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Ernie - Accidents In The House.


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Background: I adopted Ernie July 2014. He took a long time to transition. I have another (established) hound, Walter. Walter is 4 years older than Ernie, Ernie is 4, Walter is 8. For context, I was single until July 2014 and Boyfriend moved in March 2015. We have ALL moved to Monmouth County as of Oct 15th 2015.

 

We moved October 15th. Boarded the boys with a friend and the transition into our new apartment was similar to when I brought Ernie home, a couple of accidents but overall not a big deal to me. November 18th we had maintenance come in and change our batteries to the smoke detector and air filters. I had the boys meet one maintenance man. He was nice, everyone got along. There are two maintenance men, I don’t know which one was in the apartment and I only found out about the second guy a week ago. Ernie was crated and has messed his crate. First it started off with peeing. Then poop, then diarrhea and finally Ernie began eating his own poop and throwing it up.

 

November 24th after work, Ernie peed, pooped and ate it and began vomiting. I took him to the e-vet and they tested his pee and found that he had crystals in his urine. December 4th we went to NGAP which is our normal vet and he was prescribed abx to kill the bacteria that is creating the crystals. An x-ray was taken, there are no bladder stones. Ernie has been on xanax since December 4th. He is still peeing and pooping in the house. It isn’t every day, but it's still pretty bad. Yesterday he tried to eat his poop in front of me through his muzzle. He stepped in the poop and tracked it around our apartment.

 

I’ve called NGAP twice, and Dr Berman is putting him on prozac today, I should be picking it up after work. This is impacting me in every aspect of my life and I’m really struggling. Ernie is now barking more frequently and he thinks he owns the couch and has growled at my Boyfriend*.

 

I’m in graduate school and I teach full time. I’m exhausted, overwhelmed and anxious walking into my own home every day. Yesterday it was so bad I told my Boyfriend not to come home while I cleaned. I cried, I cleaned and then I drank. (Crying & drinking are a bit extreme for me)

 

Please help. I'm really struggling.



*I don’t think Walter & Ernie think my Boyfriend is apart of our family or part of the pack. They occasionally listen to him but they are not consistent. At this point, it isn’t on my list of things to deal with because Ernie is probably pooping on the carpet as you read this.

7218108076_e406044464_t.jpg 7004700518_27fa752995_t.jpg Walter (Windy Walker) and Ernie (PG Ernest) @WalterWallerson and IG: WalterandErnie 7150803233_d0700ccbdc_t.jpg 7004711314_ceba54665a_t.jpg

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This is not something I have dealt with so I have no sage advice for you, but just wanted to offer my sympathy and a :grouphug. This must be so stressful for all of you! Hopefully others will come along with good advice for you soon.

Clare with Tiger (Snapper Gar, b. 18/05/2015), and remembering Ken (Boomtown Ken, 01/05/2011-21/02/2020) and Doc (Barefoot Doctor, 20/08/2001-15/04/2015).

"It is also to be noted of every species, that the handsomest of each move best ... and beasts of the most elegant form, always excel in speed; of this, the horse and greyhound are beautiful examples."----Wiliam Hogarth, The Analysis of Beauty, 1753.

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Can you crate him? That way at least the mess is contained while you work on figuring out the issue. For the poop eating, get a cup for his muzzle or duct tape it (whether you crate him or not, this is probably a good idea anyway as I had one who would poop in his crate and clean up after himself [i didn't know it was happening at the time] and the repeated poop-eating episodes gave him what the vet assumed were repeated bacterial infections). Other than that, I have no advice and I'm sorry you're dealing with all of this :(

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Aside from the medication, are you doing any actual alone training with him? Also, you can try an Adaptil collar or difuser - those help some dogs. Xanax is a short acting med, so it's likely not getting him through the day, so moving to Prozac is a good choice, but you have to do training with him, too. The meds are to get him to a place where he can ratchet down his stress level and be receptive to training. My guess is that his stress level is what's contributing to the growling, too. Stress is really hard on the body and the poor guy just doesn't feel good. Jen (Neylasmom) usually recommends l-theanine, but I don't know how that works with a prescription med, so worth asking your vet.

Edited by turbotaina


Meredith with Heyokha (HUS Me Teddy) and Crow (Mike Milbury). Missing Turbo (Sendahl Boss), Pancho, JoJo, and "Fat Stacks" Juana, the psycho kitty. Canku wakan kin manipi.

"Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities." - Voltaire

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I read this as if he WAS crated?

