Rescue Dog peeing everywhere......

Hi Everyone,

I am really looking ofr some advise as I really dont know what else to try anymore!

We rescued Casper 4 weeks ago today, he is about 2 and is a boy. We also have a 8 year old rescue Staffy called Misty! When we got Casper he was very nervous of everything, was quite skinny, he looks to me like his teeth have been filed down, he has sticky out ribs and had quite a bad lick granuloma on his leg! We dont know any history about him other than he was picked up as a stray! He is fantastic with other dogs and generally is a good boy! The only problem we are having is the peeing!!

After the first weekend he got over his fears of going up and down the stairs and has come on leaps and bounds in his confidence! We had a few accidents at first and I put this down to adjusting! Every time we went out and he would pee I would tell him "Good wee, and give him a treat" and ignore it being done in the house. But now I think he thinks he gets a treat for coming back to me! He has regular walks and on a whole holds it during the day whilst I am at work. We go for a walk about 10pm every night to make sure they have both had a pee, and he knows we go out as soon as I get up around 7.30am but every morning I am coming down to a pee! I cant crate him as he needs to wear a cone during the day and at night to stop him licking his leg and I feel it wouldnt be fair as he wouldnt be able to move properly! I have tried puppy pads to at least contain the pee but he doesnt go near them! I also dont give them access to water during the night so he doesnt drink too much!

As well as the pees in the night whenever my husband gives him a command or calls in our other dog he just piddles! I know this is just through fear, obviously a man has mistreated him before and we know that this will get better with time and confidence! He doesnt show any sign of aggression towards him, and will go for cuddles but as soon as he tells him to do something like get off the sofa he just pees! He even went to put his harness on to take him out and he just weed! But then when my hubby takes him out he is as good as gold for him, will sit and stay and walk to heel! I take him out and its like having tigger on the end of a lead!

Sorry to go on but I thought if you had as much info as possible someone might be able to point me in the right direction! I just dont know what else I can try!

Hi & welcome to the forum.

Oh dear, poor Casper, and poor you!

Before I say anything else, can I just say well done for rescuing two lucky staffords & let you know that it can take about 5 or 6 months for some rescue dogs to fully settle in their new home, especially if they've been mistreated in their past.

Firstly, do you make sure that you clean up every trace of pee with a non-amonia cleaner? As solution of biological washing powder or liquid is a good cleaner to use.

I would sugest, for a short while (maybe a couple of weeks), getting up during the night to let him out into the garden to relieve himself & see if that works. If it does, you can gradually make the getting up time later & later until he can go right through.

As far as your oh goes, it sounds like poor Casper has been badly treated by a man or men, and the peeing is purely a reflex action because he's been frightened in the past. As he settles and learns to trust again this will hopefully lessen & then stop.

When you walk him, what do you do to get him to walk with you & not pull like a train?

P.S. Don't apologise for trying to make things as clear as possible!

Hi,

Thanks for your reply!

Thanks, I think its important to give a staffy a home that needs one with so many ending up in kennels and so many people thinking they are a "bad" breed and not giving them a chance! We wouldnt have any other breed now, they are so loving!

If he does it on the wooden floor I mop it with bleech and hot water, if he does it on my rug I spray it with 1001 pet cleaning solution and then go over it with Vax cleaner in a carpet cleaning machine! He pees on the same end of the rug near the tv, but I turned it round incase it was the smell but he still does it near the tv!

Thats the other thing, he wont pee in the back yard, he will only pee on grass! We have put some sand out to see if he will go on that and been to B&Q and garden centre's to see if we can get some turf but apparently its not the season for turf!

He has a harness, when I walk him I tell him to heel, he seems to know the command but ignores me! So I will pull him back and when he isnt pulling tell him good heel! He walks to heel like the perfect dog for my hubby!

I think maybe we were lucky with Misty, she settled right in! I'm just concerened he is finding things stressful! Maybe he would have been better with a single lady owner?!

Hi and welcome to the forum from Rocky and me.

Yes I would agree the peeing is most probably reaction to being fearful, possibly of a mans voice by the sounds of it. Has Casper been checked over by your vet ? It could be that there is something amiss somewhere too but I would doubt this is the case.

I'm sure Casper will be just fine once fully settled in with your home life and routines. It may just take him a bit longer to trust your mans voice but you will get there.

