Did We Accidentally Train This?

[Guest Houston1219]

When we first got Houston we crated whenever we left the house. We went with the "wean off the crate" approach and confined him to just the kitchen/hallway when we were not home. Part of this was guilt, because BF went back to work and this meant longer periods of time alone. He did pretty well, only had accidents on the tile if we were gone for a long day. I did not mind this at all, it was our fault, not his. We never scolded whatsoever. Eventually he was given reign of the whole house, and nothing changed. Occasional accident, always on the tile in the kitchen.

 

Here is the problem. Now that this has gone on for quite some time, he seems to think that it's ok to pee (and now also poo!) in the house, as long as it's on that tile. We have left for an hour and have come back to a puddle. I really don't want to go from free reign to a crate after over a year, just not sure how to communicate that the kitchen is not a potty patch! I wholeheartedly blame myself for this, he is our first dog together and I think this was just an epic training fail.

 

Is there any way to gently communicate this? Maybe a spray to scent his favorite spot with "nope, not here!" Maybe a belly band he won't take off in ten minutes? Also: we have mostly opposing schedules now and he is usually only ever home alone for 6 hours or so, and he has had every test vet could think of, all passed, so all clear on medical issues.

[Batmom]

I'd do your best to make sure he's empty and, if possible, a bit tired (walk, play session, training session) before you leave.

[Time4ANap]

Even if he doesn't want to go out before you leave, leash him and make him go out. He doesn't come back in until he pees. A greyhound boy can always pee - always.

 

You should make sure that the last person leaving the house always makes him go out. If he refuses, they need to leash him and take him out, not just give up or think that he doesn't need to go. I don't see anything wrong with the belly band, but have never had to use one for Rocket. We don't even own one. . I think someone who has had to use one in this situation could give better guidance.

[3greytjoys]

As unappealing as it may be, I'd suggest starting over from square one with proper house training 101, which usually includes confinement since they usually avoid messing up their immediate resting space. If humans' absences are too long, someone should pop over to take Houston outside to eliminate.

 

A friend has a small dog with the same problem (never properly house trained). Over a decade later the dog (although healthy) still isn't housebroken, but as you mentioned, it's not the dog's fault. They just let a bad habit become ingrained for too long.

 

The sooner the better to break a habit.

[o_rooly]

Since Houston is young and you've already checked on the medical side of it, I mostly concur with going back to Housetraining 101. However, there's the flip side that says that you are this close to having him "litterbox" trained...

In the last 1.5 years of Aston's life, he was very prone to UTIs, and thus very prone to peeing indoors, even if we only left him for a half hour (due to discomfort associated with UTIs, he could not physically "empty out" on walks, no matter how long we walked him before leaving ).

Ninety percent of the time, he would leave a puddle just in front of the glass sliding door leading to the backyard. We bought washable human bed pads on Amazon and laid them out in that area, and voila! if he had to go, he peed on those, and we would throw them in the wash with hospital-grade laundry deodorizer/sanitizer, no harm, no foul.

Once we were FINALLY able to pinpoint the swarming bacteria at the root of his issues and knock it out, he VERY rarely peed indoors -- he would tend to hold it by choice up to 11 hours on his own (declining trips outside in favor of staying on the couch ). However, we left the pee pads out, just to give him the option if he wanted to go while we were out, even for a short time. He continued to only pee on the pads, *if* he went indoors.

Without a dog door, I felt better knowing that Aston had a reliable indoor place to go, so that he wouldn't feel that he HAD to hold it if we were away.
(and yes -- unfortunately, he did feel that he HAD to hold it -- we have the deep scratch marks on the sliding glass door *handle* to prove it. )

Edit to add: In case you're interested, I bought these bed pads. Went through a ton of washings, and came out great. They've priced them way down, too.

Edited August 28, 2014 by o_rooly

[Guest kkaiser104]

I've used belly bands on my two when we've had potty training regression. Every once in a while someone will pee in the house (and it's my fault, usually I left them too long or didn't make sure they went before I left), and since I have two boys they'll have a pissing contest in the spot, even after the carpet machine has been run and the smell is gone. Belly bands go on after a good potty trip outside and they remember quickly. Neither has ever wet in one--it's just a reminder to not pee.

[Guest Houston1219]

I've used belly bands on my two when we've had potty training regression. Every once in a while someone will pee in the house (and it's my fault, usually I left them too long or didn't make sure they went before I left), and since I have two boys they'll have a pissing contest in the spot, even after the carpet machine has been run and the smell is gone. Belly bands go on after a good potty trip outside and they remember quickly. Neither has ever wet in one--it's just a reminder to not pee.

We have two belly bands that that been used for all of an hour(?) We put one on him while we were home for maybe a half hour just to see how he did. He didn't really seem to care much. So, we put one on him and left for an hour or so. When we came home the dog and the band were in separate rooms. Maybe I put it on too loose? Should they be fairly snug? I didn't want to squish his boy parts lol... This may be a good training tool if I can manage to keep one on him!

Edited August 28, 2014 by Houston1219

[GeorgeofNE]

You could block off the tiled area--

 

A belly band is not going to "squish" his boy bits. It will also be relatively useless without a human incontinence pad in it. I use the Serenity Ultra type. Like a ginormous maxi pad, but intended to hold a ton of urine. It should be fairly snug, but not tight.

 

I did what Ashton's human did. After years of George having a bizarre and unfixable pee issue, I just started leaving human bed pads where he peed. And then when he did have an accident, it was ALWAYS on the pad. Saved my sanity.