Housetraining

[simba]

So it turns out that another book from the pile is also piss-soaked, a brand new book I just paid $20 for.

 

Just... animals. Can someone come and take mine away for a few days please? One day without being pissed-on, cleaning up puddles, or being bitten would be good.

[Maralynn]

 

 

Young, old or sick dogs I have great patience with. Younger, healthy ones? Crates for the peeing dogs and a "what the heck do you think you're doing?!?!?" for the biting ones.

 

There's no way I'd deal with constant peeing or biting me issues. Something would change either training or management wise...

[Cass C]

I honestly believe it's time to rethink how you are managing the dogs. At least temporarily! The dogs should all go back to potty training 101. If you aren't actively watching them they need crated or at the very least locked in a small room with nothing to destroy/pee on. When they are out put them on a leash either close by or tied to you or just shut any doors or block any exits that will take them out of your sight. For potty breaks the dog needs to go out and pee/poop or its back in the crate/small room. Potty breaks should not be fun it should be a time to go potty and come back inside. If needed send one dog at a time out for now or take them out on a leash make sure they actually potty and don't just pretend.

 

Yelling and getting mad nothing accomplishes nothing. You need to look for the cause. Has something in your house hold changed? Are there stray dogs marking the outside of your house? Is there a strange noise nearby that the dogs could be hearing and reacting this way? Have you completely cleaned your house with enzyme pet stain cleaners they could still be smelling pee and thinking it's ok? Is there something outside making them not want to potty in the yard?

 

As for the biting address the issue differently. Every time you get bit it's time out for the dog. Put them alone in another room in a crate or with the door shut. Leave them on a leash if that would make it easier to drag them away. Leave them there and repeat as needed. This should get your point across all interaction stops when you do this behavior. Or if all else fails it may be time to get yourself a professional trainer who can see what is causing these issues.

[geonni banner]

With all due respect...

 

There is a lot of emotion, frustration/anger coming through your posts. You are certainly communicating that to the animals, but that is not going to solve the problem(s). It sounds like you have a very busy schedule. This may be a contributing factor to the problems you are having with the dogs.

 

It sounds to me like you need to either get serious professional training help or re-home the dogs. There are people out there that can manage the behaviors you describe, either as trainers or or owners. I don't normally recommend sending pet dogs away to be trained, but it might be the thing in your case. Time off for you from the dogs, and a cool head with no baggage to work on the dogs.

[simba]

The biting one is the cat- not the dogs, I should have clarified that. He becomes 'playful' and hides behind things to jump out at you. He's just hyper. The dogs don't bite.

 

One dog is fine on housetraining. She has had the occasional accident... while waddling towards the door trying to hold it in. Unless she's sick, she's fine.

 

Senior dog cannot always hold it, and also dislikes being outside and tries to just sit beside the door on potty breaks. She's pretty much described earlier in this thread.

 

Young dog is pretty good at going outside on command but I think the fact that the senior dog has been peeing inside has confused her, so now she is peeing inside too. When out on walks, where one of the two (senior and youngl dogs 'goes', the other has to go too- so that's probably a contributor.

 

All the dogs have crates, which they get put into at night, but I am going to start having to use them more. Because they're very much 'velcro' dogs, follow you around from room to room, scratch and cry if they know you are in the house but have locked them away, I have been more averse to keeping them inside in the daytime but will do that now. The younger dog also growls constantly when she's in her crate if anything moves by, which is unnerving.

 

The young dog is being minded for someone else so will cease to be my problem in about a year, but cannot be re-homed in that time. I have been using mostly non-bleach disinfectants but will try an enzymatic cleaner.

 

You're absolutely right, Geonni Banner, and I know that that anger is unhelpful and counterproductive. It's like, I can cope a little better when it's the little senior dog who I am very attached to- but when it's this other dog who I didn't choose, who I don't have that bond with, and who already is pretty high-maintenance in other ways it's hard to not get frustrated. But, well, suck it up cupcake- and this is to myself not to you or anyone else! - we all have to do things we find difficult.

 

Edit: on looking at the places nearby where you send dogs away for training, they use kennels to do it. Would that be suitable? Would it transfer to the house or no?

[simba]

So now the two dogs who are the problem have been put in crates, the other dog is tied to me and following me affectionately around the house- and she squats and pees. Is this a reaction to being tied to me combined with how I was so annoyed today, even though I wasn't annoyed at her?

 

Rehoming- I know rescues wouldn't take them, I don't have the authority to re-home the younger dog, and I don't know anyone who I would trust who would take two senior dogs with various special needs.

[Tommy Coyote]

Have you had the one who was attached to you checked for UTI? They will pee like that if they have an infection. Because they just don't have any control. Tommy did that when she was on pred and then got a UTI. She would just pee right at my feet. They just can't help it.

[simba]

Will do. I once again scolded her harshly and then regretted it.

 

I do not know what is wrong with me. Never mind the dogs, the one who should have been chased with socks is me. I've never had a problem with anger before- I've never got angry really before, even over relatively big stuff, yet here I am getting annoyed over small potatoes and it's frightening and upsetting.

 

They get out for a break at around 8am, around 12, very short walk at 3, long walk at 6-8 (so two hoursish). From midnight to 8am they are crated, with another pee break just before they're put in for the night.

[Tommy Coyote]

Yes. Scolding her if she can't help it won't help. Just clean it up until you can get her checked out. If she has a UTI the antibiotics will kick in really fast. She will be better in 12 hours or so. Those infections come on fast but they also back off fast.

[simba]

Actually, on re-reading this thread it is actually much better than it used to be. It's just that the young dog is now having issues, and she's a bit more spectacular about how she has them, because she likes to climb up high and pee on things. And she's destroyed three important things in two days, which is a bit of a record even including everyone's puppy days.