 

If so, I would urge you to stop crating him. He could just hate the crate after being in it for so long. If I am mistaken--then yes, alone training. DAP diffusers. Maybe some nice music playing?

 

I'm sorry you're going through this. I had a hell of a time myself with my first hound, so I know about the crying when you come home. It's no fun at all.


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Susan to answer your question, Ernie was crated and then the issues with the messing of the crate started. She stopped crating him, things were go for a little bit and then the messing issues returned.

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If your gone so much, who is walking the dogs? Are they being walked enough? Do they get let out in the middle of the day?

Are you in an apartment? If so, whats going on during the day , loud noises? Can they see outside??

I wonder if you can set up a web cam to see when the pooping happens and hopefully be able to catch it before it happens.

 

Can your boyfriend do a training class with the dogs? Build up some trust.

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Can you crate him? That way at least the mess is contained while you work on figuring out the issue. For the poop eating, get a cup for his muzzle or duct tape it (whether you crate him or not, this is probably a good idea anyway as I had one who would poop in his crate and clean up after himself [i didn't know it was happening at the time] and the repeated poop-eating episodes gave him what the vet assumed were repeated bacterial infections). Other than that, I have no advice and I'm sorry you're dealing with all of this :(

 

He was crated from July 2014 to Nov 20th-ish 2015. He LOVES the crate. Before all of this, Boyfriend used to give him a frozen peanut butter filled kong when he left for work (he leaves later than i do). Ernie gleefully waited for his kong. I can't kong anymore because now that both boys are uncrated, I muzzle them. This is for protection in case they decide it's PLAYTIME and Walter is the Fun Police and take his job very seriously. When I check in on the web cam, the most I've seen is Ernie on the couch.

Aside from the medication, are you doing any actual alone training with him? Also, you can try an Adaptil collar or difuser - those help some dogs. Xanax is a short acting med, so it's likely not getting him through the day, so moving to Prozac is a good choice, but you have to do training with him, too. The meds are to get him to a place where he can ratchet down his stress level and be receptive to training. My guess is that his stress level is what's contributing to the growling, too. Stress is really hard on the body and the poor guy just doesn't feel good. Jen (Neylasmom) usually recommends l-theanine, but I don't know how that works with a prescription med, so worth asking your vet.

Before November, he was fine being alone in his crate. He used to get a frozen PB kong.

I read this as if he WAS crated?

 

If so, I would urge you to stop crating him. He could just hate the crate after being in it for so long. If I am mistaken--then yes, alone training. DAP diffusers. Maybe some nice music playing?

 

I'm sorry you're going through this. I had a hell of a time myself with my first hound, so I know about the crying when you come home. It's no fun at all.

Music channel is left on (its called Soundscapes). I changed as little of their routine as possible after we moved. I didn't wash the dog blankets for weeks before & after.

7218108076_e406044464_t.jpg 7004700518_27fa752995_t.jpg Walter (Windy Walker) and Ernie (PG Ernest) @WalterWallerson and IG: WalterandErnie 7150803233_d0700ccbdc_t.jpg 7004711314_ceba54665a_t.jpg

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If your gone so much, who is walking the dogs? Are they being walked enough? Do they get let out in the middle of the day?

Are you in an apartment? If so, whats going on during the day , loud noises? Can they see outside??

I wonder if you can set up a web cam to see when the pooping happens and hopefully be able to catch it before it happens.

 

Can your boyfriend do a training class with the dogs? Build up some trust.

 

I'm in an apartment. It is double the size of the previous apartment. The amount of time I'm gone from home is nearly identical to the previous location/apartment.

They do not get let out during the middle of the day. This was not a problem prior to November. They (due to unforeseen circumstances) have been home and had to hold it longer.

 

I had the blinds open, but I thought that was making things worse (they could see the UPS guy) so I stopped opening the blinds. This seemed to be ok for a day or two. Boyfriend set up a webcam and we discussed (at length) where to place it in the apartment. The current location is not that great but it's better than the rest. I teach so I don't have access to view it 24/7 but when I have "tuned" in, they are sleeping, almost always. It's like watching paint dry. Sometimes Walter gets up, shakes, gets a drink and goes back to sleep. I did watch the UPS guy deliver a package, and they reacted to the doorbell. I also saw them react to the home management system we have, so I asked Boyfriend to turn it off completely that night.

