Getting A Hound To Pee.

[greytluck]

We've only had Corinna for close to 3 weeks but she has been very good right from day 1 about doing all her business outside. Within the last week or so though, she has developed a bad habit of not peeing on her mid morning walk. I leave for work at 4:45am so I take them out at 4am for a 15-20 minute walk which she always pees on. My husband who mainly works afternoons takes them out again at 10am. She will sometimes pee for him and sometimes not, even though he will walk her for 30+ minutes try to get her to. If she doesn't pee he will bring her out again at around 12-1ish before he leaves for work, she will always pee by then. Problem is the days he does work in the mornings (which is around 1-2 times a week)we have a dog walker come by and Corinna does the same thing with her. She wouldn't pee for the dog walker today and I came home to pee in the crate. She simply can't hold it until I get home at 2:30 to take them out again. She has to learn she has to go pee during this walk.

 

Our dog walker can not come any later in the morning then she already does because of her schedule with her other clients and the next time she has a break is after 1pm but even then we simply can't afford to get her to come twice in a day. So how do I get Corinna to understand she has to pee when she is taken out? I already throw her a party with treats and the happy voice ever time she pees and always say "Corinna go pee" when I see her squat to hopefully associate the words to the action. I think a part of the problem though is the morning has a lot of activity in the area with squirrels out then and a lot of dogs walking around, Corinna just gets really distracted. I was thinking of telling my DH to not take her out a second time so that she learns that the option won't be available anymore but I'm not sure if that would work or not.

 

Any suggestions?

 

I forgot to say this is the only time of day she does this, every other outing she pees almost immediately. She also has only ever peed in her crate twice both times when the dog walker took her out,and never anywhere else in the house but her crate.

Edited February 11, 2010 by greytluck

[GeorgeofNE]

Any chance you've inadvertently trained her to hold it by taking her home AS SOON AS she tinkles?

 

If your habit is to walk and walk and walk, and then as soon as she goes, go home, then it could be she's a smart little girl and is holding it because she's figured out that's how to keep the walk going!

 

What I do when working on elimination habits is to NOT walk and walk--take her to an area where you'd like her to go, and give her the cue ("let's go tinkle" or whatever) and give her a few minutes. If she doesn't go--back inside! Try again in 15 minutes. Won't take you any longer than walking her for 30, right? If she goes the second time, whooo hooo, party and treats, and a walk!

 

Repeat until she gets the point; the walk is the REWARD for eliminating.

 

My parents had no idea they had done this with their old dog--he learned to hold his poops in FOREVER 'cause as soon as he'd go, they took him home, and he LOVED his walks!

[greytluck]

Any chance you've inadvertently trained her to hold it by taking her home AS SOON AS she tinkles?

 

If your habit is to walk and walk and walk, and then as soon as she goes, go home, then it could be she's a smart little girl and is holding it because she's figured out that's how to keep the walk going!

 

What I do when working on elimination habits is to NOT walk and walk--take her to an area where you'd like her to go, and give her the cue ("let's go tinkle" or whatever) and give her a few minutes. If she doesn't go--back inside! Try again in 15 minutes. Won't take you any longer than walking her for 30, right? If she goes the second time, whooo hooo, party and treats, and a walk!

 

Repeat until she gets the point; the walk is the REWARD for eliminating.

 

My parents had no idea they had done this with their old dog--he learned to hold his poops in FOREVER 'cause as soon as he'd go, they took him home, and he LOVED his walks!

 

Interesting, I never even thought of that. I don't do it on the the mornings walk as I already wake up at an insanely early hour but I sort of already do that the other times I take them out. We go in the park and when they have gone to the bathroom, then we walk. I have to ask my DH what he does, because he is having the issue not me, you really could be on to something. She is a really smart girl after all.

[Trihounds]

.... the walk is the REWARD for eliminating.

 

You've shed a whole new light on this same issue for me! Thank you!

[Guest Sweetreba]

I had a shephard/chow that made sure we got a certain amount of walking before she would completely empty. When I got my greys they went right away and I made sure we did not go in immediately so they would stay in that habit. Even though I walked my other dog a lot, I made the mistake of taking her in right away, especially the am. It got so she stopped going till she trained me to walk her further.

[Guest krystolla]

You could try teaching her a word for elimination. It takes a long time, sometimes, for them to make the connection but at least then you know you are communicating. I use "take a break" for Hack and then "good break!" when he finally goes.

