Still Not Reliable After Five Months

[Guest nonna49]

I have a 22 month old retired racing greyhound. She came to me straight from the track, after a short career, five months ago. She is not my first greyhound rescue. She has pooped in the house once, within the first 8 hours of being here, and since then has been a model of realiability as regards pooping. She learned to sit within the first month, and is learning' sit-up' on her own. She started the behavior at treat time, so we gave it a name, and now she does it as a matter of course, she is quite a clever little girl ;-)

 

She was not house trained when she came to us. We did all the appropriate things, and she KNOWS 'potty outside, good girl'. Most of the time she is fine, however she requires MANY more trips outside than her house mates, a 7 year-old greyhound and a 14 year-old husky/greyhound. In the afternoon, from about 3:30 to 6:00 PM, she needs to go out, and is taken, about every 30 minutes. She urinates copious amounts each time, and I watch to make sure she pees every time. Early on, we took her to our vet for a complete blood work-up to eliminate physiological causes. She is healthy, eats well, sleeps well, plays well, etc. We have a large yard and weather permitting, we go out for several play tmes or to sit in the sun daily.

 

If I don't watch her like a hawk, during the late afternoon,she will urinate on the floor of the bedroom, where we all sleep. She gives no 'sign' she wants to go outside, just goes to the bedroom and pees on the floor. this only happens every few weeks. Not a clue what triggers the behavior.

 

If we have to leave for an hour or two, I put her in a crate. She has defecated, as well as urinated in the crate, even though she has been taken outside and relieved herself just before going into the crate/kennel.

We now feed her in the crate/kennel and leave her there while we eat supper and do dishes, to make the crate a pleasant place.

 

If I get up to use the bathroom in the middle of the night, Both greyhounds usually need to go outside. Not terribly convenient, but I can live with that, I'm up anyway.

 

Her other problem is eating feces. Initially, she ate any poop in her path, including her own. I've used a multitude of products and remedies in the past five months, and now she isn't interested in her own feces, but in those of her housemates. All of the dogs get the products/remedies.

 

I know she will never stop eating cat feces, all that undigested protein is just too enticing for any of my dogs to resist.

 

I love this new puppy-child. I surmise her trainer/breeder was a nasty piece of work and that some of her habits come from her early treatment as a racing commodity. Returning this baby is not an option.

Suggestions?????

[gracegirl]

You mention bloodwork, but what about a urinalysis? Has she had one? Free catch or sterile? That might shed some light on the pee problems.

 

My Fenway has minor kidney damage and cannot concentrate his urine. We have a dog door that we leave open when we are home so he can go out as necessary. He drinks more and needs to pee more often, because of his health concerns in perfectly okay with this.

[JJNg]

The amount of urination you describe is not normal. I'd be investigating further for a medical problem. Or it could be caused by ongoing, chronic stress and consulting with a behaviorist may be helpful. I'm not sure why you would assume that she was treated poorly at the track? Of course there are exceptions, but most racing greyhounds are quite well taken care of. Either way, if you've had her for 5 months, her life at the track likely has no direct effect on her current housetraining problems.

[a_daerr]

Was she ever formally housetrained? What I mean is, did you use crating, confining, or the umbilical method consistently since she's been home? One of my greys was very easy to housetrain (he always gave signals and just seemed to "know" what to do). The other was extremely difficult, gave no signals, and would pop a squat anywhere and anytime he felt the need. What helped for us was going back to basic Housebreaking 101 with a strict eating, drinking, and elimination schedule. I watched him like a hawk so he couldn't sneak off anywhere and go. Then I gradually gave him more space and freedom when he proved he could be reliable. In your situation, I would also recommend crating your girl in small intervals then working your way up, since there's clearly some stress/anxiety with the crate at this point. If she continues to go to the bathroom in her crate, remove all bedding and just use a plain, waterproof mat.

[Guest Gemma]

I agree that there is either a medical problem that requires further investigating, or she is anxious and that is contributing to the increased need to urinate. We had a foster who had bad separation anxiety. Before she came to us, she peed if left alone for even 10 minutes. It took me a while to realise that she also needed to urinate more frequently because of her anxiety. We started alone training with her and used the crate diligently as a safe place (all her meals and treats happened in there). Eventually, though, we had to put her on an anti-anxiety medication. We had her on it for just 6 months and it worked WONDERS. She became able to hold her bladder for up to 6-7 hours (totally impossible before) and she was urinating far less frequently (I think we got down to 4 let outs a day, instead of 1 every few hours). She was weaned off the meds at the end of the 6 month period and continued to improve in her new home. She just needed the help of the meds for a short while.

