Post-Kennel Ptsd?

[Guest cranu]

We adopted our older (6 years) greyhound in August. It took about three weeks, but eventually he became house trained. No crate, no accidents at night. We had a set routine of walking every morning around 6:30. Then Thanksgiving, and we boarded him for four nights while we were out of town. The vet said he was fine--no incidents or apparent anxiety--but EVERY morning since he has been home from the kennel, I come down the stairs to find multiple piles of poop (not diarrhea) on the floor. He pees in the house now too. All of this happens at night, not during the day. We have been feeding him dinner earlier and walking him later at night (like midnight). Then I wake at 6:30 to walk him. It doesn't help. This seems to be a behavior (stress?) issue, not a medical/intestinal issue.

 

Any ideas? I gave away his crate and am reluctant to get a new one. Thinking maybe tonight I will have him sleep in the laundry room. Is this a good way to retrain him?

 

Thanks.

[NeylasMom]

Can you set up a video camera to see what he's doing at night? It's quite possible he has become distressed at being separated from you after his kennel stay. The best way to know would be to be able to observe him. Dogs are social creatures so asking them to sleep isolated without the kennel as a stressor is already asking a lot imo. The best solution may just be to bring him into your room at night.

 

But if he's not acting distressed and just gets up at some point to go to the bathroom, then a medical issue is more likely. Many dogs will hold it longer while kenneled, which can lead to UTIs, or he could have picked up a parasite that is causing intestinal issues. I would run a urinalysis and a fecal to be safe. If he does have a medical issue, then treating it should resolve the problem. If not, please consider not keeping him isolated overnight any longer. Certainly don't move him to the laundry room, which is likely to increase his stress even further.

[Time4ANap]

These hounds don't do well alone behind closed doors, so do not put him in the laundry room.

 

Best bet is to bring him in the bedroom with you on his dog bed so he can let you know when he needs out. It is most likely some anxiety from being boarded. Most vets don't have anyone on site at night, so he may have had some anxiety about that if that was the case.

Edited November 29, 2017 by Time4ANap

[MaryJane]

They may not have let him out at regular times at the kennel and he got used to just going in the kennel and brought this behavior home. Or, he may have just stressed out in the kennel. If you don't want to have him sleep in your room, then sleep downstairs for a few nights so you can get up when he gets up and take him out - it shouldn't take more than a few days of this to get him back to the old routine. As already noted, do not shut him in the laundry room as that can make him more stressed.

[Houndmommy03]

I agree about not keeping him the laundry room. Can he sleep in your bedroom with the door closed so you would hear him when he got up? When we moved to our new house, we found our hound, who sleeps in her own bed in our room, had left the room and peed in another room. She never did this in our previous house. If she had to go to the bathroom in the night, she would wake us up. So, now we keep our bedroom door closed, with her in our room. This has forced her to bark if she need to go to the bathroom at night. Good luck!

[Guest nicky604]

Yep, dog bed in your bedroom with the door closed.

[sobesmom]

These hounds don't do well alone behind closed doors, so do not put him in the laundry room.

 

Best bet is to bring him in the bedroom with you on his dog bed so he can let you know when he needs out. It is most likely some anxiety from being boarded. Most vets don't have anyone on site at night, so he may have had some anxiety about that if that was the case.

I agree with this. Shutting him in a room is a terrible idea. No offense.