College Student Needs Help Potty Training!

[Guest jfhandy]

About 4 months ago I adopted my best friend Bolt from the McGregor Greyhound adoption cent in Birmingham, AL - seriously best decision I have made in a long time. My carpet disagrees however. There are neon yellow stains everywhere no matter what cleaning solution I use - even my carpet shampooer doesn't do much good on them. I need help training my dog! I am a PhD student and do most of my work at home however I am gone about six hours a day during the morning/early afternoon. It never fails that I come home to a pee spot. At first I thought I wasn't taking him out often enough but this morning before I went to work out at the gym (5:30am) I took him out to go potty. He took a solid pee. 45 minutes later when I returned (no food or water given) he had peed again right on the carpet. I came home after school ~ 4 hours later and he peed on the carpet again. 30 minutes before writing this I took him outside and he went number 2. We walked around a bit more and nothing happened. 15 minutes later he pees on the carpet.

 

Generally he usually only messes the carpet when I am not home, unless I haven't taken him out enough (guilty a few times). Rarely does he go number 2 in the house. Some people suggest crating the dog while I am gone, but when I put him in his cage he freaks out and usually goes number 1 and 2 in the cage and kicks everywhere, destroys whatever blanket is in there, and ends up making a bigger mess than if I left him out of the cage.

 

He has the most concentrated pee I have ever seen - I'm surprised it doesn't eat holes in my carpet. I constantly keep water in his bowl bc I am afraid he is dehydrated; he seems to rarely drink water though. Is there anything I can start doing to try to stem this problem? And crate train him?

 

 

Desperate student here.

[RedHead]

Congrats on your new pup! Teague also came from McGregor Adoption Centre (he just travelled really far in the Greyhoundmobile!)

 

The peeing while you are gone plus the freaking out in crate sounds like there could be some separation anxiety issues as well. I was going to suggest crating but if he freaks out in that and pees more, you may want to work more on the separation anxiety. A lot of people here have experience and can suggest resources. Sounds like he needs to have a lot of restrictions on where he is allowed to be right now (either right with you so you can catch him and take him out, or else in a crate). Enzyme cleaners like Nature's Miracle work well to take out the stains.

 

In the meantime, you may want to put a belly band on him. It is basically a wrap that goes around them like a diaper and absorbs the pee

Edited January 16, 2013 by RedHead

[Guest kkaiser104]

They make belly bands that might help save your carpet while potty training. I'm also a college student, so I understand, but fortunately Teddi was easy to toilet train. Sorry I don't have much other advice, but I'm sure some more experienced gh owners on the board will chime in soon Welcome to GT, and you'll have to post a picture of your new boy as soon as you can!

[Guest Giselle]

Generally he usually only messes the carpet when I am not home, unless I haven't taken him out enough (guilty a few times). Rarely does he go number 2 in the house.

These are very classic signs of separation anxiety. Here's a blog on how to modify the behaviors:

http://drsophiayin.com/blog/entry/separation-anxiety-solution-training-fido-that-calm-behavior-makes-you

[Guest Clawsandpaws]

"He has the most concentrated pee I have ever seen" to be on the safe side, I would take a urine sample to the vet, just to rule out anything medical. My guy had super strong urine, the smell, and the color, and we found out that he had bacteria in the urine, so we needed antibiotics-! I haven't had any experience with this type of issue, so can't help there good luck!

[Houndtime]

Second bringing a urine sample to your vet and belly band.

[greysmom]

More exercise before you leave will also help. If he's tired out he'll be too tired to pee!

[Brandiandwe]

You don't say how old he is but I'd be trying more exercise before leaving him. A solid pee =/= empty. My girls do a solid pee and still have enough in the tank to continue marking for another hours walk in the morning before anything else. They then sleep for the rest of the day. Obviously this won't help with SA but making sure he's as empty as possible might help. Enzymatic cleaners will be your friends.

[a_daerr]

I disagree about belly bands... they are fine for dogs who mark. But for a dog who is emptying his bladder, the belly band will just become saturated and create more problems. A wet belly band is a breeding ground for bacteria (makes UTIs more likely) and he's still probably going to lie on your carpet and furniture with the band on. In his case, it sounds like the problem is (1) he's never been reliably housetrained, and (2) he may have some separation anxiety issues. Some dogs just "get it" when it comes to housetraining. Most of them need to be taught.

