Help! My Gh Chose A Wonderful Potty Spot In The House!

[Guest tycho302]

We've had our greyhound for about 3 months now. We had a rough time with potty training but with the use of a belly band and a strict schedule, we got it under control. The past few weeks we've run into a problem. If we take our eyes off of our dog, he will go to a certain spot (right in our living room!!) and either poop or pee. Usually my husband and I blame it on ourselves such as "we should have taken him out" or "Its a little late". We've been babygating him where we are so that he won't have a chance to go downstairs alone. This morning I'd had enough. I woke up first thing, took him for a long walk to make sure he was done doing his business. He went #1 and #2. I came in, fed him, and ran upstairs to start laundry. No more than 5 minutes later, I hear the dreaded sound of him peeing in his glorious spot! HELP! I want to find a way to transition between having to keep an eye on him 24/7 and babygating him in my husbands office to allowing him to have a little more freedom! HELP!!

 

Also, what do you guys do when your dog goes in the house??

 

Thanks!!

[Tallgreydogmom]

We lay a washable incontinence pad in their favorite spots. We have seniors and as long as they go in one spot it's not worth the battle to watch them all the time. We have a young spook who has a favorite spot, also use a pad there.

 

Hopefully we will encourage the young one to come get us. We can't punish her for going in the house as then she would never relate to potty and going outside. If we catch her just as she is finishing or going we run her out side and reward her.

 

I can hear her going so start calling her to go out as soon as I hear her. Then I take her outside and reward her.

Edited February 10, 2011 by Tallgreydogmom

[OwnedBySummer]

Are you cleaning "the spot" with a proper enzyme cleaner, which will remove the ever-so-attractive-to-them odor that YOU can't smell?

[Guest tycho302]

We have been enzyming but I'm sure we could do a better job. Maybe I need to do an overhaul and do it all again. We shampooed the carpet and that helped for a while. Maybe we should do that again.

 

The only thing about an incontinence pad is that its in our main living room with the couches and TV. I would rather try to train him not to do it. He's still a little man, 3 :-) Hopefully we can get this settled!!

 

Thanks for your advice!!!

[Tallgreydogmom]

Would you consider laying the pad down after you get the rug clean for a short time to try and work with him. Or lay a pad down with a washable throw run over it. Maybe rearrange the furniture so we can't get to his spot.

 

Has he been checked for a UTI? If nothing shows up in his urine ask your vet for some medicine in case the infection does not show up. See if that helps him. Has the vet considered a bladder problem?

 

Did your boy race??? You might ask his trainer if he went in his crate?

 

Maybe try a belly band. They usually do not like to be wet. If he is constantly wet he can't help it. Some have to be run outside almost as soon as they take their last bite of food. Even if they have just gone. It's how their system works. Maybe try a low residue food to see if that helps.

Edited February 10, 2011 by Tallgreydogmom

[Anne]

Do you have an enclosed area for him to go out in? Some greyhounds just can't seem to 'empty' out on walks. Also my dogs go outside the second they are done eating or they will have an accident in the house.

I too use the washable incontinent pads for my dogs, they are older and it does keep the carpets cleaner.

I also would check for UTI (urinary tract infection), they can happen quickly.

Another thought is too clean really well and then feed him in that spot. Dogs don't like to go potty where they eat or sleep.

But I would for sure take him to the vet and check for a UTI, often the peeing in the house may be the only symptom you see of your hound having a UTI.

[seeh2o]

My s/o has that problem with his Boston Terrier, he loves to pee on a very specific curtain, so he baby gated the curtains. Captain now has no access to his favorite pee spot.

[IndyandHollyluv]

What a drag. I so understand. Yes, he is still settling in but at only three years old, I'm sure you don't want to endorse this behavior. Sigh. I don't know that I can help solve your problem but at least can empathize!

 

Here are my two experiences with males peeing in the house:

 

My angel hound Indy was extremely frightened of fireworks. On the first 4th of July in a new house we were surrounded and assaulted by the "mother of all fireworks" show. It was awful. Poor Indy was terrified out of his skull (me, too!). He would not go outside again that night. Overnight he peed in a corner of the living room. Indy was 6 or 7 at the time. Anyway, that became "his" corner. He never marked or peed in the house before that -- or anywhere else in the house. After the carpet was sufficiently ruined I finally threw down an old vinyl tablecloth and placed pee pads (from the medical supply store) on top. So that was Indy's special corner until the day he died.

