Can't Housebreak Laila!

[queenwinniesmom]

I feel like we're doing pretty much all we can, but I wanted to put this out there in case someone has any other suggestions, info, etc. Because I am so frustrated!

 

I've never had a hard time housebreaking any of my Greyhounds, and I'm sure their schedule/crate situation helps. But I guess Galgos are different. All of my girls were in Scooby for at least 4 months, and during that time, of course, they can pee and poop wherever-whenever they want. Right before they leave, they are in quarantine, where there is only a concrete option. So I knew we might have more problems, and it could take a longer time.

 

Angie was great! She just had a few accidents, and was housebroken within a month. Kiva came home June 20th, and was/is a bit more difficult. Since she's afraid of Doug, it's been harder to get her to go out, and once out, harder to make sure that she's actually gone. But she's getting a lot better. She's less scared of Doug, and though she will have the occasional accident, I think she's got the program. And she actually goes when she's out now, so we can tell that it's Laila and not her going in the house. Kiva and Laila are both 3.

 

But Laila.....she will pee and poop in the house all the time! She came the end of August. We started by letting her out really often, like about every 2 hours. She still had accidents. So she went to the vet, got a check-up, and had her urine checked. She did have some bacteria, so she was on meds for a while. A re-check of the urine showed no infection. She adores people, so we praise her highly every time she goes outside. Then I decided that since she is so food oriented, that I'd reward her outside, right after she goes. And she LOVES that! Sometimes, she will squat and pee right in front of me, and look at me for a treat, which of course, she gets immediately. Every time. We're letting her out sometimes about every hour and a half! And after she eats, and if she's playing a lot, and of course, several times in the morning. There just doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason. Sometimes she can hold it---like over-night----and sometimes she can't hold it for an hour and a half! She's been scolded when we catch her in the act, as we have done several times. She likes to go on the rug in the family room, or worse, in the upstairs hall, where there is carpet. And sometimes it doesn't show up there, so we're always checking for a wet spot. And often, we find them. So I think we'll have to start baby gating the upstairs off. I was hoping not to have to do this, because all the dogs love to go upstairs and get on the beds.

 

I'm wondering if our outside steps might have anything to do with this. As a lot of you know, there are a LOT of them. But she will dash up and down them all the time, sometimes 2 or 3 times when she goes out. Also, they aren't walked as much when it's cold. She has no problem peeing on a leash, but usually only goes once on a walk.

 

Any suggestions? Something I'm missing? She is such a sweet, lovely dog, but this is hard to deal with.

[GreytHoundPoet]

It took us almost 10 months to housebreak a legit rescue dog once, and we have a dog door so she had access all the time to a turnout area (with an 8' fence). It turns out that she had far too much freedom. She had serious crate anxiety so crate training wasn't an option at first without medical bills due to injury. In the end we had to get her ok with crates and treat her like a puppy - no freedom unless we have our eyes on her and many scheduled outs/praise/reward. It eventually paid off and we got her house trained (unless it is storming, but that's a story for another day). My advice would to be limit where she can go, make sure she's only free in areas you can see her, and treat her like a puppy. Keep her pretty much attached to you or put up. If she goes out and doesn't potty, put her up and give her a chance to go back out in a little bit. Repeat until she goes. I realize jobs will make that more difficult (ours did!) but it should work.

Edited December 24, 2016 by GreytHoundPoet

[winnie]

I have no advice beyond what you already tried. I do agree that we're spoiled with the retired racers. We definitely had more challenges with housebreaking galgos Beatrix and Encarna. We got Beatrix right from the airport. It took months to fully house train Beatrix. Encarna was fostered first, but will still have accidents on occasion - although I was thrilled this week when she peed on a pee pad in front of me. Of course, it would have been better if she indicated that she needed to potty so I could take her out - but a pee pad beats peeing on the carpet.

 

Wishing you luck!

[Batmom]

Your best revenge is to keep her in the room with you, where you can keep an eye on her, and take her out a lot -- pretty much any time she's up on her feet and not actively playing or eating her dinner. Think of her as a puppy, and keep working away at it. Every hour and a half is pretty much what we do with a newbie. Overnight, their bodies use the same hormone we do, so if they're relaxed and sleeping, they won't have to go unless ill or they drank way too much water before bed.