 

It's going to be necessary that you choose a housetraining method. You can either try to counter-condition his aversion to the crate, or try a confining method where he is limited to a smaller area of the house (i.e. babygating him to an area like the kitchen or an area that is easy to clean). I might try the latter, since it sounds like he might hurt himself if left alone in the crate. You can also tailor the size of the space based on his needs, so if he still has accidents when confined to the kitchen, then use an x-pen to make the area smaller. Once he's been accident free for a week, then you can expand his area. The idea is that he gradually earns privileges after he's been accident free for a period of time. Remember, a dog is not considered "housetrained" until they have been accident free for at least 30 days. Try to resist giving him the run of the house and allowing too many privileges until he's been accident free for at least that long.

 

As for the SA issue, it's going to be important that you work on alone training with him. Leave music or the TV playing when you're gone. Don't make a big deal about hellos and goodbyes. Give him a frozen kong, marrow bone, or something that he can work on for awhile to distract from the fact that you're gone. If all else fails, you can discuss anti-anxiety meds with your vet as a last resort.

 

 

ETA: My favorite housebreaking resource is How to Housebreak Your Dog in 7 Days by Shirlee Kalstone. Very informative!

Edited January 16, 2013 by a_daerr

[cleptogrey]

rent the rug doctor at the supermarket and nature's miracle and clean it well. a dog will continue to pee where he has already peed. as to the color- my first grey peed that awful neon yellow that one's pee turns to on antibiotics for a uti. she was tested, no uti- but the vet treated her symptoms. our rug never cleaned up, no matter what, i tried oxiclean...no luck .

 

it's a ton of conditioning to get him to either get used to the crate and your departure, but it might just be worth it. that's the route i would try (as well as antibiotics). feed him in his crate, make it comfy- i would use easily washable pile of polar fleece blankets and start w/ keeping him in it while you are home w/ a marrow bone. giving him dog biskets in the crate and anything that he loves. then start by leaving the house for 5 min. and work your way up. hopefully you have a long weekend to start focusing on uping his duration. remember to take the marrow bones, kongs, bully sticks or what ever you give him in the crate out and put them away. that's his crate candy....hopefully he will start to adjust/readjust to being in his crate. make sure it's in the main room, not tucked away in a back corner. also, why not try crating him at night when you go to bed? your in the house, he's in his new, safe, secure place and it's more positive time in the crate.

 

before you leave, even for 5 minutes during retraining take your dog out to potty. if you reward him w/ a peice of hot dog when ever he pees- us a command- go potty, hurry-hurry- , go pee, then he eventually learns to pee on command. when ever you go out- even if it's to the car and back-potty/reward/crate and remember to reward again if the crate is dry and he doesn't scream. it's the rewards that save our sanity and get these dogs reconditioned. save hot dogs(just a sliver) for treats only...they do wonders! good luck!

[GeorgeofNE]

First step needs to be a vet check. Dark urine like that isn't always normal.

 

Second step--you need to go through the steps of housebreaking him as if he's a puppy. Doesn't sound like you've done that.

[sarabz]

I think others have offered some great suggestions, starting with the vet.

 

On a side note, I keep catching sight of this thread and reading it as the college student needs to be housebroken Sorry

Edited January 16, 2013 by sarabz

[greytpups]

I think others have offered some great suggestions, starting with the vet.

 

On a side note, I keep catching sight of this thread and reading it as the college student needs to be housebroken Sorry

me too

[vjgrey]

Lots of good advice here:

 

1) A vet check - A urinalysis is easy and relatively inexpensive, and if he does have a UTI, it should be an easy fix

 

2) Longer walks - If he's only going once, even if it's a "solid pee," he probably isn't emptying his bladder. A really long walk before you leave my also help with the separation anxiety - a tired hound is a good hound.

 

3) Sart over at square one with house training.

 

4) Do "alone training," also from square one - lots of info about that on the forum if you do a search

 

5) Have your carpets professionally cleaned, if possible, to make sure that the smell is actually and completely gone - If not, he'll keep marking over the same spots.

 

Thanks for having the patience to work through this with him!

[Guest zombrie]

I agree it sounds more like separation anxiety rather than a housebreaking issue. A young dog should be able to hold it for 6 hours unless there is something medically wrong.

[greysmom]

If he does keep using the same spots, try putting down some pee pads to save your carpet.

[Hollis]

me too

 

 

me three...