 

On the other hand, the mentally fragile and socially retarded hound I adopted last year (now almost 10) lived a kennel until he was 8??, and apparently, was never properly housebroken. I have tried everything I can think of, to no avail. He will pee and mark in the house. Period. There is no rhyme or reason to his peeing. He has peed on the wall, various places in the living room, on the newspaper bag, on furniture, on carpet. I tried belly bands -- he peed through those (apparently, he didn't get the memo). I took him to school, use clicker training and treats. I yell hooray! when he goes potty outside. Hasn't made much difference. I do crate him when I leave the house for work, errands and he is fine with that.

 

This morning I went outside to get the newspaper and fill the bird feeder. I was outside about 7 minutes. Came back in and discovered he had peed in the living room (even though I had just let him out about an hour before). Admittedly, it's freezing cold here this morning -- but this has happened before. Often as soon as I go outside for a few minutes, he pees.

 

My boy does have separation anxiety issues, but for cryin' out loud, he's been here almost one year. And he does not have a UTI. I do know that he spent most of his life in the South and doesn't like the cold or to get his paws wet. So perhaps a contributing factor. Some of these dogs also need a lot of "structure," which is what they are used to.

 

I don't what my point is (ha ha!) but I would encourage you to seek help as you don't want him to view this as acceptable for the rest of his life. I am no expert at potty training but have never had this problem with my other boy dogs. Aaaaaaargh.

 

Good luck to you. Let us know how the battle goes!

Edited February 10, 2011 by IndyandHollyluv

[Guest katethegreyt]

I've only had my girl for a little over a month - so I'm no expert, but we had a spot of trouble with her, and this is what we did, for what it's worth:

 

She was perfect for the first week, then thought peeing in the house might be the easier way to go. Once she had done it a couple of times and hadn't been caught, she thought it was great! No need to go out in the cold and have to wait for those silly humans to take her. Then it was a habit. Her favorite trick was to do it the second someone left (even if someone was still there, or you were just running out to the car for 30 seconds), sort of like, well I kinda had to go, and it looks like they might not be back, so I'll just take care of it myself, haha. Silly girl. I really didn't want to do the puppy pads either because I felt she could hold it and could learn the schedule. I was worried the puppy pads might encourage her to not stick to the schedule and use them by default instead of just in case and then we'd be paying for puppy pads forever and ever, haha.

 

For the next week, I put her back in her crate while I was gone and kept her tethered to me while I was home. I didn't want to crate her at night too, since she needed to stay in it during the day (we've graduated beyond that now), so I actually put a long leash on her, stuck her bed right next to ours, and put my arm through the loop - I couldn't really think of what else to do that kept her uncrated but still under my "watch" = ) If she started to get up and move around, I'd be roused and then gauge if she really needed to go out or just needed to relax and go back to bed (that was usually the case). That worked fine for her because she's the type that pretty much sleeps all night anyway - we only had to do that for a short time, and she still prefers to pretty much sleep by us all night (not sure what yours is like).

 

Also, if I ever saw her start to do her pee dance, start to squat, or actually start to pee, I'd say "outside!" in a happy fun voice, grab her collar and hustle her towards the door, getting her to walk usually stopped the need to pee right that second and she could wait the couple of minutes it takes us to get outside (apartment, hallway, elevator, hallway, then walk to a suitable spot - makes me long for a backyard, *sigh). I also started making sure she got treats and praise consistently when she peed/pooped outside. We baby gated her away from her favorite spot (which was luckily close to the door and easy to gate off - sounds like you maybe aren't so lucky), and that helped a lot too. I think the most important thing was just trying to keep her on a schedule and make sure she was literally within touching distance until I felt confident she wouldn't start to squat the second my back was turned.

 

We used Nature's Miracle on the pee spots as well. I'd clean it up thoroughly, then spray more of the NM on the spot and leave it to soak in and dry on its own.

 

Our girl was already nicely housebroken, so it didn't take long to reconfirm the proper schedule as she settled in with us - seems like your guy is a little more difficult. Our girl is now still baby gated in a smaller area away from her favorite spot (our apartment is small, so that was an easy task, plus it gives the kitties a calm place to eat and go to the bathroom in peace), but she doesn't have to stay in her crate anymore and sleeps through the night without peeing at the door when my fiance leaves in the morning. She will even adjust to later times on the weekends (we are night owls by nature and NOT morning people) as long as you keep the times between going outside relatively consistent.

