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Sun 11 Jul, 2004 07:09 am
I know this topic gets a lot of play but I still want to ask again to see if anything new arises.
I just adopted a very sweet (about 1.5 year old) female husky. She was wandering the streets for a few days and I finally nabbed her and had my Vet give her a once over. She is free of heartworm, has a mild ear infection (yeast and bacteria, which I'm treating), had terrible fleas (but a bath and Revolution application seems to have cured that), and she's in heat and hasn't been fixed (that will be "cured" in about 3 weeks).
Obviously, I do not know her history. She seems to be a bit skiddish; I don't know if that's from former abuse or just because things are so new and changing. My other adopted stray (male) and she get along well. She thinks the cats are okay too. They're a bit leary of her but she doesn't really even take much note of them: Hmm, they exist...interesting...
Anyway, I don't think she has any idea of where and when to eliminate. The first night she peed three times on the floor and left a decent sized pile of fecal matter. Yesterday (second day), I walked her quite a few times, but elimination didn't seem to occur to her during the walk. For example, I walked her at about noon. I left for about 20 minutes at 4:15 and she made a fecal deposit and peed while I was away.
I walked her this morning after feeding. If I walk her onto grass several times, she will pee (almost reluctantly). No sign of an interest in defecation, though. I'm going to crate her when I leave and at night to try to cure some of the problem, but I'm wondering what the best route to take would be in this situation.
I don't think she associates outdoors with elimination any more than she does indoors. They're probably both equally good propositions to her. Unfortunately, I can't watch her every second as she moves around. So my fear is that I'll be too late too often to catch her in the act. Thus, I won't be able to whisk her outside while she is mid-elimination so she gets the idea.
Sorry...I'm just jabbering away in stream of consciousness mode, so if it doesn't make sense, I'm sorry. But I could sure use your help!
Ideas, please...
Thanks...
Micky
Bit of a rush, but see:
http://www.inch.com/~dogs/cratetraining.html
I had a pound dog with very hazy ideas of the purpose of the great out of doors and crate training worked.
Thanks for the link.
Man, I've walked her about 6 times this AM. She seems to do more marking (squat and little emission) than urinating, and there are no signs of a bowel movement as yet. Obviously, she may not have to go but I sure am gunshy: Light beige carpet and dark brown movement don't make for a good combination.
Any other ideas will be duly considered.
A thought, too: Does anyone know of anything that will take the residual stain out? I can pretty much get rid of the smell and fecal remnants but there's still a light yellow/brown stain left over after an accident.
The best "solution" (could have two meanings here, aye) you have found would be most appreciated.
One thing about walking the dog, micky. Some of them simply won't dump while on a leash. I don't need to understand this, and neither do you. The fact is that some of them can hold off forever - until they're off leash. They are usually off leash when they are safely back in the house.
That's not good to hear! Hopefully, she'll somehow get the message.
We walked about :30 minutes ago. Hotter than blazes out, too. She didn't pee on the journey. However, about 5 minutes after being back in the house, she disappeared from sight for a few minutes and, sure enough, she had eliminated a modest quantity of urine on the carpet.
Dayum!
She defecated outdoors after her dinner tonight. It was a pleasant sight to see...well, sort of... : )
Ack...But at 1:00 AM she had a pretty bad case of the runs. She really sprayed the inside of her crate (and outside it, too). I had to clean her, her crate and the rug while in a zombie stupor.
I suspect moving from a diet of garbage, literally, to one of a high nutrient, natural formula has probably thrown her system into a funk. I'll see if the Vet has anything to get us through this transition period. His scan for parasites the other day turned up nilch but I suppose that isn't definitive, so we may need to explore that route further, too.
Poor dog. Poor long haired dog. Poor Micky. Poor rugs. The course of true love never did run smooth and light colored rugs are a vacuum nature seems to abhor.
She's a lucky dog--and you're earning points towards golden slippers and a heavenly crown blessed by the SPCA.
Hold your dominion.
Sounds like you're making progress. Lots and lots of praise for her when she does it "right." One of our dogs -- whom we also adopted from a questionable background -- refused to use the great outdoors at first. I really think it was partly a security issue -- that is, he didn't feel secure enough to broadcast his presence to the outside world. He would also hold and hold until he was inside, and then immediately pee or poop under the piano bench or in a corner or wherever it occurred to him to go.
It was plain old repetition and rewards that got him over the idea of not going outside. Some trainers have the notion that you can "spot" a place outside for them to go. The thinking is that you take some of their urine (ona rag or a training pad or something) and dab it on the ground in the area you'd like the dog to use. This never seemed to work for us, but some people swear by it.
Last note... texture is very important to a lot of dogs in choosing a place to poop. Our older dog was trained (during winter) in a patch of high grass and ivy, and over three years later he only poops if he's over plants that are high enough to touch his butt. It's weird, but it might be something to watch for...
Thanks for all the suggestions and the kind thoughts.
She had a larger sample analyzed today and fortunately still no parasites were discovered, so the Vet thinks it's probably the change of diet, albeit a change to a better one, and all the new experiences that are the culprits. He wants her switched to Science Diet I/D for a few days (small, frequent feedings), along with imodium and Flagyl (an enteric antibiotic, just in case). I'll give this a spin and hope for the best. I may also try the urine/feces spotting in an area close to the house once the diarrhea has been vanquished.
I'll keep you posted as to the progress. And I'll keep reading if anyone has any other thoughts. I guess it comes as no surprise that the tamale trots don't assist one bit when it comes to housebreakin'.
Oh, and Noddy, when it comes to getting into heaven, I need all the leverage I can get. ; }
That's a beautiful dog you've got there. Our first dog had colitis and it was treated with Science Diet's Canine RD (mixed in with his regular food). It's worth asking the vet.
Thanks, Jespah. I have to agree: she is a real sweetie.
So far today, no signs of diarrhea. In fact, she hasn't had a movement all day. She may have evacuated herself pretty completely wih all the diarrhea. She hasn't had a lot of food today, so I'm hoping she makes it through the night w/o having to go.
We had a lot of thunder and lightning today. I was happy to see she isn't bothered by the fireworks. The other stray climbs the walls when the sky starts a rockin'. I've never been able to get over the hump with respect to storms.
I will ask about RD on our Thursday recheck.
Take care...
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