House breaking is HIGH on the list of problems that adopters face, so it's VERY important
that Placement Reps are knowledgeable on this issue. You need to stress housebreaking in
your home visit and again at the time of adoption. When you make your first call, post
adoption, be sure that you ask the adopters how house breaking is going. This problem is
MUCH easier to fix when it is caught and dealt with early.
Just because a Greyhound is potty-trained in its foster home, does not mean it will
continue to be potty-trained in its new home.
The first forty-eight hours, after adoption, are the most crucial and the adopters should
expect them to be the most stressful. It is during this time frame that they should commit
themselves to house breaking. |
The very first thing that the adopters should do, when they bring their new dog home, is
to take the dog to the spot where they will expect it to go to the bathroom. Give it the
chance to go potty, and begin to praise it as it goes to the bathroom. I use a high
pitched voice, telling the dog "Good Potty" over and over again. It's important
that the Greyhound learn, right away, where it is appropriate to potty. If the dog does
not go at this time, tell them to continue taking it outside every twenty minutes until it
goes. Keep the dog on a leash (while in the house) until it goes outside the first time (I
actually suggest that they do this for the first day). There are a lot of good reasons to
do this besides housebreaking and bonding. It keeps the dog out of trouble; there can be
no countersurfing, no chewing the furniture, no chasing the cats, no whatever. If they see
the dog getting nudgy or actually catch it in the act, they can respond immediately and
take the dog out.
If the dog has been house broken for some time, and suddenly begins to go in the house,
then I suggest they take the dog to the Vet and have it checked for: Urinary tract
infections, spay incontinence (females), ballinitis (males). There's no point in
trying to train a dog that has a medical condition.
If the dog tests clean at the Vets, or is a new dog, then move on to Behavior
Modification:
- Keep the dog on the leash or confined with the owner (in the
same room) until the dog proves reliable.
- Crate or confine the dog when they can't monitor it.
- Put in a dog door.
- Let the dog out on a normal schedule. First thing in the
morning, again after breakfast, upon getting home, again after dinner and once again at
bedtime.
- Don't give the dog free run of the house. Close off access to
any room other than the one they are in and keep the dog near them. Follow it around and
give it verbal corrections as needed. I'm not saying hound the dog, but follow it and
watch it, see what it's up to. Their best bet is to stop bad behaviors immediately and set
the tone of what is OK for the dog.
- Watch for prolonged sniffing, squatting or leg lifting and
take the dog right out to potty if they see this behavior.
- If the dog always goes in the same spot, suggest that they
clean the area well and then feed the dog on that spot.
Two cleaning protocols:
- Soak the wet area up into a thick towel or paper towel. When
no more moisture soaks through, dilute the area with some plain water and soak this up.
Douse the area with Natures Miracle, place a white towel over the area, and let that dry.
It takes a week or two for the enzymes to fully clean the area. If there is still a smell
after a week, douse the area with more Natures Miracle™.
- 1/2 cup 3% household hydrogen peroxide mixed with 1 teaspoon
cloudy ammonia. Saturate spot with this mixture. Cover spot with a good thickness of white
- and I stress white - paper toweling. Place something heavy (a gallon jug of water works
great) on spot and let sit 3-4 hours. After 3-4 hours remove paper toweling and neutralize
with white vinegar. This will not bleach your carpet and it works wonders. Have used it on
blood, bile, potty accidents, ink, and even red liquid potpourri. Sometimes if the stain
is very bad you may have to let the carpet dry out for a day or two and repeat the process
but I have never tried anything that works as well on all kinds of stains.
|
| Claudia
Presto:
Out of the 80 plus dogs through my home, about 2/3 have been males. I've only had a leg
lift problem with 3 or 4 (which is 5%) past one day. (And my opinion is that those 3/4
were older, and they had more of a macho streak and needed to let others know more that
they were around and in charge. As they became more secure, less macho, less testosterone
etc. the leg lifting disappeared. The toughest guy went for three weeks - but it wasn't
everyday.) So here are my thoughts:
It's not about having to go to the bathroom, it's about marking a place to call their own.
And any new place, any moved furniture, any piece of clothing hanging off something is
potential for marking. But it is absolutely fixable.
However, YOU must be there to train them. You follow their every move the first few hours.
You watch for the telltale signs of moving into position to mark territory. Boys are easy
to catch, if you are watching. Keep them on leash, if you can't keep their attention on
you. Put bells on them, so when they move you are alerted. As they start to get in
position, you give a very loud, very definite NO, grab a collar and pull them outside.
(remember you've been following them, so you're right there to do this) YOU go outside
with them, you then stay with them until they pee outside and you tell them very loudly
and in a happy voice, "good boy good boy".
YOU have to let the dog know what behavior you want from him. That means going outside
with him, reinforcing that outside is wonderful. Watching inside, and reinforcing that
inside is unacceptable. But they must be caught in the act, you must communicate clearly
it is not appropriate behavior and if you do they seldom do it again. At least not when
you're watching...<G>
Now to work with a dog that is sneaky and does it when you're not watching. You must be
sneakier than he is!
First make sure all smells are gone - Nature Miracle™ is one product, vinegar another
to dissipate smells. Put that leash or bells on him, so you know where he is, even when
you're not watching. Install a doggie door. Set him up by leaving something he's peed on
out, and then watch like a hawk for when he goes to relift his leg on it and snag him!
Send all the boys to me - They are much easier than the girls! |