Starting To 'go' In The House Again

[Guest jschwe]

We seem to be having some issues lately with Superbird's potty habits. He had SA for the first few months we had him, which went hand in hand with p&p in the house, but we have gotten him to the point where he no longer freaks when we leave and half the time doesn't even get up. He had a few months of no messes in the house at all, but now, the past month or so, has been getting progressively worse. This past week, he peed and pooed in the house nearly every time we left. Even if I take him for a long walk and empty him completely, he will still do a tiny poo and a small spot of pee, like he's doing it to spite me. It is exhausting and incredibly frustrating, since we don't know how to go about tackling the issue. How do we change behaviour we can't catch? Why is he suddenly going inside again?

 

The frustrating thing is, I know he can hold it, because he will go 6-7 hours with no incident, and then we will leave for 1/2 hour and come back to a mess. I don't really want to take out the crate again, he went berserk when we left him in it and eventually hurt himself. His SA has been doing so well, I don't want to set him back completely.

 

I don't know if anyone has experienced this before, or has any suggestions about how to combat this...I feel sort of helpless at this point. I am honestly not sure what our next step should be.

[krissy]

Would he tolerate being baby gated? I'd gate him somewhere small, like the kitchen maybe. Give him a comfy bed.

 

Is your concern that his SA is getting worse again or more of a house training issue? It seems like the former, so heavy alone training all over again. If you can set up a camera to record while you're gone, do it.

[a_daerr]

Even if I take him for a long walk and empty him completely, he will still do a tiny poo and a small spot of pee, like he's doing it to spite me.

 

He's not doing it to spite you. Dogs don't instinctively know that they're supposed to go outside unless you teach them. Go back to Housebreaking 101. Take him out on a schedule, ensuring he has ample opportunities to potty after mealtimes and naps. Praise and reward him everytime he does his business outside. Never scold if you didn't catch him in the act. Unless you're home and can monitor his movements 24-7, you'll pretty much have to consider some type of confinement method. It doesn't necessarily have to be the crate, but you'll need to confine him to one area using some type of training tool, like an x-pen or baby gates.

 

Just a word about crate training. I've seen lots of people CREATE crate anxiety in their dogs by only crating them when they leave the house (thus causing the dog to associate the crate with a negative action). Make his confinement space positive by giving him treats, kongs, chewies, etc. when he's there. Let him be there at times even when you are home. Never force him. Make it a part of your regular routine, and after some time passes, you can expand his space room by room and give him more freedom. Some people are lucky enough to have dogs that just seem to "get it" and can have free reign of the house without any accidents. Nine out of ten can't. It doesn't mean that your dog is intentionally trying to test your patience- it just means they need extra training. Treat him like he was on his first day, brand new and straight off the track. Whatever training method you use, be as consistent as possible.

 

IMHO, don't use belly bands or pee-pads. They seem like easy fixes, but they're not. A belly band is used to correct marking, which is a totally different issue. And by using pee-pads, the dog learns that it's okay to go in the house. You want to set the mentality that it's NEVER okay to go in the house. I made this mistake with my puppy, who is now almost two-years-old. Every few months, he'll pee in the same place we used to keep the pee-pads many, many months ago. It's just easier to do the hard work in the beginning to have a dog that's reliable 100% of the time.

 

Also, it's also still highly possible that his accidents are the result of separation anxiety (as evidenced by him having accidents despite the duration of time you're gone from the house). You may want to consider an anti-anxiety medication at this point.

[OwnedBySummer]

 

He's not doing it to spite you. Agree, he's definitely not.

 

Some people are lucky enough to have dogs that just seem to "get it" and can have free reign of the house without any accidents. Nine out of ten can't. Ummm.... I've never crated any of my dogs, never even restricted them. And, although the occasional accident may happen the first week or two, maybe even the first month, that's it. I don't agree with the 9 out of 10 statistic. No one ever used to crate or restrict their dogs in the "old days" and, even still, I know of very few people who do. Not to say that it can't be useful IF NECESSARY.

