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GODDAMMIT DOG!
Dr. Frenchenstein
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So i moved recently, (possibly part of the problem) from a hardwood floor house to one with wall to wall carpeting. In the past month my dog has peed on the floor 5 times, and crapped in the house 3 times. Previous in the 3 months in the old house, she had pooped once and peed once, because i couldn't get her downstairs and outside in time.
I got her as a young dog, but not a puppy. (6-8 mos) my first dog i had from puppyhood, and he seems to want to rather die than poop/pee in the house. I take her out pretty often, we go for 2-3 walks per day, aside from just taking her right outside to go. she never does it right in front of me, so i can't "catch her in the act" and i always praise her when she goes outside. most recently she pooped while i was in the shower (i took her out right before), and while i was sleeping. The sleeping one may have been my fault partially, normally she'll get antsy and jump on and off the bed when she has to go, it was 5am and i may have been comatose.
I've been considering buying a bell or something, placing it at nose height for her, and ringing it when we go out for bathroom trips. that way i can put one on my bedroom door as well so she can wake me up. Has anyone tried something similar? i'm really worried that i'm going to have a dog that i can't trust not to shit in the house for the rest of her life.
I got her as a young dog, but not a puppy. (6-8 mos) my first dog i had from puppyhood, and he seems to want to rather die than poop/pee in the house. I take her out pretty often, we go for 2-3 walks per day, aside from just taking her right outside to go. she never does it right in front of me, so i can't "catch her in the act" and i always praise her when she goes outside. most recently she pooped while i was in the shower (i took her out right before), and while i was sleeping. The sleeping one may have been my fault partially, normally she'll get antsy and jump on and off the bed when she has to go, it was 5am and i may have been comatose.
I've been considering buying a bell or something, placing it at nose height for her, and ringing it when we go out for bathroom trips. that way i can put one on my bedroom door as well so she can wake me up. Has anyone tried something similar? i'm really worried that i'm going to have a dog that i can't trust not to shit in the house for the rest of her life.
Dr. Frenchenstein on
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Since it's a changed behavior it's probably more to do with the stress of being in a new place.
I have seen other dogs that have the bell for going outside. Does she currently give you some sort of signal to let you know it's time? If not she might not learn to hit the bell in time either.
She's not really on a schedule either, i think the latest episodes are due to a food change (she was eating the kennel's food this weekend) because she is taking some MAJOR dumps, and often. the other night she woke me up at 3am to go, and then she crapped in my bathroom about 2 hours later, about the same volume. but the peeing has been fairly persistent.
If she were taking healthy, solid dumps. as opposed to the mushy diarrhea-esque poops she takes now, a schedule might be feasible. but of late some days she poops once a day, other days it could be as many as 4.
If the vet says she's fine, then it's probably just the stress of moving and having an inconsistent schedule. Try to be more attentive and keep her on as strict a schedule of walks and feeding as you can manage. That will ease the transition and make her more confident in her life.
Also when you clean up the mess she's made, make sure to do it with a cleaner that is specifically for cleaning up pet odours from urination. Animals will often go back to where they've gone before, so if you just use a regular or cheap household cleaner, it won't fully get rid of the smell and she'll just go back.
if she's waking you up in the middle of the night, i'd suggest changing the feeding/watering schedule... basically, no food after lunchtime (or whenever), and no water after the last walk of the night... this should make sure that her system is empty during the night, and she can feed again 1st thing in the morning when you're awake to respond to any bathroom needs
The best way to train the dog like this is crate training. Some people wince when they hear the word "crate". I'm not advocating locking the dog in a small box all day. here is what I've done for the 5 labs I have raised:
1. Created the "crate". This needs to be an area, smallish, but not so small the dog cannot move around in. It needs to be an area that the dog enjoys being in. This means a comfortable place to lay down, toys, etc. One of my dogs required music to calm her down and make her feel good about her "box". In my case my laundry room is the "box". It's small enough for the dog to stretch out in, has linoleum flooring (easy to clean), and is cozy. Everytime my dog goes into the "box" (the word/command I associate with this area) she gets a treat.
2. Create a schedule. This means feed on a schedule and business outside on a schedule. I feed/water my dog once in the morning and once in the evening. The dog goes outside immediately after eating/drinking. Any food not eaten when the dog is done eating is taken up and supplied at the next meal. This prevents the dog from eating out of schedule. Once the dog eats it will have to go. You will have to be patient, take the dog outside and play/supervise its actions outside until it does its business. Copious praise, adoration, and treats when the business is done. You can even get them to pee/poop on command. I can tell my dog to "pop a squat" and she'll go do her thing.
