Housebroken Grey Not So Housebroken Anymore

[Guest zhaabo]

Help! My 7 year old greyhound has recently begun pooping in the house, I'm not sure how to change this behavior.

 

We recently moved states, which certainly has some adjustment attached to it, but have moved states before (last year), with only one accidental peeing incident.

 

We've been here for roughly 4 weeks -- within 2 weeks he had pooped on the floor once, then the following week it was twice, the last week it was nearly every day. I'm not gone any longer than normal, nothing else has changed.

 

I've taken to crating him but I really hate to keep him locked up while I'm at work. I've thought of doggie daycare, but I know from taking him to dogparks that he gets agitated around other dogs, and I don't want to stress him out further.

 

It's gotten to the point that this morning I fed him, let him out of my sight for less than a minute as I walked across the room to grab his leash, he ran into my room, pooped on bed, then ran back. I checked my room, and he immediately ran into his crate. He knows he's misbehaving, maybe this is some kind of dominance test?

 

Does anyone have any suggestions? I'm keeping him crated and on a leash at all times right now, but getting him free roaming and relaxing on a softer surface than his dog bed would be awesome.

[Batmom]

1. Take him out more often and keep him out until he poops (or poops again, if he's only doing it once).

2. Vet check -- get a fecal analysis and make sure he is healthy.

 

It isn't a dominance test; outdated concept and doesn't apply between dogs and people. He could just be not quite settled in your new home, in which case #1 above should help a lot .

[Guest zhaabo]

Thanks for the advice -- his normal schedule is outside 3X per day, one poop in the morning, one poop on evening walk, and one late night pee. That's the thing that's been so frustrating, he's still doing that schedule if I keep him on a leash in the house and immediately bring him outside after eating, but seems to be acting out whenever my back is turned.

 

Vet checkup is a definite just to make sure everything is ok, just wanted to see if there is some weird greyhound behavior that I'm unaware of. He's been an absolute angel for the 2 years I've had him, this behavior is so out of the ordinary.

[MaryJane]

It sounds like an issue with the move since it started to happen two weeks after the move. You might want to take him out more often so he can get used to the area and sp that the accidents don't happen by "chance". Maybe he is afraid of something outside? Is it a busier street?

Edited December 3, 2013 by MaryJane

[Guest Giselle]

He doesn't know he's misbehaving, and he's not deliberately acting out. As far as we understand, dogs do not express genuine guilt. Rather, they are INCREDIBLY sensitive to human behavior, and they will immediately put on appeasement behaviors (head and tail down, ears back, low frantic tail wagging, avoiding your gaze) whenever they sense our frustration or anger. In a recent study, researchers misleadingly told owners that their dogs stole food (the dogs actually did not), and the owners responded with typical upset behaviors - tensing up, hunching their shoulders forward, hardened eyes, talking more loudly. Their dogs responded by "looking guilty", and the owners were convinced that "the dog knows he's done wrong". Nope. They're just responding to our frustration

 

Moving is incredibly stressful, and some dogs really struggle. Some dogs don't poop for days. Others poop more often than usual. I would think that there is a large element of stress here. I also wonder if he poops for attention. How do you react when you find the accidents? Other than that, I agree that you just need to housetrain him again as if he were a puppy. As far as he knows, HE doesn't know that this new place is home. A little remedial housetraining is always recommended for dogs/cats who've moved to new homes.

[Guest zhaabo]

It is a very busy street, we used to have a park right by our old place but now we're in the heart of a city.

 

Concerning his reaction being in response to my actions, I would agree but for his behavior immediately after, before I've realized what's happened. Since it's become more frequent, I've noticed that right after he poops when my back is turned he'll cruise by, head down, acting agitated. Typically he's the laziest guy in the world, so him almost running in the house is a new thing. And it only happens right after he poops.

 

I'm sure he's stressed out, but again, since we've moved in the past and he's been perfectly fine, this behavior is out of character. His schedule is the same, we still hang out the same amount of time. I dunno.