 

[JJNg]

Even if I take him for a long walk and empty him completely, he will still do a tiny poo and a small spot of pee, like he's doing it to spite me.

 

He's definitely not doing it to spite you. This is a classic sign of anxiety. It sounds like something has re-triggered his separation anxiety, and sometimes we'll never know why this happened. I'd suggest taking a few steps back and go back through the same steps you used to help him with the separation anxiety in the beginning.

[Guest jschwe]

Thanks for the responses. Logically, I know he isn't capable of doing it out of spite, but after spending so much time getting him to go outside before I leave, just to find pee on the floor, I can't help but feel like that sometimes.

 

I guess anxiety makes the most sense based on his previous struggles. It seems weird to me though because other than the potty issues, he is showing none of the stress he did before. He would pace and whine and try and slither out the door with us, then whine and bark while we were gone. None of these other symptoms have returned (our neighbour would let us know...) only, it seems, the messy one.

 

DH is on night shift for a while now, meaning someone will nearly always be at the house with him for at least a few weeks. We plan to thoroughly clean the carpets and go back to defcon 1 high alert in the house. Hopefully we can break the habit and ease him back in to separation, if that's the case.

[JJNg]

If you're able to set up a video or web cam to see what he's doing when you're gone, that can sometimes provide valuable insight into his behavior.

[3greytjoys]

It might help

 

He's definitely not doing it to spite you. This is a classic sign of anxiety. It sounds like something has re-triggered his separation anxiety, and sometimes we'll never know why this happened. I'd suggest taking a few steps back and go back through the same steps you used to help him with the separation anxiety in the beginning.

 

Agreed.

 

When feeling anxious, animals (and people) often need to go potty more frequently than usual.

It seems you're already aware to avoid punishment because that magnifies the dog's anxiety. A "belly band" might help while your boy is adjusting. A belly band can be placed on boys for short periods during humans' absence, then remove band for outside eliminations.

http://www.gemgreyhounds.net/GEM-Store/bad-boy-belly-bands/

 

If your boy will accept a Kong iced on the inside with peanut butter, or plain yogurt, etc. That might help get him through the most important first 30 minutes of your departure.

[Guest june]

Has anything else changed in the house? A new pet? A change in routine? Sometimes the simplest (to us) of changes can unbalance a pup and the old SA comes back. Good luck.

[Feisty49]

 

 

He's not doing it to spite you. Agree, he's definitely not.

 

Some people are lucky enough to have dogs that just seem to "get it" and can have free reign of the house without any accidents. Nine out of ten can't. Ummm.... I've never crated any of my dogs, never even restricted them. And, although the occasional accident may happen the first week or two, maybe even the first month, that's it. I don't agree with the 9 out of 10 statistic. No one ever used to crate or restrict their dogs in the "old days" and, even still, I know of very few people who do. Not to say that it can't be useful IF NECESSARY.

 

 

 

I also disagree with the 9 out of 10 stat. I am, of course, only a one-dog person. Annie has been almost perfect, literally, since day 1. But my group has at least 12 foster dogs in various homes and the temp parents don't have P&P problems. Some may for the first couple of days, though I don't consider that a problem because of the short duration, but the dogs learn right away that outside is where they do their thing, and we're talking dogs right off the track or, which could be more of a problem, the farm.

 

I have no advice for you. Boy I wish there was a magic wand that would cure SA.

[a_daerr]

I am jealous at how lucky some of you are!

 

I've owned, fostered, and pet-sat for many dogs over the years, and I also work a typical 8-hour work day. I learned the hard way that many dogs just don't "get it." There's NO WAY I would let a dog have free-roam of my house when I wasn't home without some type of formal housetraining. Even when I was home, the dogs managed to sneak off and have accidents. I'm curious, when you guys adopted your dogs, did you just leave the house and cross your fingers? If you can't be there 24-7, how else do you teach housetraining other than confinement or crating?