Adopted dog urinating in the house.

[BlueIce351]

Hi. Pete from Australia.

Question for you all and hoping to get some help. My parents adopted a 7yr old pug/****zu dog which had been neglected. Temp is beaut - very gentle - very bonded with my mother. Problem - he keeps urinating and fouling in the family room out the back. Parents are aged so continually cleaning up after the dog is not an option. Puzzling aspect is - there is a doggy door for days/weeks on end he'll go out into the garden, and then out of the blue he urinates and fouls all over the floor. I've suggested showing him what he's done..speaking gruffly and locking him outside for an hour - associating the crime with the punishment.
Does anyone have any idea why he'd be doing this and the best way to save him from being sent to the pound. None of us want to see this happen. They've had him about 3mths now. He's been desexed - hoping this would settle him down but alas it's not made much difference.

Appreciate any help.

[Frenchy]

Originally Posted by BlueIce351

I've suggested showing him what he's done..speaking gruffly and locking him outside for an hour - associating the crime with the punishment.

No please don't do this , will only make matters worse. Unless your parents see him do it , then a firm "no" and then put the dog outside to show him that's where he has to do it. Also , when he goes outside , someone should be there with him on all times , and when they see him do his business (outside) praise him , give cookies , show the dog that's what he's suppose to do. Positive reinforcement. You mentioned this dog has been neglected so I would suggest no punishment when he does bad. But the total opposite : praise and positive reinforcement when he does good.

[Floppy Dog]

First, have your parents ruled out any health problems? While 7 isn't particularly old for a small breed, neglect may speed up the aging process and age related health issues.

Second, is it possible that your parents are triggering a response from when the dog was neglected? If they keep a diary of events which happened before they discoverd the mess, they might see a pattern.

[BenMax]

Floppy dog is right - rule out medical problems. Also, if this dog has been neglected, chances are that there was never an attempt for the previous owners to house train. You may have to start from scratch but the good news is that older dogs CAN learn new tricks...house breaking is one of them.

Just to give you an example: I have a GSD that was horribly neglected. I ended up adopting him at 5-6 years of age and I have had him less than 1 year. In the beginning he was fine (actually he was dying) when it came to cleanliness in the home. After a few weeks, he started to go everywhere. Then after a few weeks was clean again until 2 months ago. There has been a slight change in my life and because of this, he has regressed. I decided to go back to crate training and setting a routine that works. He has his good days and bad days, but things will get back to normal.

Never punish your dog by putting him outside for one hour. If he was neglected or abused in his life, then this type of discipline will only reverse anything good that has been done.

I would consider crating or starting some umbilical cord training. This can be rectified if effort is put forth.

Good luck.

[Dog Dancer]

Welcome to the forum and thanks to your parents for adopting and an older dog on top of that . I agree with the others that only positive reinforcement should be used with this issue. BenMax's suggestion of crate training (search for advice on how to do this if you've never done it before because doing it wrong can be worse than anything) and umbilical cord training would help alot. Umbilical training involves tying the dog to you (or in this case your parents) at all times when in the house. The dog goes where you go, so you can control his actions. If he sniffs around and is looking for somewhere to go you will catch this and can take him outside immediately. Someone must stay outside with him until he goes and then throw a party!!! On your way out the door ask him "Want to go outside to go potty?" then take him out and don't return until he has. He'll learn it's fabulous to go outside and do business!

It's not an easy process but it will work. Also, you can try (along with other options) putting his food dish in the area where he is doing his dirty business. Dogs don't like to foul where they eat.

Good luck to your parents.

[BlueIce351]

Thanks to everyone for your replies. It's hard to know how to fix the problem when you're not sure to what degree he was abused and neglected. The woman who gave him up was quite upfront about her feelings for him. He was her ex husbands dog and she took her spite out on him. One wonders why hubby left him behind when he was his dog.
I've seen in one person's reply, her dog was very clean then regressed. That is the very case with Buster. He goes outside every day and does his business, then my parents walk into the back room and there's puddles everywhere, and he's cocked his leg against everything within reach. He's a very personable fella and I'd hate to see him being given up again as I believe once they go down that road, passed on from one to the other, it's kinder to actually put them down and spare them the misery that comes with being continually dumped and re-adopted.

I will mention the umbilical method. That sounds like a good idea. lol..If I hear he's dragged Mum from the chair lol..I'll let you know. He's been vet checked. My vet does a thorough job and when he went in for desexing - she went over him with a fine tooth comb. He's in good health and hopefully has a long life ahead of him.

Again - thanks for your responses. It will all be taken onboard.