Dollys just not getting it!!!
As some of you may remember, we adopted Dolly back in January, a deaf OES who we doted from a rescue. She is just over 3 and a half months. At night time she holds her toilet until 6am, which is really good for a little one. My problem is that Dolly pees every half hour or so, I put her out in the garden with my two sheps and she will toilet out there, but if I am busy in the house she will go where ever she is  I have managed to catch her in mid stream several times but obviously she cannot here me say no, but pick her up and put her in the garden straight away.
Am I being too hard on her? I feel frustrated that she is just not picking it up, she will pee infront of me even if she is near the patio door!! She does bark to come in, but will not bark to let me know she needs to to go out. Any advise please. Debsx |
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| oh Debx, you have my sympathy! My boy is 9 months old today and believe me he hasn't *got it* either! he was totally housebroke at 10 weeks of age and now???? AGHHHH!($(#$(#$*#$&!*(#$&!(&
Patience and if you find a way please let me know!!! |
| As a past owner of a deaf dog I share your frustration. You asked, "Am I being too hard on her?" Probably not, but your expectations might be too high for her young age, compounded by her deafness.
Does she speak on command, or just when she wants back in? If it's only to get back in, then she needs to learn a command for going out before you can expect her to do it. My dogs (deaf or not) would sometimes come to me and just stare at me as if I was suppose to read their minds on what they wanted. It would finally dawn on me, that this was the "I want something look" duh.... "You wanna go out?" Bark Bark Finally, what took you so long mom! Because she is deaf you will have to teach her (and also learn her own) sign language. I found this helpful with all my dogs, but especially the one that was deaf. I watched her, and she taught me how to communicate with her, and as I learned her ways I was able to use that information to teach her the rules of the house. I would suggest that you watch her constantly like you would a baby thats crawling around on the floor. She may have already learned a signal to let you know she wants out, but if you're not looking??............. Eventually it'll work out. I would also walk her out, not carry her. Pick a signal you'll both easily understand and work from there. Since she will bark to come in, maybe if you go outside and put her in she'll bark to come out to you. If so, praise her and get her to go potty. If she poops inside the house, let her smell it and take it, and her out to the garden. This will help teach her 'her' spot. Good luck. Be patient, its well worth the extra effort!!! |
Oscar is deaf, and we brought him home when he was 10 weeks old, so I know your pain.  Here's what we did.
First, I always took him out to potty on a leash. While he was peeing outside, I did a hand signal for potty over and over and over in front of him, and gave him a tasty treat the minute he was done peeing. I did the same thing with a different sign when he pooped. Then I taught him the "speak" hand signal. (For us, we touch the thumb to all four fingers, like the sign you make when someone's yakking your ear off on the phone.  ) We would do this when he was all excited and barking, and then give him a treat. He soon understood what the "speak" sign meant.
Then I just put it all together. I would show him the "potty" sign and then the "speak" sign. If he had to pee, he would bark, and out we would go. Then he would get a tasty treat. FYI, a general rule of thumb is that a dog will have to go out to pee during the day as many hours as they are months old - a 3 month old dog can hold it for 3 hours, 4 months = 4 hours, etc. Now having said that, if the pup is playing alot or drinking alot of water, they need to go out more frequently. I basically looked at housebreaking as a measure of MY success, not Oscar's. If he was going in the house, then I wasn't getting him out often enough, or communicating with him in a way he was understanding. I never punished him for it, as it seemed counterproductive. Just a thought....has she been checked for a urinary tract infection? It could certainly cause frequent and uncontrollable urination. By the way, have you read "Living With a Deaf Dog" by Susan Cope Becker? That book was my bible when I first brought Oscar home. It has tons of useful, sensible information. Good luck, and I hope your "Piddle Parties" end soon! Laurie and Oscar |
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