 

FWIW, we don't scold for potty accidents. We do try to interrupt with an UH UH or AAAAAAAAH! if they start to go indoors, followed immediately by a cheerful "Let's go out!" and take dog outside.

[robinw]

Took a while to housebreak Loca. I ended up tying her leash (she was attached to the other end) so that I could have easily monitor and watch for her for very subtle signs that she had to go out. Eventually I realized that if she made eye contact with me for longer than a few seconds, she was telling me that she had to go out. I just had to learn her language.

Edited December 25, 2016 by robinw

[GreyPoopon]

I second the "constant supervision" opinion. You need to be able to see her at all times so that you can interrupt her--or better still, anticipate--and get her out.

 

I prefer to use a crate when I can't be home or watching, but I realize that crate-training may be a whole 'nother project.

[jetcitywoman]

What everybody else said, but I think the missing piece of the puzzle is trust. She doesn't know that she can trust you to let her out when she needs to go. Trust takes a long time to build, especially in dogs that have been rescued from terrible conditions, like most galgos. (And I'm referring to their lives with the galguerros, not the shelters like Scooby or GDS or wherever.) It will take time to teach her about this new type of human that actually loves, protects and takes good care of her. So in addition to what everybody else said, I would say to back up to the 2-hour potty break schedule, try your best to get into a regular routine so that she gets a sense of stability and always knows what happens next in her day, and stay patient. It sounds like you're doing everything right, you just need to let her guide the pace at which your mutual trust is built.

[sobesmom]

Have you tried tethering? Hooking her leash to you all the time. Don't let her make a mistake and of course (like you're already doing) praise for a good outside potty.

[mom2four]

I agree with ex-racers being easier to train to not go in the house.

 

We've been fairly lucky. Male Galgos Marco, Lucas, Baltasar (was in a foster home), Hero and Picasso all "got it" within a week or two of us being very diligent and letting them out on a schedule, gradually lengthening the time between pees. Hero still does not give a clear sign, he will wander the kitchen but not go to the door. I let him out when he goes to the kitchen especially after his supper when he tends to drink more. Having said that, newcomers Hero and Picasso do not like to go out when it's cold and they are literally pushed out the door when it's the scheduled time to potty. They learned quite quickly that they were expected to pee when they were outside. ETA- The trust that jetcitywoman is not there yet for the two new Galgos, I am very vigilant and diligent in letting them out. Picasso is trusting us faster than Hero is.

Jules, our galgo who passed away in July from kidney failure, was never really totally house trained. Mostly he was, but there were occasional accidents in the whole 10 months he was with us. In hindsight it could have been his kidney disease? We'll never know.

 

Have you rechecked for a UTI? They can recur. Or checked for crystals in her urine?

 

Good luck it's frustrating when something doesn't go as hoped for.

Edited December 29, 2016 by mom2four

[queenwinniesmom]

Thanks for the advice! I've been keeping her with me more, and not letting her have access to her favorite places. That has helped somewhat. And she's still going out about every hour and a half to 2 hours. But we're still having accidents. She'll go for a day or 2, then it will happen again. And if we're gone for more than 2 hours.....

 

I'm thinking I should try to crate her when we're gone. I haven't crated any of my Galgos, but Laila was crated sometimes in the foster home---I've talked to her foster Mom---and did okay. I'll start out with short times, and work up. She is hardly ever alone more than 2-3 hours, so we should be able to get this under control.

 

We re-checked her urine quite a while after the first time, and it was fine.

[Banjoman]

My rescue whippet lurcher, Nutmeg, (found wandering, possibly 4 years old now, adopted in March) can go several days without doing anything indoors but then will go several days running and sometimes more than once in a day. She can indicate that she wants to go out but then spends her time running around the smallish garden barking at or looking for imaginary cats. Then she can come indoors and within a few minutes I go out into the kitchen and find a puddle on the floor.

Equally she can go outside and I watch her do a wee out there then half an hour later she is possibly telling me she wants to go out (or that she wants me to move so that she can push into my place on the settee), I let her out again but she does nothing then a little while later I find a puddle on the kitchen floor again. It can be really frustrating!

Equally when we are out walking in the forest, despite stopping to sniff all sorts of plants she will suddenly stop in the middle of the path and squat to do a wee! It is almost as if she doesn't get any warning that she needs to go.

Life was a little easier in the summer with the back door open most of the time but even then she had accidents.