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Old January 27th, 2005, 02:44 PM
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Jackie467 Jackie467 is offline
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Problem house training. update.

I have an italian greyhound who is a little over a year old. From what i have heard and read they are hard dogs to house train, which has been proving to be true. right now she hasn't had an accident in a couple of weeks which is great, but at night she wakes up about every 2 hours. she sleeps on her pillow in my bedroom or in bed with me depending on what her preference is that night. When i first brought her home i started to crate train her, problem is she had seperation anxiety and even with the crate in my room she would mess in it even if she had done both before bed, cry (and she never crys), and shake violently. when i let her sleep with me this stoped, she would wake me up by licking me or standing on the bed wagging her tail to let me know she needed out. well recently in the past month she has started waking up every 2 hours. at first i thought she had to go to the bathroom so i would take her out but half the time she just wants to sit in the yard and stare off into space. she does go out and i make sure she does both eliminations before bed. I'v thought of ignoring her but because she isn't fully house trained i'm afraid she'll have an accident in the house and it will ruine the progress we are making. do you think i should ignore her or take her out? any other suggestions? will having an accident destroy the progress we have made?

sorry so long but thought you might need the whole story.
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Old January 27th, 2005, 03:14 PM
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tenderfoot tenderfoot is offline
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How many times a day do you feed her? & what time is the last feeding and when do you pick the water up?
Ideally, she should be fed once a day in the morning just for ten minutes and then take her water up at about 7pm. This allows you to regulate her house training. She should go potty just before bed and because she hasn't loaded up at the last minute she should be good for the night.
If she is getting into the habit of getting up but not going potty, then you know you can ask her to lay down again and make her have patience until you decide she needs to get up.
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Old January 27th, 2005, 03:29 PM
Lucky Rescue Lucky Rescue is offline
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Quote:
well recently in the past month she has started waking up every 2 hours. at first i thought she had to go to the bathroom so i would take her out but half the time she just wants to sit in the yard and stare off into space.
By doing this (taking her out) you trained her to wake you up every two hours. I did the same thing with my last dog, so I know!

If she goes out before bed, a year old dog can certainly "hold it" all night.

I do not agree with feeding once a day. Going without food for 24 hours then eating a full day's rations all at once is not good for dogs.

IF you feed her before you eat dinner and take her out as late as possible, she should be okay. One accident is not going to destroy her housetraining.
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Old January 27th, 2005, 03:40 PM
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She is fed twice a day per my vet. because her breed is so small my vet was afraid she would become hypoglycimic (she needs to gain some weight but we can't seem to get it on her, but thats a whole nother story). she is fed once in the morning a half cup but usually doesn't eat it all, i give her about 15 min because i feed her while i shower, she is then let out about a half an hour later after some play and she poops and pees and is crated for about 3 hours while i'm at university (sometimes she is fine crated but othet days i'll have to clean out the crate cuz she has dierreah in it and she only has dierreah in the crate so she is not sick but i think it's because of her seperation axiety), then i come home for lunch leave her out and she then comes to work with me and usually spends that 4 hours sleeping or palying with some toys in my office (occasionaly going out to pee). Then we go home at 5 (i get home about 5:03) and she has dinner then while we feed my mothers dog, she gets half a cup and usually will eat all of this in about 10 min, we leave the water down because of my mothers dog but i watch her and she just gets a couple drinks right after she plays really hard. then about half a hour of paly and out to poop and pee and she always does both. then we play until about 8 and then we settle down to watch t.v. and cuddle until about 9 and then i take her out and she pees and then we go to bed. she used to only get up once in the night if that to pee, then it became twice and now she gets up about every two hours. like i said she doesn't always pee sometimes she just doesn't want to sleep (though when i tell her to potty she will squat like she is but i don't think she really does). I try telling her to lie down and she will for about 15 min (figures just enough time for me to fall back to sleep ) then she gets up again. then i think she may have to go to the bathroom so i take her out, but sometimes she doesn't have to go. it's wierd she doesn't necessarly want to play she just wants to sit in the yard. do you think i should just keep telling her to lie down? I'm just afraid of ruining the progress made in the house training department.
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Old January 27th, 2005, 03:46 PM
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i would think she could hold it too, but one night i decided to tell her to go back to bed. she did and i fell back to sleep, well she peed in the corner that night. i'm just afraid that if i don't get up she'll stop waking me and just go in the house. I'd rather get up a couple of times than have her go in the house. maybe i'll try making her go back to bed, do think i should start trying the crate again? i just feel awful doing this because she literaly shakes so violently that the whole crate moves.

