurs first thing in the morning, right after I get home from work (8-10 hours), and in the evening before bedtime. I always take him on a morning and evening walk every day which gives Pablo additional opportunities to go to the bathroom. Recently, I have started to notice that Pablo never wants to eliminate first thing in the morning and after I get home from work when I take him out to the backyard. It seems like he knows that he will go for a walk soon so he is willing to wait. There have been a few times due to uncontrollable circumstances that he has been willing to wait up to 10-12 hours to eliminate during a walk rather than do it when I let him outside in the backyard. It just seems so odd to me that he would be willing to hold it in for so long. Has anyone experienced this with their hound? Is this normal?

That's what I figured- just wanted to get your thoughts. Thanks!

I adopted my greyhound Pablo almost 2 months ago. It took a couple of weeks to teach Pablo how to climb stairs and he eventually became very comfortable with it. Soon after, however, he had an accident in our upstairs bedroom. My husband stopped him immediately, and I think Pablo knew he did something wrong because he ran downstairs as fast as he could, straight into his crate. We took him outside to relieve himself and praised him profusely. After that, he became a little more hesitant about going upstairs, but still did make his way up there every once in awhile. Then, a few weeks ago, I had to give Pablo a bath and our bathroom is upstairs. He does not like baths and tried to run downstairs as fast as possible when he saw the tub. I eventually had to drag him into the bathroom to give him the bath. I tried to give him a treat afterward, but he didn't want it. I think he has been traumatized by the upstairs ever since and won't go anywhere near the stairs. Even if I am at the base of the stairs holding treats, he will start to come toward me and then immediately retreat. The only thing that has worked is putting a peanut-butter filled kong on the first or second step of the stairs and me walking away. I'm thinking about continuing this and slowly putting the kong on a higher step each day (please let me know if you think this is a bad idea!) Does anybody have any advice on how to make him comfortable going up/down stairs in our house again? He has always slept downstairs, which I am fine with, but I want him to feel comfortable coming upstairs if he needs something from us or just wants to be around us. Thanks!

Thanks for your input everyone. Our kitchen, dining area, and living room (the first floor) are all connected so difficult to baby gate, but we have managed to block off the kitchen at least. Pablo does not have fond memories of our second floor after a recent bath there, so he refuses to go upstairs anymore--I consider that part of the house blocked off...for now. We have left Pablo at home with the crate door open and free reign of the downstairs for the last few days while we are at work and no accidents or issues! I'm so proud of him (and relieved for us)! I think we will use the crate with discretion, but overall I think it's ok to let Pablo hang out outside of his crate during the work week. I will still keep the crate with the door open because I find that he likes spending time in there even when we are at home, it's his safe space and I'm totally cool with that.

Hi all! Just wanted to provide an update: After two days of eating rice and chicken and drinking plenty of water, he is back to his active, food-loving self. I think the rawhide might have been the problem, but I think I'll go to the vet to get checked for parasites just in case. Thank you all for your help and support!

I'm a first time dog owner. My greyhound Pablo has been in our home for approximately 1.5 months. During that time, he peed in the house two times, both of which occurred when I was out of the house, but my husband was home--maybe coincidence maybe not. It's been about 3 weeks since the last incident. Every time we are both gone, we have come home to no accidents. The longest we have left him with the crate door open is 5 hours and he was totally fine. Whenever we are home, we keep the crate door open and Pablo has never had an accident. He has never exhibited chewing/destructive tendencies. Due to the two incidences and because we live in a rental, we have been crating Pablo with the door closed during the day while we are both at work to prevent any more accidents. However, I just feel bad about Pablo being in that crate for 8 hours every day and I am thinking about keeping the crate door open and letting him have free reign of the downstairs during the day. How do you know when your hound is ready to be outside of the crate for extended hours?

Thanks everyone for your concern and advice. I think Pablo may be on the mend. He ate the boiled chicken and rice and is drinking water again! I'll stick to the boiled chicken and rice for a few more days and then transition to adding kibble. Also, I forgot to ask: what kind of biscuits/cookies/snack do you give your hound before bed? Any specifics such as brand, flavor, etc. would be much appreciated.

My vet isn't open today or tomorrow unfortunately, but I will try to find out if there is another vet available in the area. I feed Pablo twice a day: 1.5 cups in the morning around 5:30am and 1.5 cups in the evening at 5:30pm. I always add chicken broth to the dry kibble for every meal. For the evening meal, I usually add salmon oil to help with his skin/coat. During the day, while I'm at work, he gets a kong filled with some kibble and peanut butter. I have full fat yogurt at home right now so I will plan to use that. Thanks!