My hubby and I recently (3 days ago) adopted a 2 year old female (spayed) coonhound as a companion for a 3 year old lab mix. The lab was crate trained, house trained and obedience trained using the Leerburg web articles and video, and we're very pleased with the way he's turned out over the 2 years we've had him. However, we have an irregular work schedule, and decided it would benefit him to have a companion he can actually play with (we also have 3 cats, but they are off limits for doggie play).

We've been trying to do the groundwork section of training, and Willow (the coonhound) seems content to go into her crate for a treat, but gets agitated and howls after a while. That's not the problem though... we kinda expected that because our other dog took a couple of weeks to get to the point that he was not complaining when we crated him.

The problem is that she won't pee outside. She goes outside after every meal, every exercise and every time we either wake up or get home. We also let her outside as many times as we can in between. She hasn't pooped inside the house, but she has only peed in the yard a couple of times... every other time has been in her crate. This afternoon, my hubby let her outside for half an hour before he went to work at 4pm, and by the time I got home at 6pm, she'd peed in her crate again. She obviously doesn't like doing it because the 2 times I've been home when she's done it, she raised hell before and afterwards. I thought I was doing the right thing by ignoring her howls so she doesn't learn to howl longer for attention... but then when I walk through the house I find she's peed in her crate. She's an adult dog, and is certainly capable of holding her pee for a long time because the last time I discovered one of her little gifts was about 5 hours ago, and she hasn't peed since, despite having had dinner, exercise (proper walk, not just running in the yard) and lots to drink. All this time I have been keeping an eye on her, but I'm worried that by not ignoring her when she howls, this will ruin the crate training. Since she's peed outside so little, we really haven't had ample opportunity to praise her for doing her business outside. Unfortunately, due to work commitments, we are not able to sit outside with her for 4 or 5 hours to wait until she pees so we can praise her.

We did order the eBook on house training, but my hubby screwed up and put the wrong expiration date on the credit card thing, so we have to wait until tomorrow now. It's just getting really frustrating having to wake up, clean up pee, come home from work, clean up pee. This is why we got an older dog and not a puppy. If anyone can offer up any advice on older dogs, I'd appreciate it. Does her behaviour sound like it's due to her not being properly trained before, or could it be anxiety? Any help would be appreciated.

I haven't housetrained an older dog, but a few thoughts come to mind. I would bet that Willow was kept in some type of kennel where the flooring was either rocks or cement so she never learned to go pee on grass. When I got my rott puppy (8wks old) he had been kept on cement flooring in his kennel and it took us a long time to get him to poop on the grass. He would pee, but then make his way over to the sidewalk to poop. It took weeks of us moving him back to the grass before he finally got it.

I don't think there are any shortcuts to getting her to pee outside. Do you take her out as the same time as your male, sometimes when they are with another dog that goes potty it helps trigger their need to go. With your work schedule, it sounds like you will need to spend your day off keeping her on the grass as much as posible so you can reward when she finally does pee on the grass. Thats the only way she's going to learn that's what you want her to do.

Anxiety could cause her to pee in her crate but I don't think that would explain her not wanting to pee on the grass. It's going to take you taking her to the grass as much as you can and be ready to reward her when she finally does go where you want.

I'm sure other will reply to your post with other usefull information,

Good Luck,

Peggy is right about there being no shortcuts. Having trained adopted adult un-housetrained dogs, I can tell you that the process is exactly the same as starting at square one with a puppy. The problem often appears to be that the dog has been forced to go inside her kennel or other living area and has no idea that the rules of a lifetime have suddenly changed.

I agree with Peggy that you have to find the time to stay outside with her until she has to go, because she has to see that it elicits your marker, praise, and wonderful rewards.

She doesn't get it yet.

http://www.leerburg.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=158061

http://leerburg.com/housebrk.htm
(A multi-part article; I'd read it all.)

http://www.leerburg.com/qahouse1.htm

This will work if you are 100% consistent and stay calm. :> I have never had a failure, and you won't either.

Thanks for your support

Willow really is a great dog... she's smart, and I'm sure she'll "get" it sooner or later (she's already leaned her new name, not to barge through doors, and how to walk nicely on a leash with her prong collar). She's also great with our other dog, and curious but calm with our three cats.

My hubby thinks that maybe she was either an outside dog with her previous owner, or that she was trained using those silly pee pads. We are taking some time off work next week so we can spend a full day and night with her (I work days, hubby works nights) and try to catch her peeing outside so we can reward her.

 Quote: Jen Churchward

My hubby thinks that maybe she was either an outside dog with her previous owner, or that she was trained using those silly pee pads. We are taking some time off work next week so we can spend a full day and night with her (I work days, hubby works nights) and try to catch her peeing outside so we can reward her.

Yes, that really is the way to go. Good plan! (Those pee pads are indeed a bad plan. JMO.)

Taking the time off will be worth it in accelerating the process. I'd get some high-value treats.

Don't forget to wipe down the crate with Nature's Miracle to remove the pee scent, and do it every time after an accident.

Well, we're seeing a bit of progress. Willow will now pee outside, and she knows she'll be rewarded for it. I don't think she can be too fussy about the surface... so far I've seen her pee on the concrete and on the grass (and even in a lake on her walk this morning!). She has still peed a couple of times in her crate though... last night when we got home from shopping, she had peed in her crate. When she does this, we clean it with water and bleach, and then spray it down with Simple Solution (is this essentially the same as Nature's Miracle?)

We finally got the eBook (after my hubby called and corrected his mistake). The book says to put her on a leash and guide her to the spot where we want her to pee. So far I haven't seen her pee when on a leash... is this something we should just forget for the time being and be grateful that she's actually going outside? Or should we really try to get her to go while leashed? Most of the time when she does go outside, she'll sniff around for a few minutes, then pick a spot and do her business. I'm afraid we might be confusing her with the leash.

Also, I've been trying not to let her have play time with our other dog while they're at home. They're not permitted to play in the house anyway, but I don't want any dominance issues over the yard between the two of them. I have been letting them play together in a neutral area though, and making sure I step in if Willow gets too pushy. She tends to pester Edley (our male Lab mix) by trying to lick at his ears all the time (I also caught her trying to grab his leg earlier... weird). Anyway, a sharp "Hey" from me and she quits pestering. I've been reading all the articles about introducing a new dog. I know that my hubby and I are the pack leaders, but how do the two dogs establish who is higher then who in the ranking?

 Quote: Jen Churchward

I know that my hubby and I are the pack leaders, but how do the two dogs establish who is higher then who in the ranking?

I know that not everyone concurs with this (although I don't think you will find disagreement on this board about NOT allowing the dogs to settle rank issues on their own), but I consider myself #1 and all the dogs #2. This is directly stealing a Cesar Millan statement , but it's exactly how I maintain my own pack's order.

Certainly I do know who considers himself top among the dogs, and I also know that the others agree with him, but I don't allow any kind of physical manifestation. Works for me.

see below

moved to

http://leerburg.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=334467&page=0#Post334467


(You want your own thread, Jennifer. This is someone else's -- AND it's old. )