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Post by til1234 on Jan 2, 2009 14:12:17 GMT -5
I have had Tillie for about 6 months. She was a stray when I got her and from what I can tell, she was an outside dog. We estimate that she is between 1-2 years old. About once a month she will urinate in the house, so I'm still working on getting her to go to one or two places to urinate outside. My main problem is her marking in other indoor places.
I took Tillie on two short overnight trips in the last two weeks. She peed in my mom's house within the first 5 minutes. Yes, I made sure she eliminated before we went into the house. Then later she peed again. That same night I took her to my cousins and I kept her on the leash to be safe and she peed there while we were standing talking to my cousin. Then for new years I went over to a friends house and she peed about 5 times in her house. I let her out a lot, so I know it isn't a case of her really needing to go. Any advice for her once a month peeing in my house and the seemingly constant peeing in other people's houses?
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Post by DiamondTiger on Jan 3, 2009 4:48:43 GMT -5
Out of curiosity, what is going on around her when she pees in your house and how does she truly respond to people when going to new/different places? What is going on around her when she's urinating in other places too?
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Post by RealPitBull on Jan 3, 2009 8:52:26 GMT -5
Is she spayed? If so, when was the operation? You want to make sure this isn't incontinence that is brought on by spay surgery.....other things that can cause housetraining problems include submissive urination and urinary tract infections.
It sounds like she still isn't quite housetrained. Some dogs do well in their own home, but when the environment changes, new learning has to take place - dogs don't generalize.
When you take her to a new place, you've got the right idea keeping her on a leash - but can you look for precursor behavior that would indicate to you she might be getting ready to squat? Initially, you're going to have to keep quite a close watch on her, so you can rush her outdoors before she has a chance to pee - distract her, get her attention on you, and calmly take her to the door. Housetraining in theory is easy - watch the dog and when the dog indicates she has to potty, take her outdoors. But in practice, it can be difficult to maintain the proper level of supervision. Housetraining really needs to happen with the intent to avoid all accidents - because every time your dog pees indoors, she is getting self-rewarded for the behavior. And it's a very powerful self-reward!
As for her once-a-month peeing in your home - again, just sounds like she hasn't *quite* grasped the idea of potty-outdoors. Can you detect a pattern? Is it usually when you are not around? Is it the same spot each time? If it's the same spot, limit her access to that area to when you are there and can carefully watch her. Otherwise, in general restrict some of her freedoms - and take her out on a more frequent basis.
Sometimes you have to experiment to see where you're at and if what you are doing is working. Initially restricting freedom in an overkill way may be necessary, then graaaaadually allow the dog more freedom as you see how she does at each stage. If an accident occurs, it's too much freedom, too soon.
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Post by til1234 on Jan 5, 2009 11:46:49 GMT -5
Tillie was spayed in July 2008.
When she is in a new environment such as the two houses last week, she investigates the new environment and then sneaks off an pees -- even though she just peed outside. When she is on a leash, she pees when I was talking with people.
When she pees in the house, it tends to be when I am home and sometimes in the same room, which is frustrating. She has peed in various areas of the house. When I'm not home, I keep her baby gated in a small hall and she has never peed while blocked in her hall. I'm thinking she doesn't quite get the house training idea either. I have a fenced in yard, so I'm being more conscious to make sure she eliminates predominantly in one area of the yard. When I walk her, I'm only letting her eliminate at one public area on the halfway point of our walk. Having the two elimination areas (one in the yard and one on the walk) might help.
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Post by bamapitbullmom on Jan 5, 2009 13:30:58 GMT -5
How do you react when she pees indoors? How do you react when she pees outdoors? I really strongly suggest picking up the book The Culture Clash by Jean Donaldson. The entire book is a must read but the way she explains proper housetraining would probably really benefit you and your situation. My initial thought here is that she has already shown you that she will seek out an area indoors out of your sight to urinate. Eliminate that possibility by keeping her on leash, a waist leash or in a crate or specific smaller area when you can't keep your eye on her. The more accidents she has, the longer the housetraining process will take. Since you mentioned that she will urinate within minutes of coming indoors, even after she went outside, I would begin to take her back outside within several minutes of coming indoors. She obviously isn't empty. Most dogs don't just pee in one place, they sniff around, investigate other dog scents and will urinate a couple or several times before being done. Allow her extra time outdoors, keep her walking and allow sniffing. Be sure to praise her thoroughly just as she is finishing peeing outdoors, give cookies, affection, verbal praise. Wait until she is almost done or right when she lifts from a squat. Praising before she's done may cause her to stop. You may also try to use one specific cue which will eventually condition her to understand, the word means potty time. I would make sure that she has a consistent schedule, a routine with more frequent trips outdoors. I wonder also, as Mary mentioned, if she has an issue with submissive urination since you stated she has peed when on leash while you were talking with your cousin. Did she seem stressed? Is she shy around new people? Does she sometimes pee when approached by people? Please be sure not to her when she has accidents in the house, she simply hasn't figured this whole thing out yet and if she's punished for accidents, it will only cause her to urinate out of your sight. I also clean and deodorize messes with the dog out of sight. We usually aren't the happiest of campers when cleaning up dog pee and the dog can pick up on that emotion. Eliminate any preventable possibilities of accidents, supervise her always and crate or put her in a smaller area when you can't. Cue her each and everytime you take her out. Things like, "Need to potty?", "Let's go outside" will condition her to know what to expect. Praise her when she eliminates where you want her to and if she has an accident, place her out of sight and simply clean it up and deodorize. Good luck!
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Post by til1234 on Jan 5, 2009 13:50:32 GMT -5
They have the Culture Clash at the library, so I'll pick it up tonight.
Tillie gets sooooo excited to see new people. Everyone she meets is her new best friend. It's definitely not submissive urination -- maybe overexcited urination.
I usually don't respond when she pees indoors because it is after the fact, but she does see me cleaning it up. I'm sure she's picking up on some queues there, so I'll be sure to put her in another room when I'm cleaning up her accidents. I think I'm being calm when I clean it up, but she can probably pick up on my disappointment.
I usually tell her "lets go outside!" to get our outside and then when she is outside I tell to "go pee pee". When she does pee I tell her "good pee pee" and I'll sometimes give her a cookie. I do probably praise her too soon, because I have noticed that I've interuppted her in on occassion. She does seem to get that there is one area of the yard where she should "go pee pee" when I let her out. The could weather helps because she will go out to that area of the yard, pee and run back inside. Without fail she seems to quickly pee in the designated area whenever I let her out now, so this is progress.
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