Solo Greyhound, Behavior Problems Worsening

[SPDoggie]

Could he be nervous to go in front of you? many greys are shy, so folks have found it helpful to hook a second leash to the first so that their hound can get farther away from them to pee.

 

maybe try that?

[RedHead]

For many male dogs, releasing small amounts of urine in the form of marking is their natural way of urinating.

 

 

It sounds like this dog is confused and perhaps thinks any pottying in front of you is a bad thing. That could be why he is holding it and then going all over the second you leave him. I would be praising ANY outside pottying now, including on walks. I could have my dogs out in the yard all day with me and they really don't pee until we walk, even if it is only 5 minutes. It doesn't mean I let them mark the whole walk, we do some heeling and then we have release areas and parks to sniff and potty in.

 

If this dog has housebreaking and anxiety problems I would guess he should be getting a lot more than 20 minutes of walking a day to help burn off some of his anxious energy, especially before he is left alone. Once he starts to relax and understand pottying outside is the routine, he will probably be more willing to go in the backyard. For right now though, I would be focussing on getting ANY outdoor peeing. You can add a command word like "go potty" every time he pees on walks and then transfer it to the backyard to help.

[JJNg]

It's odd, because being outside for a WHILE with me in the yard doesn't get him to that point, walking him with NO marking and then putting him the yard doesn't do it either. Even when he's in the yard and he doesn't know I'm watching from an inside window, nothing! Why is not interested in relieving until it's too late?

 

Many dogs won't urinate unless their bladder's fairly full, especially in familiar territory where they aren't stimulated to mark. It sounds like your timing may be a little off in that he doesn't quite need to go yet during the times you have him outside.

 

Housetraining is about figuring out the dog's schedule and body language, taking him outside when he needs to go, and rewarding him when he potties outside. You can't simply make him go when and where you want him to. After he's gotten the idea that outside is the only place where he should relieve himself, you might be able to shift the schedule and location to your preference, but trying to do that now will interfere with the basic steps he needs to learn first.

 

I have another question:

When house training an adult dog, how do you enfore that eliminating inside is bad? I know you can't scold after the fact, but he doesn't do it if I'm watching him. How can I do that & encourage him to go outside only?

 

In my experience, you mostly just need to consistently prevent all elimination inside and reward every elimination outside, and most dogs catch on that outside is where they're supposed to go. When I pay enough attention and am able to completely prevent accidents inside, I've had dogs that were housetrained without any need to correct the behavior inside.

 

The only way you can give the dog feedback that going inside is bad is if you catch him in the act. I find that just distracting with a loud noise, "no", or "uh-uh" and immediately taking the dog outside to finish, and rewarding if they do, is enough.

 

Since it sounds like Archer has learned that going in your presence is bad thing (and probably both inside and outside, at this point), you will just need to rely on the first 2 steps - prevention inside and reward outside. Make sure he is always in your sight when you're inside. And if you're home but need to leave him for a few minutes, such as to go to the bathroom, etc - take him outside first. If he doesn't go, leave him outside until you can watch him again (although you might miss an opportunity to reward if he goes outside when you're not there). Or you can consider taking him to the bathroom with you. And hopefully by praising and rewarding him every time you see him eliminate outside, whether it is in your yard or on a walk, he'll re-learn that it's ok to go in front of you.

 

Also, when I'm not home, he will tear through barriers I put up for him, could I build him a dog house for outside so he could go out there when I have to be gone? Like, a dog house with some kind of air cooling device. I feel like leaving him inside just ends up setting him up to fail, because I can't seem to research and train him fast enough.

 

If he does have a component of separation anxiety, some of the accidents when you're gone may be stress related, and unfortunately, that complicates matters. Setting up a video camera to record how he acts when you're gone may help determine if separation anxiety is really part of the problem.

 

I don't think that putting him outside is a good idea as there are too many risks, and it's probably in violation of the adoption contract for many greyhound groups. You mentioned in your initial post that you confined him to a 10 x 10 room - is he getting out of that room? Can you provide more details about how your house is set up and what kind of barriers he's tearing through?

[Guest AMELIAdetonated]

Thank you everyone for your replies! As for the outside gig, that is something I probably never would have done, haha, it was honestly me being in "thinking of every possible possible ever solution ever, even the crazy ones" mode. As for the barriers, they've been stacked filled boxes (moving totes, essentially), so they'd be heavy because the was agile enough to get over the chairs, haha. But with a schedule and a stable food, and more time to adjust, I anticipate things to get much better. Again, thank you everyone, all the support has helped IMMENSELY.

[KickReturn]

Sorry, but until you have started the day with a one hour walk IMO you cannot really judge a dogs behaviour. And if that doesn't work try a two hour walk. Some Greys need that. Try it for a week and If you still have problems than you can look to more extreme measures.

[gracegirl]

Keep your dog with you inside at ALL TIMES. He should be leashed with you at the other end at all times. Wrap the leash around your waist if you need your hands free. Do this at night too, maybe with a bell on his collar at night so that you can hear him move around as well.

 

Get up early and walk him. Walk him for at least 30-45 minutes right away when you get up. For now, let him pee whenever and whereever he wants outside. Praise, praise,praise like crazy. You can teach him not to mark later.

 

You also need better barriers. Get one or two baby gates, preferably tall gates, to keep him in or out of certain places. Grace could jump the shorter gates with ease, so two stacked did the trick. I found my short gates at Target for $10 but needed two of them.

 

If you are not committed to longer walks, stricter house training, and in general more time invested now, then you should start to think about a new home for him. Some new dogs can take a lot of work. You have to be willing to invest the time.

Edited September 3, 2012 by gracegirl