 

 

Like, the senior dog who this thread was started about now is about ten times better than she was, will 'go' outside at night most nights, is peeing well on walks etc.

 

I threw together a door for the broken crate and a makeshift block for the places she used to 'go' in, I put peeing more on command, I started walking her later in the day so that the peeing at night was 'on a walk' rather than just her standing outside in the dark wondering what to do. Potty breaks at night are still iffy, but if she's walked later then she has a better chance of being able to hold it overnight. And I've started, against most of the advice you read, bringing her back inside the house as soon as she's done a shit, because she doesn't want to be sniffing around the garden anyway, so she gets rewarded for it.

[geonni banner]

Yes, training facilities usually kennel. I don't see why that would be a problem. You would probably want to do a carpet shampoo and enzyme treatment while they were gone, but a rigorous crating schedule would probably help to carry training into the new environment. I'm thinking that the break from dealing with them could help restore your equanimity. As long as you carry this emotional charge, you will have problems expressing yourself clearly to the animals. Sounds to me like you need a break. Another option would be to board the young dog. If you are harboring resentment for that dog, the misbehavior of the others will be more irksome. More stress and communication breakdown for everyone.

 

I would take a long look at how your relationship with the animals in the house has changed over the last 6 to 10 mos. Are you away more? Other things that might have slop-over are relationship, work-related or money problems. These things bleed into our interactions with our animals. Tempers get shorter, problems seem magnified. The more stressed we get the more the stress can be reflected by the animals.

 

I agree that you should rule out a veterinary cause. I used to have a cat that would announce a urinary infection to me by marching into the room and peeing right in front of me. Only time he ever did it.

 

Is your cat de-clawed? I have known many cats that became biters after being de-clawed. As for the ambush tactics; nip that hard. It's a bad habit that invariably gets worse. Stamp your feet and hiss before he/she connects.

 

Another thing to consider trying is more crates in areas where dogs can see you. You can pick them up cheap on Craig's List. Give that younger dog something appealing to chew to distract it when it's crated - might cut down of the growling.

 

In the meantime, clear the low tables, and any surface that is softer than the hard floor. You could put pee-pads around too. Most dogs prefer to pee on a porous surface - a book is more porous than a hardwood floor. The difference might not seem like much to you, but then you aren't a dog. If you do put down pee-pads, praise them for using them.

[Cass C]

Ohh a cat biting is a much different situation. Is it a young cat or an old cat? Had the cat always done this? Is the cat de-clawed? Do you ever play with the cat to burn energy? If the cat is just hyper and you are really short on time look into an automatic laser pointer or electronic toy (I have a 'mouse' under a cloth toy that moves and my cats love it.) Obviously keep it away from the dogs, so maybe put the cat in a bathroom to play or play with the cat while the dogs are crated.

 

If you haven't already watch my Cat from Hell. It's on animal planet or can be streamed on Hulu. It does a great job explaining why some cats seem 'evil'.

[simba]

The cat is old, mid-teens, has his claws. He has always been pretty careless with his claws, he will use his claws to move your hand if you scratch his chin in the wrong place, he kneads with claws when sitting on you etc. He is generally affectionate but sharp.

 

The biting is new since someone got him the wrong type of cat food and he bit ankles for it. He's started incorporating it into his play since then for some reason. He's a good cat, he doesn't do it every day or all the time, I'm sure it's just a phase, but it's a phase that is very irritating. He does it when he is playful, or to move you in a particular direction.

 

In the last 6 months the young dog's owner has temporarily gone out of the country, so that could be contributing. But the older dog's been having trouble with housetraining for longer than that, she's always been one you had to watch to make sure she 'went' outside and it's got worse now that she pisses in her sleep. And the other dog, the one who pissed when tied to me, has had a load of health issues recently. Could be any of those.

[Cass C]

Have you ever tried clipping your cats nails or tried putting nail caps (aka soft paws) on your cat? A vet can do it if you can't. I would try playing with your cat, so it redirects it's play appropriately.

[simba]

Thirty five minutes standing outside in the pouring rain- no, walking in little circles with the dog in the pouring rain, in pyjamas.

 

She is so focused too, staring up at me trying to understand what I want, trying so hard to be a good dog. And she hears me getting more and more frustrated before I finally tell her to get her inside. And then she goes into the crate, and while that's a happy time with treats and biscuits and such she hates it and wants to sleep on my bed where she's slept for a decade.

 

Is this the fruit of six months of dedicated training? Because let me tell you, while it's a big improvement, I don't think I would have bothered had I known this to be the final result.

[Tommy Coyote]

Why are you standing in the pouring rain in your jammies?

 

Don't lose heart. Lots of dogs won't go in the rain. I am lucky that my guys don't care about rain but lots of dogs won't even go out the door.

 

Mine won't go out if it's thindering. Nope. No way.

[simba]

Because I don't want her to have to sleep in a wet bed if she wets it.

[Tommy Coyote]

I don't blame you there. You can't put her in a crate or a puppy pen - at least for times like this?

[simba]

She is in a crate. I just don't want her to have to sleep on a wet bed in that crate.

 

She's a bit prone to getting cold this weather anyway. Plus it means I have to shower her much more often and she hates that.

 

It seems to be a night-time thing. At night she is very much on the alert, won't stop to sniff etc. No time to pee, have to guard the house against the many dangers of outside.

[simba]

Well, despite the additional difficulties caused by deafness, I now have a situation where everyone instantly runs outside and pisses and defecates. Except for the elderly terrier, but that's because as soon as I had her defecating on command she lost her hearing. But she pisses, so she just needs a good long walk before bedtime. I still need to keep 'on top' of them, she still can't tell when she needs to go and has to be taken out regularly.