Ruby's pottying regression...
I need some advice and figured here would be the best place to ask for it. Ruby is my precious 22 month old OES. Last weekend we celebrated our 1-year-anniversary together; she's a foster-turned-forever pup who spent her first 9.5 months crated upwards of 20 hours per day. Once I got her, she bounced back pretty quick, really stealing our hearts. Ruby's been pretty much accident-free since April of last year. But in September of 2012, my grandmother unexpectedly passed away and while I was at the funeral, a 10-month-old (we think) Chihuahua was abandoned at the park across from Grandma's house. Being the weenie-hearted girl I am, I brought her back to Colorado and she is now another foster-turned-forever pup. Her name is Tula. Ruby and her are BEST FRIENDS! But Tula is not potty-trained and isn't taking to the training I am desperately implementing. I don't know if Ruby is just being stubborn or what... but she has started messing in the house again (after 9 months!). My boyfriend thinks it might be a "Well Tula's allowed to pee/poop in the house, so I can too..." but I don't know. Ruby loves being outside and will even lay in the backyard in the snow. But she's relieving herself in the house at least 2x/day now for pretty much the past 3 weeks. I thought maybe it was just the smell of Tula's markings, but I have steam-cleaned the carpets 3 or 4 times now, with no luck. Any suggestions? I'm open to anything, for both Ruby and Tula... please help! Thanks y'all! Caroline and Dudley, Ruby & Tula |
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| Is it just pee? Could she have a urinary tract infection and just can't hold it? |
| First off....good for you for giving homes to two lucky creatures! I agree with PP that it might be a UTI so I would start with a trip to the vet. Even if you steam clean, some odor could still be there that a human wouldn't pick up. Good luck! |
| I was thinking about that... But it's pee and poop... It's like she sneaks into the dining room right after eating (like within 1 minute) and poops. Then, if I'm busy or just not paying her any attention, she'll quietly make her way into the other room and pee. |
There is a product I bought at PetSmart called 'No Go'. clean the areas well, (I have used white vinegar and Natures Miracle) Spray No Go all over the rugs. It is a deterant and worked well for me. I think Ruby is pottying because Tula is doing it in the house, especially since she is peeing and pooping, not an accident but a deliberate. I know I will be taken to task for saying this but when you catch them doing it, push their nose in it and say SHAME then put them outside. That's just my opinion  Good Luck. |
dogmom wrote: I think Ruby is pottying because Tula is doing it in the house, especially since she is peeing and pooping, not an accident but a deliberate. I know I will be taken to task for saying this but when you catch them doing it, push their nose in it and say SHAME then put them outside. That's just my opinion Good Luck.Dogs don't do things out of spite so it's not deliberate. That's not how their brains work. And yes, you will be taken to task for suggesting rubbing a dog's nose into their waste. It's cruel and serves no good purpose. Even when you use a verbal correction, you need to catch the dog in the act of relieving itself to do any good. Start from scratch with Ruby's housetraining. Did you use a crate to start with? If so, go back to that. Or, gate off an area that is easy to clean until she's trustworthy again. Work with both dogs this way. Seriously, why should Ruby potty outside when Tula gets away with it? She just smells the odors and sees it as an acceptable place to soil. Since you suspect Ruby will potty in the house just minutes after eating, don't give her the chance. Take both dogs outdoors immediately and make sure they go before bringing them back in. Dogs DO understand lots of praise so lavish it on them both. Don't take them back indoors until they've gone. If you need to leash walk them in the middle of knee-high snow at 2am, that's what it may take. Sorry, nobody ever said having a pet was easy! Soon it will click for both of them and you can (hopefully) look back on this and.... well, maybe not laugh but at least not feel like screaming.  |
| Yeah.... what Nita said ^^^ Housetraining takes consistency, 24 hours a day. I suck at it, any of my pups that go to new homes pick up on housetraining very quickly, when I keep a pup it takes me longer to train it so I know it's purely my own fault. |
| I would focus on Tula and find out what she really, really likes and give it as a reward when she gets it right. I had a foster that just didn't "get it," and continued to go on the pee pads but didn't seem to understand the transition to outside. I watched her like a hawk, even put a slip lead on her so I could catch her in the act, but she could hold it for hours and hours. I finally realized that she really liked Cheezit crackers, so I never went out without some in my pocket and shoved one in her mouth whenever she did get it right. Once I found the right reward, she was housebroken within two days. And this was after about 9 months of struggle and frustration. I, too, think that once you get the new one handled, Ruby will fall in line. My little dog is also a chihuahua mix and had gone through some emotional upheaval before she got here, so maybe there is something going on there as well. She is now the most perfectly potty trained dog among my three. I just had to find the key. Good luck! |
| Thanks for all the feedback! I've gone ahead and put gates up so they can't get to their favorite potty spots. Working on getting the smells out. We had our trainer from Sit Means Sit come out this morning and he gave us some good tips. So we'll see how everything goes with that. Again, thanks for everyone's feedback. I know that having dogs and training is not an easy thing... But I'm in for the long haul so I figured I'd ask for advice. Thanks, Caroline |
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