Rescue Dog & Housebreaking

We lost Rudy our Rott/Lab rescue of many years to cancer a few weeks ago, which left a large void in our home.

So it was off to the local animal shelter to find a new family member... we came back with two. ;-)

Boeing is a two year male old flat coat retriever, that has settled in with no problems at all. Rally is a three year old female Lab... and she is proving to be a bit of a handful.

Rally is loving, smart, and everything you could want...expect for a little housebreaking problem. Her nick name is puddles! The first night she left a little puddle in the hall, no shocker there. New environment, was just spayed... the excuses are endless.

So we started taking her out every 3 hours, and still averaged a puddle a day. We went to every 90 minutes that worked, but of course you can't hold that pattern forever.

After two weeks, of trying to expand the time between outdoor breaks we still have a puddle problem. Several days ago we starting pulling the water bowl at night to see if that would help. It did, no puddles in the night hours, but she still gives us a puddle or two during the day.

We have only caught her in action once, so she has only been disciplined once. While my husband and I both work out of the home, it's hard to keep an eye on her every minute. It almost feels like the minute we turn our back, she pees.

As to location she only pees in areas that she doesn't appear to feel are part of her home, the hallway and the dinning (a room we don't use much). She never goes in the living room, office, bedroom, bathroom or kitchen.

She also appears to have a little separation problem, but I've been down that path before with one of our other dogs. We are working on that. However I'm not sure if the puddle problem is related, since my other problem child never displayed this behavior.

As to her background, unknown. She was picked up as a stray. Can tell she has had puppies, and from the way she reacted to normal things in a house, it would appear she was never a house dog. She also appeared never to have been trained to walk on a leash.

Keeping her outside simply isn't an option for us. We have a fenced yard, but all of our four leg family members are treated as just that... family members. (BTW I'm alpha) We love our kids greatly, but do know there is a difference in humans and dogs. They live the easy life, but the structure of the pack is kept in place.

Other relevant info: We also have a Ridgeback/Lab rescue who has lived with us for the past 10 years. Old and grumpy, but still my baby. He prefers to just ignore the new family members. Of the dog side of the family goes he's alpha... eats first, goes out the door first, get first choice of seating.

Boeing is a want to be when it comes to pack order. However quickly learned the pack order... mom, Rusty than him. Rally naturaly became just a member of the pack, showing no signs of any alpha behavior.

Then of course there are the two cats. One has been with us for 14 years and is best friends with Rusty and our other who was best friends with Rudy, has adopted Boeing. Rally is the only dog, who doesn't have a cat buddy.

Rally is definitely a keeper, but could sure use some suggestions with this housebreaking problem. I really don't want to have to clean my carpet every day for the next 10 years or so. ;-)

Have you had him checked for a UTI?

Are you crate training? Or does he have free roam of the house at all times?

If you are not using a crate and he has free roam, this is hwere you are going wrong. When you cannot keep a very close watch on him, he must be crated. Only when you can watch him closely for signs of sniffing, etc is he allowed free in the house until his potty problem goes away. He needs to go out very frequently, and when he is allowed out always praised immensely for doing it outside. Often times people also simply don't give them enough time. Some dogs I like to call " 2 or 3 peeers!", meaning they literally want to go potty 2 to 3 different times before they are satisfied and bladder is completely empty. Not just letting him outside, but you may also take him on long walks to make sure everything inside of him is getting moving and he has plenty of oppurtunity to do it outdoors.

Have you ever watched Its Me or the Dog on Animal Planet? Great show, and every episode I have seen so far has had a dog with potty problems - Victoria, the trainer, always has a solution, and a good one at that. You may learn from watching the show.

If you can rule out a UTI then I strongly suggest crate training to help. It's only been a few weeks, some dogs can take months to adjust to a new schedule and environment. Her entire WORLD has changed (for the better!) and she just may be a little slower adjusting to it than other dogs will :)

TESSA - The local shelter alters adopts, and give them a general check up and shots when adopted. Don't think checking for UTI would have been included... however she did test heart worm positive.

The day we adopted our personal vet gave her a basic check up, and results came back the same. Think I'll call our vet and rule out UTI.

She is defiantly a '3 peeer'! First is the main, but it does take her two more squats to fully empty.
I try to do daily walks, but if we can't we do what I call hard play in the backyard, a little running, ball chasing....

No crates around here, so far have never needed one. Everyone has full run of the house. About the closest thing to a crate is our bedroom. Since we are 'big dog' folks and sometimes you do need to restrict movement, we've have always just used the bedroom for this.

Haven't watched "It's me or the Dog", but will set the DVR to capture it. In the early days when Rusty was a puppy I learned a lot from "Doggie U" and today occasionally catch "The Dog Whisper".

JESSIKA - Oh yes her world has changed for the good and I'm sure it was a major change for her.

There is some good news... I had new carpet put through out the house several years ago, I explained to the salesman... "I need something that looks great and is tough. It has to deal with 3 cats, 2 dogs and 1 husband".
My carpet is stain resident and the pad has a moisture barrier built in.

I'm not giving up, she has a home for life. After all I didn't try to trade in my human kids when they were young or even teens for that matter. ;-)

I know you said "no crates around here" but maybe it's time to start.

IMO, using a crate is a great thing! It gives the dog a place that is all their own, a place they can go to for comfort and quiet if they want. That being said, they won't mess in their crate because it IS their own place, so this would help her learn to hold it longer.

When I adopted my Buddy he was a year old and was 76 pounds, and housebreaking was NOT fun! He didn't make little puddles or little piles of puppy poo. Ugh... it was a nightmare, until I started crating him at night or whenever I couldn't keep my eye on him. It wasn't long at all before he was house trained AND loving his crate! He also has a HUGE fear of thunder and loud noises, so he goes to his crate to feel safe.

She might have never been trained to potty properly. The thing that indicates a learned behavior is the fact that she potties where she knows the family won't catch her (hall, dining room, etc.) She may have been "taught" that peeing in the house is bad and therefore she hides it. By being "taught" most people inadvertantly think yelling at their dog or rubbing their nose in the pee will train them.... all it does is shame them and teach them to hide their potty in the wrong places.

What I tell my students is to get her on a schedule and be consistent about it. I adopted my Callie a month ago and immediately got her on a schedule. One night about a week into her new schedule, I was involved in a movie and didn't take her for her 9:00 walk. By the time the movie was over at 10:00, I found a puddle in the livingroom. Oops on me! Oops for two reasons: 1) because I ignored her schedule to watch a movie. 2) because I left her out of my sight!

When you have a dog that tends to seek out inappropriate places to pee, you need to keep her with you at all times until the peeing problem is gone. YES, its going to be a hassle and pain in the neck for a couple weeks, BUT the end result is years and years of a well trained dog.'

Good luck with your new girl. And thank you for rescuing TWO dogs! :)

Awesome that you're calling your vet to rule out a UTI :)

But even so, I do strongly recommend crating her, as I said (and you agreed) this is a major change for her, and sometimes crating can really help ease them into the transition. I promise it works, you just have to do it correctly and give it enough time :)

We never crate our dogs while we are away anymore, but it's still there and open for them to go into whenever they want. My boy will ALWAYS be hanging out in it; he sleeps in it, chills in it, and goes to it when he gets stressed out -- it's his "safe haven".