Housing training

Bryando

Hi,

I am still getting up to at times my 8 month dog having done the toilet inside. He knows its wrong going by his reaction. Why why why?

Fosterdog

Is it just in the mornings?

It sounds like he needs to go overnight and can't hold it in, if you need to pee in the night you can go, if he needs to go and there is nobody around he can't hold it until morning.

Try taking him out for an extra quick walk just before you go to bed, even if it's just to the end of the street or a few houses down he is likely to wee at least once when he is out.

Alternatively get up a few times through the night to let him out.

krlyr

Dogs don't "know" wrong - they can read our body language, and associate it with a negative reaction, to which they display appeasement signals (the "guilty" look - ears back, hunched down, licking lips, etc.).

However, they may not associate this negative reaction to toileting indoors, or they may simply not be able to control their bladder indoors.

The first step I would do is to establish a potential cause.

One potential is that the dog is poorly, and physically unable to hold itself. Has this been a regression of house training? This could certainly indicate (but even if it's not a regression, it doesn't rule it out) that it's a medical cause, if the dog was previously clean and now isn't. A urinary tract infection, for example, can often be the culprit of accidents indoors. A vet trip will confirm or rule out.

Another possibility is that the dog is toileting out of distress. Accidents indoors can be a symptom of issues like seperation anxiety or noise phobias. Do the accidents happen in front of you, or is it every time, for example, you leave the room or house? This could help determine if it's a behavioural issue. Think of how our bellies go when we're nervous or stressed - right before an exam, or an important work meeting. Dogs with seperation issues can often loose control of their bladder/bowels during their stress reaction.

Another option is that the dog just hasn't learnt to go outside. Some dogs take longer than others, some methods aren't as effective. How have you been house training the dog so far? Is everyone in the house using the same method? How long is the dog being left for?

missbiggles1

Bryando wrote: »

Hi,

I am still getting up to at times my 8 month dog having done the toilet inside. He knows its wrong going by his reaction. Why why why?

Does he sleep near enough to your bedroom that you would hear him "ask" to go out by barking, scrarching etc?

teddysmum

If you show anger, even just by body language, after an accident,there is the danger that he will associate emptying his bladder with wrongdoing, so could stop weeing on walks and end up having more accidents as his bladder cannot hold any more urine.


My two dogs are 12 and 13,so are always walked or at least let out into the garden, before bedtime, as one in particular cannot 'hold' for more than 10 hours.(He sometimes needs to go out at 4.30am,when my husband is up for work.)

Bryando

He was out for around 3-4 hours at the beach. It was a hot day. I was sitting and he was laying down. Never made an attempt to get up until I shouted NO. Then he went to the back door and after taking him out he peed like a river. Been drinking a lot of water.

So could it just be extreme tired and worn out. As I said he was laying down but awake.

Katiehound

I wonder if he hasn't quite got the message.
Maybe you need to back track and go back to basics. Take him out every 2 hours and when he performs give loads of praise and a high value treat- oh and use a word for the action.
I have house trained adult rescue dogs that had lived their lives in kennels. I've had my 'new' boy just 2 years now and he pretty much performs on command.
Both dogs go out very last thing at night

ERICS_MUM

does it seem to you that he is drinking and peeing 'excessively' ? Might be a sign of illness.

It's exactly what I noticed with my cat and after tests he was diagnosed with an over-active thyroid, now largely controlled by medication. He does still wake me in the night for a drink (from the bath tap, he won't touch a bowl of water !) but I suspect this is just a habit he got into when he was desperate for water at 3am.

Good luck, it's such a worry with our pets.

Bryando

Yeah I might just pop into the vet to be on the safe side. Hopefully nothing . Rare he does the toilet inside though. What age should they in theory be out of doing the toilet within the house?

NewShadow

It depends on the puppy, how consistent you are, and how you're training him.

When we got out puppies at 12 weeks, from the first week they asked to go out during the day and were paper trained at night.

It took until they were about 6 months before they could 'hold it in' all night, but they preferred going outside so I think really tried.

Peeing and pooping inside was not punished, and doing so outside was positively rewarded.

If they asked to go out, no playing until they'd gone, and then we always played - so if they wanted to go out to play they had to at least pretend to wee first!