3. If the dog fails to do its business outside, it has to be locked in its "crate". Every couple of hours take the dog back outside. as soon as it does its business, praise and treats, and then play with the dog. Once the dog has done its business it can be trusted to stay outside of its crate until the next feeding/watering session.
This training method takes various amounts of time. Some of my labs got it in just a couple of weeks and some of them it took a few months. once trained, there are no accidents unless the dog gets sick or i miss a queue that the dog wants out.
Really dogs are schedule-lovers. They are not very responsive to odd hours, especially the first couple years. They do best when their walks are about the same time every day, give or take an hour, and events are in the same order. Like first you come home, then you eat, then she eats, then you go for a walk, then it's TV time, then you play rope. If you start walking before you eat she's going to get thrown off for a bit. If the rope comes right after you get home she's worried.
It's not ironclad, sometimes things get changed up because you have tickets to She&Him, but they like that routine a lot. And honestly if my dog doesn't crap on the regular timetable I'm concerned until he does it. Unless there's some reason like I know he didn't eat his breakfast.
Changing food suddenly is bad too. If you have to change the food (even a different flavor within the same brand) you are supposed to mix it in gradually. Mix in 1/4 of the new stuff for a few days, then half-and half a few days, then 3/4 new stuff for a few days. I'm surprised your kennel didn't say anything about it and just fed their own stuff.
Wake up, immediately take her outside to do business. She 99.9% of the time pees at this point, only sometimes poops. if i wake up early enough she gets a 20 minute walk.
I shower, do whatever, feed her, she eats some of the food, and drinks water, then out again briefly just in case. then in her crate while i'm at work.
Dog walker comes at noon for 30 minute walk. back in her crate.
I get home in the evening and she goes immediately out. again 99.9% of the time pees. usually i will give her another 30 minute walk in the early evening, especially if she didn't get one in the morning. if she still has food in the bowl, she eats it. plus her second serving (which she often doesn't finish) then play/tv time. then out one last time before bed.
if she stands by the door, or starts sniffing the carpet, i will take her out. this is where the sched. falls apart a bit i guess.
i don't ever limit her access to food/water, should i? she rarely eats an entire serving of food recommended for her size, so there is often food sitting in her bowl. I can understand the poop escapades the last couple days perhaps being diet related. (I do use pet cleaner to clean her messes, she rarely if ever poops/pees in the same spot)
If your dog is eating somewhat inconsistent amounts at irregular times it's harder to get her on a schedule. We were doing something similar to that when we first brought our new dog home because he wouldn't eat all of his food either and we didn't want to underfeed him but it made predicting the poop schedule a nightmare.
We ended up giving him the same amount once a day and giving him a set amount of time to eat it. Anything he didn't finish got taken away. Eventually he figured out it wasn't going to be there all the time and started eating all (or most) of the food straight away and it made his schedule much, much easier for all of us. He's getting the same amount of food at the same time which means his body tends to process it the same time for the same amount of waste (roughly).
For her size its 3-31/2 cups per day. I'd feed her 1 1/2 in the morning, and 2 at night. Maybe i'll switch it to 3 1/2 at night only.
1) if your dog is having diarrhea she might not have as much time to get you and let you know she needs to go outside. Plus diarrhea dehydrates dogs so they drink more and have to pee more often as well. A sick dog is not the same thing as a non-house trained dog.
2) schedules are very good. I think if I am doing the math correctly, she is still under 2? I would definitely feed twice a day. Also, I wouldn't worry if she doesn't eat it all, a lot of dogs don't need as food is listed on the label.
3) Next time send food from home along with her to the kennel. Clearly change in location+you not around+different food= GI problems for your dog
I think it is possible that there are multiple things going on. How many of the accidents were since she came home from the kennel? How many were in the first week in the new house? If most/all of the accidents fall into those two time periods I think temporary management is needed and she will go back to being house trained. If a decent number of accidents fall outside of those two time periods she may need a refresher on house training. fatmouse gave a very description of what I would do as a house training refresher.
im going to tell you from experience as i am a breeder. I may be right or wrong but i think the carpet is the issue. for some reason dogs like toileting on the carpet, i dont know why. mabey its like grass, i dont know but its near impossible to get them to stop. i had the same problem and ripped up the carpet and never had it again.
Tbh i think the issues did start happening right when we moved, and most recently after her stint in the kennel. She goes to day care once a week there, so i don't think it's a separation anxiety thing. She may have that at home though, she destroyed her crate pan, and while i'm waiting for a replacement, she tore up the carpet underneath. She is now in the kitchen in her crate. the little jerk.
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