Just a strange question but Candi hates her bowl. she pulls the food out peice by peice takes it to the carpet and eats it. I'v tryed every type of bowl i can think of, even one just like my mothers dog's bowl. the wierd thing is that she will eat from BJ's bowl with no problem if we put her food in there but if it's her bowl just like his she won't. does this have something to do with her wanting what he's having like a child even though it's her food in his bowl? not a big deal just curious.
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Old January 27th, 2005, 09:48 PM
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tenderfoot tenderfoot is offline
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I think the bowl issue is just what you said. Are you truly leaving her food down for only 15 minutes? Usually picky eating like you describe is characteristic of a dog who has their food down all day. They don't feel the need to hover over the bowl because they know it's always there and isn't going to disappear so they feel safe to walk away from it. When its someone else’s bowl they get more interested and stay close because they are competing for the contents.
If you are worried about hypoglycemia then more frequent feedings are fine, but again make that last meal as early as possible.
When we have a dog in bed with us that we can't fully trust (usually a young puppy) then we attach a short lead to the dog and our wrist, or to the side of the bed (just long enough for her to stand up, turn around and lay down again). That way you can try to get her to lay down, but if she really has an issue you will be woken up by her pulling on the leash. Take her out, let her potty and go right back to bed, no time for play.
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Old January 27th, 2005, 10:13 PM
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Jackie467 Jackie467 is offline
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i'v never left her food down for more than 15 min. but she just isn't interested in it in the morning, just picks at it. there have been days where she'll only eat a few peices all day. usually at night when i feed her at about 5:03 she'll eat it all pretty quickly. like tonight for instance she ate all her food out of her own bowl . i was so proud. I could tie her to my wrist but i doubt either of us would be comfertable being that i move in my sleep and sometime sleep walk. Do you think it would still be a good idea even though i sometimes sleep walk, once i even went outside but that was the only time it has happend? I want to be able to sleep all night. it's bad enough that i sometimes have insomnia because of my meds but when i do go to sleep and she wakes me it's torture. I'm going to have to get a longer lead to do this. any perticular kind i should look for? at the moment i only have a slip lead so that won't work being that it wouldn't be hard for her to get off.
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Old January 28th, 2005, 10:21 AM
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tenderfoot tenderfoot is offline
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Okay, this is a whole different bowl of wax!
I woudn't say do the tying to the wrist thing as the sleep walking could make it dangerous for both of you.
You could get a body harness - as IG's have thick necks and narrow heads so a regular collar won't do - and teather her to the bed rail on a 18" lead. All you are really trying to do is get her on a better routine. She shouldn't have to go potty at night at this age so it is a matter of retraining her to sleep all night. I think that she might also be picking up on your irregular sleeping habits. Dogs are very sensitive and IG's can be even more sensitive. It can take 3 nights to create a new habit, so you are going to have to be diligent.
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Old January 28th, 2005, 04:10 PM
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Jackie467 Jackie467 is offline
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Thanks for the help. I'll go tonight and get the lead and harness. She is my first small breed dog. I went from having 80-90lb dobermans to a 12lb IG. talk about a big change (she is also my first female). and this dog challenges me more than all the dobes put together (i'v had 3), she is getting better though. she now knows all the basic commands (took a whole year to get stay and leave it down) and we're working on fun stuff like roll over. but i'v never had a dog so hard to housetrain, she still isn't reliable at a year old but all our other dogs were trained reliably in about 3 months. but i had heard that IG's are harder. she is really sensitive, if i'm upset she seems upset and if i'm relaxed she is. guess thats a good thing though. Thanks again tenderfoot and lucky.
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Old February 9th, 2005, 05:32 PM
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Jackie467 Jackie467 is offline
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I just wanted to update on how candi is doing with sleeping at night. she seems to be getting better only waking up maybe once a night to get in bed with me from her pillow on the floor. tying her to the bed didn't work very well. i guess she moves around in her sleep or something because i woke up to her crying because she had gotten herslef tangled in the leash. had her legs all tied up. now i'v started a new tacktic, big time tiring out on the weekends. we spent all saturday and sunday doing things. insdead of just going for our two 30min walks and play time in the yard we went for two one hour walks then to the park with a doggie friend to play off leash, then to the mardi gras party in glaveston, then we went to petco and met some new doggies, and even a dog friendly cat on a leash that candi just loved (jasmine scares candi to death, she isn't fond of dogs, will sit next to them even let them sniff her if they are gentle, but only when she's in a good mood.) so far this week she hasn't been waking up as much, hopefully she'll get the idea and start sleeping all night. thanks everyone for all your help it means a lot to me.
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Old February 9th, 2005, 06:25 PM
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tenderfoot tenderfoot is offline
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Sorry the teathering to the bed didn't work - perhaps a shorter leash would have been better. But it sounds like you are working things out - congrats!. Patience is usually the key.
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Old February 9th, 2005, 06:51 PM
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maddoxies maddoxies is offline
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You don't have to answer a personal question on the open board, but can you or your bed partner tell if you are going to have a sleepwalking episode?

I am asking because dogs are very sensitive. Could Candi be sensing that your sleep pattern is changing (whether or not you have a walking episode or if the meds stop it)? I am asking because we were recently approached by a service canine group to test one of our fosters as a seizure dog.

Just a thought
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