toileting problems please help at my wits end !!!

hey i have a problem and am dieing for some help as i just dont know what to do

i have two staffy crosses both rescues.
Ozzy we got in august 09 he was 6 months old
Beau we gor Feb 2011 and she was aproximatley 2 so they are both 2 yrs and 9 months aproximatley now.

ozzy is as good as goil wen it comes to toileting he has an iron bladder and will not mess in the house.

Beau we have had on and off problems with since we got her and have struggled with this as we believe her to have had quite a bad time with her previous owner so dont know what emotional damage may have been done

wen we first got her i was only working two hrs a day so they wer hardly ever on ther own she was pretty good and would only ocasionally mess in the house.

then she went through a faze of refusing to toilet outside and would only go on walks

i started a new job at the begining of september and am now working full time hours, my parter has also had to up his hours and is working as much as possible at the moment due to financial problems which isant ideal, we try and fit shifts around the dogs so they are alone as little as possible but this isant always feesable.

beau is now refusing to toilet outside , she hasnt done anything outide in 2 weeks at least, if we can even get her out the door all she will do is eitehr sit by the back door or go and climb on the table and chairs, no matter how long we shut her out for she wont do anything, instead she will wait untill we are out of the room or at work and mess in the house,

this is becomign a real problem i managed to house train ozzy fine i would tell him off if i caught him about to or doing anything and give him a light tap on the bum and he knows right from wrong (just to clarify i have never and would never hurt my animals)

as beau waits untill she is alone it makes it hard to disciplin her for her mistakes, i make a point wen clearing up of looking at her in a sturn way and showing her what she has done and telling her she is a bad girl and you can tell she knows why i am cross

i just dont know what to do any more.

the situation isant helped by the fact i am pregnant so her weeing and pooing constantly is triggering me to be sick and generally stinking the house up and were just getting miserable with it any more.

besides this she is a wonderfull dog

i just really need some help and suggestions on what i can do, its so hard to know as i dont want to end up punishing ozzy for beaus mistakes , i have started to maybe think about crating her or something as ozzy was initally crated wen we went out wen he was a pup but beau is big... i just really dont know what to do

please please please can some one help me

lexie

Breath! I think you need to go back to basics, how ever prolonged a time it may be. Telling her off when she has a mistake isn't going to help, just clear it up, no fuss and take her out, telling her off tbh will make her more nervous and more inclined to do it again.

A crate may help. I haven't used one so can't help there. Back to basics I think, take her out, when she goes praise. My guess is if you have changed your routin its also changed hers, bit of time and patience, she'll get back to normal Xx

Agree with above. Punishment will only make situation worse, her more nervous. Is there no-one who can help with walks during the day or letting them out of the house?

def would go back to the basics,treat her like she a puppy,take her out every hour when you are there,stay with her and lots of praise and a treat when she does go,like you said you dont know what she has been through,lots of patience and sure you'll get there with her

Agree with the advice already given. If she will only go on walks have you tried taking her out before each of you go to work? If you have hours designed around a dog that should help eliminate the accidents.

Are you using a cleaning solution to get rid of the smell when she does go inside? This should help as well.

thanks for the replys ill try back to basics , she knows the comand toilet means to go outside and she will go out just not do anything and then cum back in, weve started as of today putting them in the conservatory wen we go to work so they are in a more confined space and unable to trash 3 rooms lol,

ill try taking her our hourly, and on her own and see if that helps.


as for cleaning up mess all we use is whattever we have to hand usually a floor cleaner something antibac or bleach.

we have woof floors throughout and tiles in the conservatory, what would you guys recomend as a cleaning solution ?

lexiepb wrote:we have woof floors throughout and tiles in the conservatory, what would you guys recomend as a cleaning solution ?

Anything without amonia! To a dog, amonia smells like urine & that will encourage them to wee in the same spot again! You could try a solution of biological washing powder, that usually does the trick. Or you can pay a bit more & get a special cleaner from the pet store, but it does the same job as the cheaper alternatives!

