House Training - Blips?

[Silverfox]

We've had our greyhound, Harry for just over two weeks now and he's settling in very well. He has a good appetite, he's hugely affectionate and, as a timid dog, I think he's doing really well to cope with all the new experiences that are coming his way.

 

He's nervous going outside and to walk him, we have to get behind him to almost push him out the front door. Once he's out he's not too bad - on some walks he's fine, others he's very jittery. We take each one as it comes. I take him out at 7am and then myself or my other half walks him at about 9.30 or 10pm. Usually on his walks he'll P&P twice, so we know when we get him home, he's done everything he needs to do.

 

However, two mornings over the last weekend I've gone downstairs to find he has pooed on the rug in the dining area. We live in a small house and he sleeps downstairs but we leave our bedroom door open so he can hear us. He's fine during the night and only begins to whine at around 6.30am. That's about the time I get up to take him out so he's never whining for very long although I have heard him pacing about sometimes from around 6am onwards. He isn't crated, partly because we don't have much space and partly because he hasn't seemed to need it.

 

We have a garden which he is also afraid of. We usually take him out there about once a day at 5pm. Because he gets so stressed on his walks, I haven't been forcing him in the garden too much. Also, when myself and my partner are at work we have a relative and a friend who pop by on separate days to check in on him. They try to coax him out in the garden but he won't budge and because he doesn't know them as well as us, I haven't asked them to lift him or push him out there the way we would. I should point out that when we do have to push him out, we always take him on the lead and go out with him. We're gentle but firm and we usually sit with him for a minute while he looks through the open door so he can take it all in before we lead him out there!

 

I suppose these recent accidents are because he hasn't yet learned to wait for his walk to P&P - although we haven't had any trouble up until now. Do you have any tips on how we could prevent this, aside from me getting up even earlier!

[GeorgeofNE]

Twice a day is really not enough, and for a male dog, tinkling twice on a walk is probably barely tapping the never ending reservoir!

 

Take him into the yard on a leash if you need to. Rather than pushing him, try tempting him with something tasty!

 

Make a huge big deal every thing he goes. Say something like "good tinkle!!!" and then every time you take him out, also say, "time to go tinkle" or whatever...just pick something and be consistent. I use tinkle and potty for my prompting. Don't just take him out in the yard and sit there. Walk around in circles saying, "Let's go tinkle" and then when he does make him feel like he just split the atom!

 

Just because your dog is an adult doesn't mean he totally gets the housebroken thing, so it's really good to treat him as if he's a puppy in that regard.

[Feisty49]

My suggestion is to get up and let him out in the morning when you hear him pacing. In my little experience, if a dog has reached the point of whining to go P&P, it's reached the point of, "I GOTTA GO!" LOL

[FiveRoooooers]

Adding that when you are taking him out, do not look at him and expect him to move. Where you look is where you go. You should be looking in the direction of the door, not at your dog because when you look at him, everything about your body language tells your dog to shut down and stay put - exactly the opposite of what you are trying to accomplish!

[Silverfox]

Thanks everyone for the good advice.

 

Unfortunately, he can't be tempted with treats and rarely takes one when we're outside so it's difficult to lure him out.

 

We took him for an earlier walk tonight at 7pm as we want to get into the routine of walking him after work and then letting him out into the garden just before bed. He did his business on his walk, as usual.

 

Then at 10.30pm we took him into the garden. He peed almost straight away and got lots of praise. However, he didn't poo at all even though we stayed out there with him for almost an hour.

 

On the plus side, he was much more relaxed in the garden than we have ever seen him. There wasn't as much nervous trotting back and forth to the door and he didn't pant or shake. So that was nice to see. I presume he just didn't need to go yet.

 

I'll get up half an earlier in the morning and let him out. Will see if that makes a difference. I don't really want to get up at 6am every day though. My job means I need to be on call quite regularly until midnight so 6am starts aren't ideal. 6.45/7am is better!

 

Another option may be to adjust his meal times so his evening feed is earlier. We currently feed him at 6pm.

[Guest daytonasmom]

Unfortunately, he can't be tempted with treats and rarely takes one when we're outside so it's difficult to lure him out.

My Daytona was like that too at first. He's MUCH better now, it also helped to keep trying different kinds of treats until we have some he really likes. He's lived with me for a year now and is still not too thrilled about taking treats somewhere that he isn't very comfortable, or from someone he doesn't know well. At the very first he wouldn't even eat a treat until I put it in his food bowl. Now he will start trying to "shake" when he wants treats, even if I haven't brought it up, it makes me laugh!

And even after a year, he still won't go on a walk with anyone unless I go too LOL the backyard is ok, but actual walks have to include me. Good thing I need the exercise too!

[Silverfox]

Glad to hear Daytona has improved over time. They are funny things! I got Harry some beef and although I can't lure him out with it, he will take at least one piece when he's in the garden. It's a good way to calm him down a bit if nothing else! (He won't take a treat as a reward after P&P so we just give him lots of praise instead).