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need advice: dog's housetraining is unreliable away from home



 
 
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  #1  
Old December 11th 06, 05:28 AM posted to rec.pets.dogs.behavior
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Default need advice: dog's housetraining is unreliable away from home

HELP! I have a 2-year-old Shih Tzu who is very well housetrained at our
home, but goes without discretion inside other people's homes. This
happened when we visited my boyfriend's parents' house a few weeks ago,
and again when she stayed with friends over the weekend while we were
out of town. In a few weeks, she will be staying with a cousin for
three weeks while we are on vacation, and we want to know how we can
prevent this problem from occurring again.

At home, she normally uses a litter box (we live in a high-rise
apartment without much greenery nearby), and aside from occasional
minor mistakes (e.g., peeing right outside the box, or sticking the
wrong end of her body into the box), she is fully housetrained.
Although she uses the box most often, she also goes outside during her
walks. However, like I've mentioned, she seems to forget all her
housetraining whenever she visits other homes. She's a very outgoing
and friendly dog, is familiar with the people whose houses she visits,
and has been to their houses before. When she's just staying with them
while we're away, she doesn't display any signs of separation anxiety.
Although she gets walked several times a day (the friend who was
watching her over the weekend is a veterinarian, so she was in the best
of hands), she still goes inside their houses. It seems like she just
doesn't quite realize that she isn't supposed to eliminate freely in
other people's homes.

We're wondering if this is a result of the fact that she's litterbox
trained and we didn't bring her litter box with us when we took her to
new environments. As a puppy, she was also somewhat difficult to
housetrain, and it took over a year of regular mistakes before she
became reliable at home.

Has anyone who has litter box trained his/her dog also had the same
experience? Does anyone know what strategies we can use or suggest to
the person who will be watching her while we're gone to make sure she
doesn't forget her housetraining while she's away from home? This time,
she will be staying at my cousin's house with her crate and litter box
to help prevent accidents, but any specific advice or experience about
how we can help her remember her housetraining manners away from home
is much appreciated!

  #2  
Old December 11th 06, 12:56 PM posted to rec.pets.dogs.behavior
Woost
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Default need advice: dog's housetraining is unreliable away from home

wrote:
HELP! I have a 2-year-old Shih Tzu who is very well housetrained at our
home, but goes without discretion inside other people's homes. ...snip...


At home, she normally uses a litter box (we live in a high-rise
apartment without much greenery nearby), and aside from occasional
minor mistakes (e.g., peeing right outside the box, or sticking the
wrong end of her body into the box), she is fully housetrained.



Well, actually.... she isn't housetrained. This is the downside of
paper (box, pad) training. They are still going in the house. Maybe
in one spot in your house, but still IN THE HOUSE. They have not
learned NEVER in the house.

I do extended dogsitting (sometimes 6-9 months a year) for a paper
trained dog, with papers in the basement. In her adulthood, those
papers are more of an emergency contingency (and handy with a small dog
in severe winter). But because of those papers, she never really
learned to indicate a need to go outside. She would just quietly
disappear to the basement and then come bombing back at full speed.
This particular dog is also a marker, so to her going for walks outside
is all about sniffing and marking, not about taking this opportunity to
empty out. We walk three times a day on a regular schedule and I
monitor output as best I can. I've even been known to count leg lifts.
She uses the papers very little with me and last year, with me in a
new place without a basment, not at all.

I have to watch her like a hawk in other people's houses. And it is
even worse if they have a dog which might have left some scent that
"needs marking". She just does not have "never inside, only outside"
concept locked in her brain.

Her owner is not as vigilant about anything, plus not much of a routine
and the dog is totally unreliable in other homes. She is rather
cavalier about it. I'm appalled.

If someone is going to be dogsitting, provide the litterbox and make
sure the dog knows where it is. You wouldn't take a cat into someone's
home without its box.

  #4  
Old December 11th 06, 07:18 PM posted to rec.pets.dogs.behavior
Rocky
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Default need advice: dog's housetraining is unreliable away from home

Janet B said in
rec.pets.dogs.behavior:

How hard is it to bring her litterbox if that's what you've
trained her to?


If it's not longterm, I'd suggest management rather than carting
something about that the dog may not even associate with the new
space.

I've looked after a number of pee-pad trained dogs and they have
no problem with peeing outside when I figure that it's time for
them to pee.

--
--Matt. Rocky's a Dog.
  #6  
Old December 12th 06, 06:51 AM posted to rec.pets.dogs.behavior
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Default need advice: dog's housetraining is unreliable away from home

How hard is it to bring her litterbox if that's what you've trained
her to? I used to travel with a cat and always brough her litterbox -
what's the difference? I think you're confusing your dog and not
being an attentive houseguest.