7218108076_e406044464_t.jpg 7004700518_27fa752995_t.jpg Walter (Windy Walker) and Ernie (PG Ernest) @WalterWallerson and IG: WalterandErnie 7150803233_d0700ccbdc_t.jpg 7004711314_ceba54665a_t.jpg

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Boyfriend is a nice guy. He does come on hound walks from time to time, he joins us on our "around the neighborhood" walks from time to time as well. He nicknamed Ernie, "Ernesto Del Fuego" and "The Kracken". He sings to both boys, he makes up songs about them. I sing the songs sometimes, they are very catchy. He pets the boys, but he won't kiss them goodnight (yet). I made him read some greyhound literature before he moved in because while they are MY hounds and my responsibility etc, I refused to let him move in until he read certain chapters of the Dummies Greyhound book and the entire packet that NGAP gave me when I adopted Ernie.

 

I've told him that the boys don't see him as part of the pack, and quite frankly I think Ernie may be "jockeying" for position in our pack however, Ernie ALWAYS greets Boyfriend at the door. To be super cheesey, Ernie & Boyfriend are cut from the same cloth. They get along well so it's particularly upsetting that Ernie is growling. Ernie has growled at me once when I moved him off a bed. I know he's attempting to communicate about his needs however, Boyfriend does not want hounds on the couch (I think it's cute but I'm honoring his wishes at this point).

 

Tonight we only had a pee accident. I laughed when he told me, he said "It's only urine!" I mean, you know you have issues when you are excited that it's only pee!

7218108076_e406044464_t.jpg 7004700518_27fa752995_t.jpg Walter (Windy Walker) and Ernie (PG Ernest) @WalterWallerson and IG: WalterandErnie 7150803233_d0700ccbdc_t.jpg 7004711314_ceba54665a_t.jpg

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How often does he go outside?

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We miss Reko Batman (Trouper Zeke x Marque Louisiana), 11/15/95-6/29/06, Rocco the thistledown whippet, 04/29/93-10/14/08, Reko Zema (Mo Kick x Reko Princess), 8/16/98-4/18/10, the most beautiful girl in the whole USA, my good egg Joseph aka Won by a Nose (Oneco Cufflink x Buy Back), 09/22/2003-03/01/2013, and our gentle sweet Gidget (Digitizer, Dodgem by Design x Sobe Mulberry), 1/29/2006-11/22/2014, gone much too soon. Never forgetting CJC's Buckshot, 1/2/07-10/25/10.

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...Before November, he was fine being alone in his crate. He used to get a frozen PB kong.

 

 

Unless you and your vet can chalk all of these behavior issues up to a medical cause, you are going to *have* to do training, regardless how he did before. If he otherwise does well in the crate, for your sanity, you may want to resurrect it until you get the issues resolved. And give him a kong in it, if that's what made him happy.

 

From the sound of it, the move may have put him on edge a bit (dogs don't generalize well, so the new smells and sounds of the new apartment may have thrown him off), then the maintenance men may have sent him into a downward spiral (did they sound the alarms while testing?). Pretend he's a new dog just off the track. Buy this booklet by Dr. Patricia McConnell. It's inexpensive, provides great training tips and will help you figure out if you're dealing with SA or something else.

 

While others here have said that the dogs get enough exercise, can you be specific? I've often found that a long brisk walk in the morning is best (I'm talking 45-60 minutes) to help tire him out and make sure he's empty. From a medical standpoint, the ABX may have upset his stomach, so that's something to take into account. The first time I had to put one of my boys on antibiotics (due to a sheath infection), it took many weeks and the addition of probiotics before his gut returned to normal. Also, have you done a fecal/wormed him recently?

 

Regarding the webcam, if you're dealing with SA, usually the panic attacks are within 30 minutes of departure. Can you and your BF leave together one day (maybe over the weekend) and observe what's going on (I don't know what system you are using, but I've used both UStream and Nest/DropCam, both of which can be viewed from a mobile device/remotely in real time)? You may have neighbors with irregular work hours and the coming and going and general neighbor noises may also be upsetting.

Edited by turbotaina


Meredith with Heyokha (HUS Me Teddy) and Crow (Mike Milbury). Missing Turbo (Sendahl Boss), Pancho, JoJo, and "Fat Stacks" Juana, the psycho kitty. Canku wakan kin manipi.

"Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities." - Voltaire

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Looks like he raced in Daytona...... a lot of us with fosters/adoptees from Daytona are having a major HOOKWORM problem (needing several longer worming treatments with different wormers) with symptoms/issues like you describe...... I would suggest a fecal sample to your vet AND worming him, even if the sample tests negative, and even if the adoption group had already wormed him.

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How well do you know your neighbors with dogs--can you ask them about experiences with the maintenance crew and their dogs? Looking at the timeline, my first thought was that the new maintenance person did something that really upset him.

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