It sounds as if whoever had her before hasn't just told her off for going in the house but has frightened her to the point she doesn't want to go to the toilet in front of anyone in case she is told off. So what others have said is right, dont tell her off for going toilet in the house, dont even look at her just clear it up and carry on with what you are doing. If possible put her in another room whilst you clear it up so she doesn't pick up on any of your emotions and get more anxious. I think a crate might be useful in this circumstance, when you are out put her in a crate and when you get back take her strait out of the crate and into the garden. You might have to wait out there for an hour but if shes been confined all day then she should really need to go, when she does give her massive loads of praise, treats are good, something she really likes! When she realises going to the toilet is a positive thing she gets rewarded for she might be less fearful of going. It might also help to use a certain area of the garden to take her to so she smells previous-wees and is encourasged to go there. you say that she used to go on walks so maybe putting her on a lead before taking her to the garden might help further.

Good luck, if you need tany more help or have any questions ask us! Its what we're here for!

thanks guys, managed to get her weeing a bit in the garden having to be out with her for quite a while repeating over and over go for a wee or go to the toilet type of thing and she has done and wen she dose i give her loads of fuss. its just frustrating when you can clearley tell she needs to but wont go like tonight i took ehr out tried everythign she went to squat a few times but then just decided to charge at ozzy and try n play instead which got me really angry as shes just being stuborn... its more the fact that she was fine for months with this and now to me is just just acting up and choosing to be a pest that is peeing me off, the other day while i was at work aparently she ate her breckfast and while my oh was waiting for ozzy to finish to then let her out for a poo after havign a wee she just proceded to poo infront of him infrotn of the tv witout any warning. he told her off and tried to take her outside to finnish off but she wouldnt her behaviour just comes across as stubborn and like shes choosing to just be a pain in the * n thats the anoying bit. i would never get rid of her because i love her to bits but ive just had enough of it now

im strugleing to do normal things as it is atm with being pregnant making things reli hard for me atm as im constntly exhaustend n feeling or being sick so just dont have the energy or mental strength to put up with it at the moment especially wen ozzy is such a saint and she was so good and has just changed so much, its like shes a stroppy teenager throwing a paddy

*bangs head against wall* ive just had enough

Take them out seperatly. Also she can feel your stress and things in the family unit changing, there a very intuitive breed.

And give yourself some breathing space, can oh do some of the training too? Please just be calm and it will click back into place. Hugs for you Xx

ive tried taking them out together and seperatley, i just tried taking her out again and still nothing... my oh isant reli that dominant with them and they no that so they listen to me more than him they seem to see him as a bit of a walk over, hes around a lot more than i am these days as he works more evenings and i work days so i reli want him to help resolve this as i cant have this going on wen babys here and the stress is doing me no good what so ever
ive only bin in "full time work" since september and my contract ends in march which is just before i would be due to go on maternity leave (im maternity cover for some one else) this issue would be so much easier resolved if i was at home 24/7 like before , i feel like i need to get a profeshional in to adress her problems but i cant afford anything like that or afford to take her to training classes which im sure would help.

sorry for being so whiney, feeling very sorry for myself today lol

Don't be sorry, emotions are all over the place for you. To be honest I think you have just answered you own question, your OH has to be as consistant as you are being, otherwise mixed messages are confusing to her and it will take a long time to get her back on track so speak.

You will get there but OH has to be doing the same as you Xx

ive just spoken to a friends mum and she says beaus behaviour sounds like a dominance thing over ozzy and has given me lots of tips and suggestions to kick her butt in to gear including starting crating her so were gonna really shake things up over the next few days and hopefully get a new improved routine in place xx feeling much betetr about everything now xxx

Congratlations on your pregnancy. Whatever you do, relax first. Easier said than done but I am sure she is feeding on your stress and anxiety..

Well good luck, you'll get there