I did actually mention that the litterbox will be going with her when
she stays with my cousin. We didn't bring it on earlier occasions
because we were either there with her and walking her every few hours
(about 3-4 times a day), or the friend she was staying with over a
weekend (who is also our veterinarian) walked her 3x a day and didn't
think she would need the litterbox for a two-day stay. As another
poster pointed out, I think she just doesn't realize that it is never
okay to go inside EXCEPT in a litter box, so in new environments, she
"lets it all out," so to speak.

I was asking if anyone had specific advice beyond "bring your
litterbox" (which I've already admitted I realized and wasn't expected
to be sniped on about) or similar experience and how they dealt with
it.

Although we were mistaken in not bringing the litter box the first two
times, we were horrified when she made mistakes in other people's
homes, and trust me, insisted on taking care of all stains (and sending
along big batches of apology cookies!).

  #7  
Old December 12th 06, 07:04 AM posted to rec.pets.dogs.behavior
Paula
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Default need advice: dog's housetraining is unreliable away from home

On 11 Dec 2006 21:30:43 -0800, wrote:

I did actually mention that the litterbox will be going with her when
she stays with my relative. We didn't bring it on earlier occasions
because we were there with her and walking her every few hours (about
3-4 times a day), or the friend she was staying with over the weekend
(who is also our veterinarian) walked her at least 3x a day and didn't
think she would need the litterbox for a two-day stay.


I think it's a good idea to have the litterbox with her while she is
gone. If that is what she is used to, it could be something that she
will use at the other house. For the sake of those who are taking
care of her, I would err on the side of giving them too many tools
than too few. If they want to go with the plan that has worked for
some here of just taking the dog out often and crating, tethering her
in between outings as needed, they can leave the litter box off in the
corner unused. But if that isn't working, they can see if the dog
goes to her litter box and does better.

It sounds like it might be helpful for your overall life circumstance
to train your dog to go outside as well as in the litter box so she
travels better. Start tethering her to you when she is in the house
(attach a leash to her collar and the other end to you) so that
whenever she needs to go out, you will see it. When she starts for
the litter box, don't correct her, just lead her outside and give her
praise and treats for going outside. If she learns that it is good to
go outside and great things happen when she does, that will be a good
start. She will still think it is okay to go in a litter box, but at
least there is a chance that she will also think to go outside if
there is no litter box. As it is now, your friends taking her outside
just seems like a walk where you can go if you feel like it, but has
no significance as a place to want to go if you are in the house. You
want it to be an exciting and good place to go so it sticks in her
mind as place to seek out when she's gotta go. If she wants to make
sure there is a human out there with her so she can get treats for
going outside, so much the better as she will have motivation to come
get someone when she's gotta go and try to lead them outside.

--
Paula
"Anyway, other people are weird, but sometimes they have candy,
so it's best to try to get along with them." Joe Bay
  #9  
Old December 12th 06, 03:08 PM posted to rec.pets.dogs.behavior
Lynne
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Default need advice: dog's housetraining is unreliable away from home

on Tue, 12 Dec 2006 05:51:30 GMT, wrote:

I was asking if anyone had specific advice beyond "bring your
litterbox" (which I've already admitted I realized and wasn't expected
to be sniped on about) or similar experience and how they dealt with
it.


I think it's always a good idea to teach a dog to go potty on command. My
command is "go potty" but use whatever you are comfortable with. My dogs
have always at least pretended to go when I give them this command (running
down the deck steps and then back up). So in addition to bringing the
litter box, you could start using this command on walks once your dog is
reliable with it. Also, watching your dog (tethering is good) just as you
would a puppy is key to avoiding indoor accidents in new situations, just
as other people have suggested.

As a side note, the first time Roxy went to visit a certain friend's house
(who has 3 dogs), she took a huge dump in the bedroom. It never occurred
to me that she would do such a thing, but Roxy didn't know where outside
was even though we had been in the backyard earlier (very, very big house).
To complicate matters, there were old pet stains/odors in that room which
confused her. I immediately took her outside and told her to go potty so
she would know how to get there from the bedroom and I of course watched
her like a hawk after that. Now when we visit this friend, Roxy never has
accidents. Similarly, the first time another friend's dog visited our
house, he went in my bedroom and soaked my carpet with pee. Again, he
didn't know where outside was and no one was watching him. Now he is
completely trustworthy here. My point is that even the most reliable dogs
can make mistakes if you don't watch them in new situations.

--
Lynne
  #10  
Old December 14th 06, 03:35 PM posted to rec.pets.dogs.behavior
doglover
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Posts: 8
Default need advice: dog's housetraining is unreliable away from home

As you recognize, consistency is so important with housetraining. What
about some of that scented spray for that good ol' reminder smell?

In terms of portability, I like the Doggie Divot
(http://www.doggiedivot.com) because it is so lightweight and easy to
clean. They recommend sprinkling some blades of grass on the artificial
turf to help remind the dog of what to do--and where. Having a
consistent and familiar place for dogs to relieve themselves is helpful
for everyone! ;-)

 




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