 

Really well trained service dogs will go ANYWHERE on command, but I'll just be happy if I can get my point across.

 

Incidentally, there are more interesting variations on the bathroom commands than anything else. I've heard "take a break", "get on with it", "do your business", "potty time", and various politics related phrases.

[greytluck]

So my troubles with Corinna peeing are still happening. I now firmly believe she just wont pee reliably for anyone else but me. Don't ask me why. She goes pee for my DH and dog walker about 50% of the time now but still goes for me 100% of the time I take her out. We all have been throwing her a mini party with treats and a happy voice, which she responds to at the time but it doesn't seem to be curing the problem. As suggested my DH and dog walker no longer walk her for extended periods of time if she doesn't go. They take her out for 10 minutes and if she goes she gets a walk if not she comes back in. My DH tried for 3-4 days bringing her back out again after 15 minutes but she still wouldn't go then either. He got frustrated and now gives her one try at 10 and then one more before he leaves for work like he was doing. The dog walker still only takes her out once. Corinna does holds it until I get home 90% of the time, today she was in the 10% however. My DH took her out at 10am and she didn't pee, he then took her out again at 1pm and again she didn't pee which is unusual even for her. I got home at 3:30 an hour later then normal and she had peed all over MY BED. This week we had allowed her to remain out of the crate during the short period she is alone for and she did great except for today. I want to get rid of the crate as it takes up so much room in my small condo but I can't be cleaning up pee especially on my bed so i guess we're going to have to still crate her when she is alone if she wont go pee outside first.

 

So I'm still at a loss on how to make her pee for other people besides me. Any suggestions.

[MaryJane]

I concur with the suggestion of using a "keyword" so she will associate the word with what she needs to do. But, in the interim, it could be that she is not full enough to go at 10am and if that is the case, try giving her a 1/2 cup or so of liquid like yogurt or apple juice after your 4am walk and see if that creates the "urge" to go at 10am with your husband.

[Guest SillyIzzysMom]

What if DH starts taking her out every time. . .not just the times you're gone? Just for a week or two, until she gets used to his "lets go pee" voice or vibe or whatever. I must admit, my dogs would probably do the same thing. . .I am definitely the "dog mom" in all things. They are such creatures of habit. . .

 

Good luck--this all sounds very frustrating! It's so hard when you KNOW that the dog better empty out but they, for whatever reason are not interested at that time. Let's see, rather than the old "You can lead a horse to water..." is this "You can take a dog out to sniff a tree. . ."

[Guest Gemma]

I agree that getting your DH to take her out more (if possible) might help, and I'd also see if you could arrange a few days where you walk with the dog walker (I know this is a pain and kind of expensive but it might help your girl). Keep it up with the treats. Our boy often refuses to pee in the yard because he thinks we'll give in and give him another walk. To deal with this, we have started giving him a small biscuit every single time he eliminates in the yard. He's still stubborn on occasion but, generally, we've noticed a huge improvement.

 

Honestly, if things continue for a month or so, you might want to talk to a behaviourist in case there's something else going on here.

 

Good luck!

[arandomchic]

Maybe it has something to do with how you talk her out versus how they take her out? For example, do your DH and dog walker if they *watch her intently* while they want her to go potty? Maybe she's just shy or feels too much pressure to go, and would prefer they look away?

 

It might be helpful to have the DH and dog walker tag along as you take her out. They might notice things about how you do it, and be able to mimic that to give the dog some familiarity with the process.

[Guest Chefcnam]

Sorry for being off topic, but what does DH stand for? I see that abbreviation a lot on GT and have always wondered what it means.

[greytluck]

Sorry for being off topic, but what does DH stand for? I see that abbreviation a lot on GT and have always wondered what it means.

Dear husband or in some cases damn husband.lol

[greytpups]

http://greytarticles.wordpress.com/behavior-training/to-pee-or-not-to-pee-where-is-the-question/

 

Interesting articles on this site

[greytluck]

I hope I don't jinx it but I'm happy to say this issue seems to be behind us. For two weeks now Corinna has reliable went outside for both my DH and the dog walker. We have the crate completely put away and she hasn't had even one accident in the house. We tried so many different things I'm not sure which was thing thing that worked or maybe it was a combination of things but either way I'm so proud of my girl.

[GreyPoopon]

:yay