 

Good luck! There's a lot of info on this board about this topic, so hopefully you'll have some success = )

[Laurenbiz]

My Bernie has bad SA, which has caused him to pee in the house/crate nearly every period that he's been alone at home since we got him in October. Now he's on anti-depressants. So trust me, I feel like -the- tinkle-cleaner-upper expert.

 

(I'm not suggesting your guy has S.A. - from what you said, I would not assume that.)

 

When Bernie wetted on our carpet, we did this:

 

* Use tons of paper towels to very, very thoroughly soak it all up

* Use Nature's Miracle enzymatic cleaner (got mine at a local pet food supply store called Mounds Pet Food Warehouse - it's like a Petco/Petsmart)

* Squirt the Nature's Miracle all over the stain, and also within a 6-inch radius beyond the obvious spot

* Let it set for at least 10 minutes

* Thorough wipe this up with paper towels

* Repeat if necessary - really!

* Later, after the Nature's Miracle finally dried, we got a carpet and upholstery cleaner in a bottle (Bissell brand, I believe) with a brush cap - we used that to scrub the life out of the carpet in that whole area (usually the next day)

 

This got rid of the smell completely

 

I think it's important to get the enzymatic cleaner even around where he urinates. In the process of urinating, there can be little urine droplets that bounce off the floor and land 5 inches away on the floor, for example. He may be smelling even these droplets, which makes him think that area is the bathroom!

 

[cleptogrey]

i had one dog who insisted on peeing on the stones surrounding the fireplace. no matter what i cleaned it with, velcro pissed there. i moved his food and water bowl there, that ended that. short& simple- a dog will not pee where they are fed. it might seem abrupt, but i worked. you do not have to feed them there forever, don't use a raised feeder, just plop the bowls on the spot and give it a try. (leave the water bowl there.)

[Guest happygrey]

There's a lot of good advice here but one thing I wanted to mention is that I think it's a good idea to take him out before and after eating while toilet training him (and some dogs always need both times). We used a belly band with our second hound with limited success. If he really wanted to go -- he did. One thing we did every time he had an accident (and there were many!) was to revert to a near puppylike schedule of taking him out much more often than our other grey seemed to need.

 

I also didn't let him out of my sight (and he's a velcro dog anyway) because when he started to wander off on his own I knew trouble was about to follow. That's when we made an emergency trip out to the backyard.

 

It's also a very good idea to see if he has a UTI.

 

Best of luck! It will get better.

Edited February 12, 2011 by happygrey

[TwiggysMom]

Lots of excellent advice above!

 

I only have one thing to add: when using the enzyme cleaner, I always start pouring around the outside (like 4-5 inches beyond where you think the spot is),and work my way toward the center. You can see the reason for this if you have a puddle on a non-porous surface - if you pour from the center, the cleaner "pushes" the urine outward and enlarges the area covered by the stain. Starting from the outside contains the stain.

 

The reason for starting a distance out from the edge is as Lauren says above, there is always splashing!

 

Good luck, this is frustrating to go through and I hope it can be resolved quickly.

[Guest Swifthounds]

Has he been checked out medically?

[Figma]

Oh, we've had our Grey, Ranger, for over 8 years. He has always been pretty good in the house except for peeing on the coffee table in the living room!!!! That room is seldom used and when Christmas came, he went in there and peed on the tree and the tree skirt! I was not happy and it certainly not because he had to go. It's that boy/marking thing. The room doesn't have an actual doorway but is pretty wide open. Now, esp if we aren't going to be home, I pull an ex pen across the opening and close off the bathroom and 2 bedrooms. This gives him the main bedroom, den and kitchen. He has never had an accident in those rooms when left alone but I know, if that pen were not across the living room, he would probably go back in there in a New York minute and get the coffee table. Using the ex pen just saves me a lot of cleaning and aggravation. Yep.

[Guest bluefawn]

While I was working on house training of my whippet pups, I read that you should blot/clean the pee spots, then treat them with some ammonia, followed by a little lavender (I diluted regular lavender oil and put it in a spray bottle). It worked! Also, to remove dried urine stains, spray the spot(s) with white vinegar and lay a folded towel (I used a white hand towel so I could see how well it works) over the stain. It does work! The pups are fully house trained now, and these tips sure made that training easier and faster.