I recently adopted a 1 1/2 y/o female cocker mix, 17 lbs. I know to
expect accidents at the beginning, but she's able to hold it without
problems all night, and because I work at home, I take her out a few
times a day/night. Yesterday, I left the dog alone for 20 min to
drive someone home, and found she pee'd on the carpet. I realize she
might have thought she was being abandoned, but on the other hand, she
might have been demonstrating her displeasure that I left her behind.
(I've been taking her everywhere with me). Anyway, I didn't do
anything about except clean it up, but for the first time in the 2
weeks I've had her, she's sat in another room away from me; otherwise,
she's constantly underfoot or wants to be held or sit right next to me
24/7. Guilt? In any event, what's the best way to treat this issue
in the future?

On Sat, 3 Jan 2009 13:21:32 -0800 (PST), wrote:

I recently adopted a 1 1/2 y/o female cocker mix, 17 lbs. I know to
expect accidents at the beginning, but she's able to hold it without
problems all night, and because I work at home, I take her out a few
times a day/night. Yesterday, I left the dog alone for 20 min to
drive someone home, and found she pee'd on the carpet. I realize she
might have thought she was being abandoned, but on the other hand, she
might have been demonstrating her displeasure that I left her behind.
(I've been taking her everywhere with me). Anyway, I didn't do
anything about except clean it up, but for the first time in the 2
weeks I've had her, she's sat in another room away from me; otherwise,
she's constantly underfoot or wants to be held or sit right next to me
24/7. Guilt? In any event, what's the best way to treat this issue
in the future?


there is no way to correct a dog that pees when you aren't there.

the only thing to do is prevent it.

crate training works wonders in that area.



newfondly yours,

Nessa
----
Dog Mom to:
Hannah age 6.5 Pitador rescued age 9 weeks
Harley small shaggy cow that pretends he's a newfoundland rescued age 10 months
(Angel) Bagel went to Rainbow Bridge 9/18/08 my Newfandstuff age 8.5

wrote in message
...
I recently adopted a 1 1/2 y/o female cocker mix, 17 lbs. I know to
expect accidents at the beginning, but she's able to hold it without
problems all night, and because I work at home, I take her out a few
times a day/night. Yesterday, I left the dog alone for 20 min to
drive someone home, and found she pee'd on the carpet. I realize she
might have thought she was being abandoned, but on the other hand, she
might have been demonstrating her displeasure that I left her behind.
(I've been taking her everywhere with me). Anyway, I didn't do
anything about except clean it up, but for the first time in the 2
weeks I've had her, she's sat in another room away from me; otherwise,
she's constantly underfoot or wants to be held or sit right next to me
24/7. Guilt? In any event, what's the best way to treat this issue
in the future?

We just went through this with a dog we got from the shelter about 2
months ago, almost identical issues.

I would first be very leery about drawing a coorelation between leaving
her alone and her peeing. Keep in mind from her point of view she is
in a new environment, she has been separated from her "people" (ie:
her former owners) for a long enough time that she has begun to realize
that she will never see them again, and you are still somewhat of a
stranger to her. She does not know what will happen in the future, she
does not know if you will be providing a secure environment for her or
if your just another temporary owner, she has not spent many days with
you and doesen't have much of a relationship built up with you. Since
you aren't likely interacting with her like another dog would, she isn't
able to quickly place herself in the "pack"

The very last thing she will want to do is anything that will make you
mad at her. She isn't going to be challenging any of your decisions
right now, like leaving her alone, nor do I think many dogs challenge
by peeing on a random spot somewhere on the carpet.

As time passes and you spend more time with her, she will eventually
get more comfortable with you and not be constantly underfoot.

As for the peeing, until you are sure otherwise, you have to correct
that by assuming that she is just not completely housebroken. Keep
in mind that her former owners dumped a dog with no obvious personality
or physical problems in the shelter at the prime
of any dog's life - 1-2 years old - that is already kind of a black mark
against them I think. I think it would be a good assumption that her
former owners also did a bad job of housebreaking her, if they even
did it at all. If you are taking her out a lot, then she might not even
be housebroken. Dogs that are raised and kept outside in an doghouse
outside often are not. Also, keep in mind that the shelter environment
greatly discourages housebreaking training, unfortunately.

As Nessa said, I would get a crate for her right away. You may find one
used (if you are very lucky, I did) for little money. You can also get a
small table that fits over the crate which is handy. Keep her in the crate
whenever you are not able to supervise her. What will happen is as she
gets more confident and isn't under your feet all the time she will start to
spend more time in other rooms and if she isn't housebroken then this
is when you may start to have a lot of problems with her peeing inside. If
that happens you will have to keep her in the crate or tied to you with
a leash, until she is housebroken.