 

While you decide how you want to proceed, I'd close the bedroom door or at least put some towels down in the spot she usually uses just to save you from constantly cleaning the floor! I'd also crate her and/or use a leash whenever you are home so you can make sure she doesn't sneak off to pee out of your sight.

 

Good luck!

[Guest nonna49]

Yes, we've done several UA's as well as blood work.

 

The assumption that she was mistreated at the track is based on her coat, demeanor and fear of humans. There were five in her litter that came off the Tucson, AZ track last October and all were extremely submissive, cowed at everything, malnourished, the whole gamut.

 

We did house training from day one, and have gone back to square one several times.

 

The problem is late afternoon, not all the time, and has been constant since she arrived. Most days, between 3 and 6 pm she has to go out about every 30 minutes. That is the time if I lose track of her, that she uses the bedroom rug as a piddle pad.

 

I feed at 6 am and pm. The dogs go out before feeding and after and again at bedtime, between 9-10 PM. She is fine during the night, and most of the day. She is restless during this time, and when possible I take her outside to play, or have her doggie best friend come to play at this time. Unfortunately, this is the time when I need to be in the kitchen, and this time of year it is often too cold and windy to spend much time outside during that time frame.

[Batmom]

Two things worth trying:

 

1. Give her a snack (@ 1/3 of a meal) about an hour before the peeing period is due to start in the afternoon. Could be she's hungry and filling up on water.

 

2. If I've misunderstood and she's drinking and/or peeing all those times AFTER her evening meal, try switching to a low-sodium food and see if that helps.

 

I would keep track as best you can of when and how much water is being consumed. Hard to do with multiple dogs but you can at least see that no water disappears in the morning and a bunch disappears in the early afternoon, say.

[GeorgeofNE]

If her entire litter is comprised of submissive dogs, my bet is that it's a genetic shyness, and not mistreatment.

 

Please don't buy into the Grey2K and PETA view of dog racing.

 

You're assuming facts not in evidence.

[Guest nonna49]

I am assuming nothing, this is not my first greyhound rescue. This litter of greys had a very rough time on the track. The breeder/trainer was less than humane. A half starved, underweight, submissive dog with a dull coat, tapeworms, and body sores was not treated well. Dot came to me within two days of leaving the track, and within 5 days of racing. I have been around dogs of all breeds for many years and when a dog has suffered abuse, it is obvious. I appreciate your view, not all racers are maltreated. A lot depends on state and municipal regulations as well as the ethics of the breeder/trainer.

 

Many years ago, I lived in Yuma, Arizona and was involved with the dogs from the track. There were few rules then and tons of horror stories. Thank God, things have changed since then, but Arizona is not an animal friendly state and more needs to be done to insure the animals are well treated. The following article was the impetus for our adding Dot to our home. She was not quite 18 months old when she started racing in September 2012. I picked her up October 5, 2012.

 

Dog track going all-male, stops giving anabolic steroids to females

Posted: Sep 19, 2012 10:19 AM MST Updated: Sep 26, 2012 10:36 AM MST

By Paige Hansen - email

TUCSON, AZ (Tucson News Now) -

Tom Taylor, the CEO at Tucson Greyhound Park says the park will no longer accept any female greyhounds and already has stopped administering anabolic steroids to the 300 to 400 female dogs at the park.

 

The park has been under scrutiny recently regarding the use of anabolic steroids in female greyhounds. The Park is in the City of South Tucson where anabolic steroids have been banned since 2008. However, Taylor has admitted to taking the dogs into Tucson City limits to have the steroids administered.

 

Taylor maintains the anabolic steroids are used in the females as a form of birth control and are given in proper doses by a veterinarian. Now, he says "it's not worth the hassle to jump through all the hoops."

 

Last week, the Tucson City Council voted to ban anabolic steroids in Tucson, and now Ward 6 council member Steve Kozachik is trying to get Pima County Supervisors on board with the ban, too.

 

Taylor says he will not accept any more females at the park. The male and female greyhounds interact at the park and Taylor says the females will continue to race and if they go into heat they will be isolated and off the track for a month.

"The problem is they [the track] may not get enough dogs to come in if we only accept males. It may not happen, but it is a concern," Taylor said.

 

The Greyhound Protection League has offered to help pay for the transportation of the female greyhounds and assist with adoptions.

 

"We want to make sure that every TGP kennel operator and greyhound owner knows that our offer is on the table," said Greyhound Protection League President, Susan Netboy in a press release provided to Tucson News Now. "This is a chance for these dogs to experience life as a beloved pet; that's the life they deserve."

 

Taylor says it will take a year and a half for the track to become an all-male track.

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