 

My response has been to look him in the eyes, tell him 'NO', and put him in his crate. I read about an "umbilical" method where you basically keep them leashed at all times they're not in their crate, but I'm hoping I don't have to go down that route with him.

[MaryJane]

Ok - you've moved to the city whereas before you had a park nearby. That is likely causing the uneasiness on his part. He is not used to the city and even though he has moved before with no problem .. there is a problem now. As you yourself said, this is out of character. I suggest that you go back to step 1 in housebreaking and spend more time outside in quiet areas.

 

If you are in the heart of the city - is there any grass nearby or is he pooping on the concrete. Some dogs are picky about where they go and he may be getting upset and as a result, holding it in and in that case, when he gets back inside - he just has to go and can't hold it.

[Guest grey_dreams]

His behavior right after he has an accident in the house is because he knows he's going to "get it" from you. It sounds to me that he is anxious because of the new surroundings and because of your frustration with his new behavior. You should start from ground zero and re-do alone training and housetraining for elimination. He is probably stressed because of all the new sounds in the environment, so as far as he knows, it's NOT safe when you leave. Re-do alone training, starting from the very basics. It would be really good for you to minimize your frustration and anger to help him adjust to the new surroundings. (I'm sure you are not yelling or something, but they are so incredibly sensitive to reading our moods; even body chemistry changes with a little frustration, and they can smell it).

[Acadianarose]

I agree with everyone else - he needs to go back to housebreaking 101. We had something similar when we moved a few years ago and we had to go back to basics.

 

Payton seems to be more easily freaked out than other breeds I have had. And on his first day here, he fell in the swimming pool. Just walked right in! The only way to the grass is to go past the pool and he was of course terrified. Recently, we had heavy winds blowing through the trees which scared him. He would try to potty on the patio as close to the house as possible or go back inside without pottying. I keep making him stay outside until he finishes.

 

When I have house trained a dog, I have either had them leashed to me or in their crate. It is amazing how quickly a dog can sneak off to potty in the house!

[Guest zhaabo]

There are small strips of grass here and there on the sidewalk, which he has shown fairly amazing aim with. I guess I'm just going to have to go back to square one and re-housebreak him. Is the leash/crate method the best?

 

I'll do my best to keep my frustration to a minimum, of course being a proud parent I tend to think my greyhound is pretty smart in greyhound terms (he's been very fast to pick up on things/learn commands), so it's hard to see him behaving like this.

[Guest ObsidianDragon]

The one time I had a non-housebroken dog we did the leash/crate thing, yes. Having a dog attached to you every waking moment at home can be exasperating, and but they will sneak off SO QUICK otherwise!

[jetcitywoman]

His behavior right after he has an accident in the house is because he knows he's going to "get it" from you. It sounds to me that he is anxious because of the new surroundings and because of your frustration with his new behavior. You should start from ground zero and re-do alone training and housetraining for elimination. He is probably stressed because of all the new sounds in the environment, so as far as he knows, it's NOT safe when you leave. Re-do alone training, starting from the very basics. It would be really good for you to minimize your frustration and anger to help him adjust to the new surroundings. (I'm sure you are not yelling or something, but they are so incredibly sensitive to reading our moods; even body chemistry changes with a little frustration, and they can smell it).

I agree with this. Going back to Housetraining 101 and Alone Training will also teach him that the new home is a safe place. Be gentle and calm with him because you basically need to teach him that everything is okay and give him new, positive associations with your new home. Any punishment (even NO!) can be associated in his head as evidence that the new place is a scary, bad place. Reward him for doing good, ignore the mistakes, give him lots of happy times.

[cometdust1]

Even though your boy had no problem with moving in the past, he's older now and my experience has been that older dogs can be more sensitive to changes than when they were younger. 7 seems to be about the time when these quirks start to show up in my house. He just needs some extra time to adjust to the change, especially the extra noise of being in a city. Like the others have said, housebreaking 101 and some extra patience will get him back on track!