Basically with housebreaking if she is peeing outside already you are
already halfway there, all you got to do now is train her for indicating,
and
train her that peeing inside isn't OK. One trick I had read for training for
indicating is to put a small bell at the door at dog height and
every time you take the dog out, you make them ring the bell by putting a
food treat next to it, supposedly eventually the dog learns to ring the bell
when they want to go outside. I didn't train for indicating and our dog now
indicates by wandering back and forth between the door and whoever is
in the room.

I personally think
that housebreaking goes faster if you catch her in the act of peeing inside
and
interrupt her when she is doing it. If you can't catch her peeing inside
then
the usual housebreaking advice for older dogs is to keep them crated,or
leashed, and keep taking them outside to pee,
espically if you give them a pee command when you are outside and
they are peeing, and
eventually they will figure out that they are only supposed to pee outside,
not inside. That worked with our dog, I think it works with most of them.
Pooping in the house seems to follow peeing, when the dog housebreaks
on the pee they seem to housebreak on the pooping.

WIth puppies, you do it with the newspaper trick of successively moving
the newspaper further and further to the door then outside. But
I would definitely not try messing around with anything that encourages
an adult dog to pee inside, such as using a catbox or training pads or
newspapers.

Ted

wrote in

:

First off, have you taken this dog to a vet to rule out a UTI?

I recently adopted a 1 1/2 y/o female cocker mix, 17 lbs. I know
to expect accidents at the beginning, but she's able to hold it
without problems all night,

That's common. Dogs' (and humans') metabolism slows down when they
are sleeping. It's not necessarily true, then, that a dog can hold
it for the same amount of time when she's awake.

Yesterday, I left the dog alone for 20 min

You should not have done that. At least, not if you left her with
free range of the house. Until she's reliably house trained, she
should not be left loose and unsupervised. Either crate her when
you're gone or take her with you.

I realize she might have thought she was being abandoned, but on
the other hand, she might have been demonstrating her displeasure
that I left her behind. (I've been taking her everywhere with me).

The simpler explanation is that she's not house trained.

Anyway, I didn't do anything about except clean it up,

Good.

but for
the first time in the 2 weeks I've had her, she's sat in another
room away from me; otherwise, she's constantly underfoot or wants
to be held or sit right next to me 24/7. Guilt?

It's more likely that she's settling in and feeling more comfortable
in your home.

In any event,
what's the best way to treat this issue in the future?

House training consists of two or three simple components.

1. Fixed meal times. A schedule of food going in means a better
schedule for it going out.

2. Do not allow her the opportunity to make a mess. Every accident
she has will undermine whatever progress you've made.

Keep her tethered to you when you're home and crated when you are
not. Take her out frequently (you have to go out with her) and
praise her when she relieves herself outside.

3. If accidents occur, don't make a big deal out of them. This
means that the answer to your original question is that you *don't*
correct a dog for peeing in the house. If she pees in the house,
it's your fault for not supervising her and/or for not taking her out
frequently enough.

--
Shelly
http://www.cat-sidh.net (the Mother Ship)
http://esther.cat-sidh.net (Letters to Esther)

wrote in message
...
I recently adopted a 1 1/2 y/o female cocker mix, 17 lbs. I know to
expect accidents at the beginning, but she's able to hold it without
problems all night, and because I work at home, I take her out a few
times a day/night. Yesterday, I left the dog alone for 20 min to
drive someone home, and found she pee'd on the carpet. I realize she
might have thought she was being abandoned, but on the other hand, she
might have been demonstrating her displeasure that I left her behind.
(I've been taking her everywhere with me). Anyway, I didn't do
anything about except clean it up, but for the first time in the 2
weeks I've had her, she's sat in another room away from me; otherwise,
she's constantly underfoot or wants to be held or sit right next to me
24/7. Guilt? In any event, what's the best way to treat this issue
in the future?

Well done for adopting an unwanted dog and also for not telling her off
for weeing indoors. She might have been told off or punished in some way by
the previous owner and that's why she sat in another room away from you.
Shelly has given you good advice about housetraining and having her vet
checked but IMHO as she is clingy and she's rarely left alone, it's more
likely she was upset at being left behind ie "seperation anxiety".
Also maybe something scared her while you were out, perhaps New Year
fireworks for example.
You need to make her feel safe at home without you. I would build up
the time you leave her. Start with one minute and then come back in. Do
that a few times and if she can cope with that then build up the time.
You can make a safe haven for her. If she has a favourite place to settle
,e.g in the hall or on the sofa, you can put a duvet down and and one of
t -shirts that smells of you . Close a few doors so she can't roam the
whole house. Buy a plug in DAP diffuser or a DAP collar for her. I would
also make sure she does get enough opportunities to relieve herself.
She will also have to get used to being left alone in the day and when it
is dark .

Many people crate their dogs when they leave them. If you decide you want
to use one, she will have to be acustomed to it first and be happy in it,
otherwise it will cause her to panic all the more and distress her.

Ali