Well done for rescuing, our dog Rocky is also from a rescue centre and it took him a while to settle in with us.

Dont use the bleach to clean up any mess made in the home as this will smell of ammonia, go with Caryll's suggestion and use a washing detergent if possible.

Welcome from us and miley good advice already given so can't comment on this one

Nat1984 wrote:If he does it on the wooden floor I mop it with bleech and hot water, if he does it on my rug I spray it with 1001 pet cleaning solution and then go over it with Vax cleaner in a carpet cleaning machine! He pees on the same end of the rug near the tv, but I turned it round incase it was the smell but he still does it near the tv!

Don't use bleach. The smell seems to be similar to urine (for a dog, that is!) and can encourage him to use the same spot. With the rug, you could try spraying some Neutradol or Febreze on it to mask any scent that may be left.

Nat1984 wrote:He has a harness, when I walk him I tell him to heel, he seems to know the command but ignores me! So I will pull him back and when he isnt pulling tell him good heel! He walks to heel like the perfect dog for my hubby!

He probably walks ok with your hubby cause he's scared of men!

With you, try the following....
As soon as he goes ahead of you, do an about turn & walk the other way. The second the lead tightens, say "heel" and keep walking. When he reaches your side say "heel" again and turn back the way you started! Do that every time he goes ahead of you & he'll soon get fed up with it & walk with you! Try to walk briskly so that he doesn't have time to think about it too much.

Nat1984 wrote:
I think maybe we were lucky with Misty, she settled right in! I'm just concerened he is finding things stressful! Maybe he would have been better with a single lady owner?!

No, he'll settle. One way or another, he has to be reassured that not all men are bad! Being in your home will help him understand that.

Again well done for rescuing, it sounds like Casper has fallen on his feet with you. You sound like a kind understanding owner something which he no doubt needs! Some great advice already given and I cant really expand on it. Just wanted to chip in an say well done for giving him your love and patience.

Louby does a mixture of sometimes its excitied peeing, like when a new person comes in to the house, and she jumps up at them, but then it can be nervous peeing aswell, especially when my husband is telling her of, same as you. It is very frustrating, mopping up afetr her, and i feel like we cant really tell her off for it.

Hi,

Sounds like you're doing everything right.

It's very early days and your rescue has some fears to overcome yet.

I foster dogs while they wait for forever homes and every so often one comes along that's scared/nervous of everything and extra peeing seems to be associated with this.

I also had one with a four hour bladder, which meant getting up at 4am to let her out - only takes a minute.

When she didn't settle into a routine, I went to the vet - turned out she had a minor infection which was irritating her and causing her to lose control.

Would just like to say well done on rescuing and I'm sure it will all come good soon.

sorry not got any advice to offer but just wanted to say Hi and well done on the rescue

It can take a while for a rescue to settle. He may not have been properly housetrained at his previous home. My girls still went in their crates when they had cones on and were ok, maybe you could try a crate with him. I used to get down next to the crate to make sure their cone went in ok.

Well we have had a bit of a breakthrough, we got Louby a crate on saturday, and she hasnt messed once since. I know its still early days, but we are so pleased with her. She has then gone to the toilet on her walks.
I hope im not speaking too soon.

how many walks and how long for does she get?

Hi and welcome from us and Suki. Only thing I can add is to have your OH be the one to feed and give water to build up trust. Also two walks per day of 45 minutes each should help him settle in.

Hi and welcome and well done on rescusing another staffie. My Pixee is from the Blue Cross, and we have no history of her either, except that she does not like certain men and women, more so the men. I remember the first time she had a verbal telling off from hubby, and it upset us all, she wet herself, went to run off and hide, but hubby called her back, and she curled up into a tight ball shaking. After telling her it was ok, we were careful not to upset her too much, a few weeks of bed wetting, she soon settled down well by sleeping in our bedroom. Does your rug look like grass, we had a red rug, which looked like grass if you know what I mean, not the carpet kind rug, and Pixee did wee on that a couple of times when we first had her. I threw it out, never happened again. I would use washing powder to clean up any wees and not bleach too. Give it time, and perhaps your husband if he uses a sharp voice could go softer when talking too. Good luck, you will get there.

Welcome if u can't get grass for out ur back what we did was build a little square 5 foot by 5 foot some length of wood 3 inch by 1 inch fill it with pee gravel buster goes there all the time