Oh, and I don't want to make it sound like we don't like him or want to banish him, we do, I'm just sleep deprived from his constant whining in the crate when I try to sleep during the day.
Is this dog housebreakable? Jury's out
So my boyfriend and I adopted Bowie, this 14 lb chihuahua-dachsund-terrier? Mix on November 16th, and he's kind of awful. I say that with love. For the first week he was perfectly housebroken. We could leave him alone for 4-6 hours in our tiny san francisco apartment and we'd come back to a pristine home.
Then.....the trail mix.
I came home from work (I'm a nurse and work 12 hours), took a shower and found that that Bowie had eaten an entire snack size bag of fruit and nut trail mix. He was fine for a day, then on thanksgiving day he spent the entire day lethargic, projectile vomiting and pooped on the floor. He was so sick I thought I was going to have to take him to an e-vet, but he survived his trial. And a new, non housebreakable Bowie emerged.
I've tried crate training him, but he freaks out in there. I've tried secluding him in one room but he has full blown panic attacks. I bought him a belly band but when I put him on him I might as well be strapping him to some hot coals with the way he reacts. Also he tries to bite me on occasion. I work 3 nights a week, and my boyfriend works odd hours. For the most part someone is always home, albeit I'm asleep sometimes. We walk him probably every 2 hours. Quite often he will pee on the walk and come home and immediately pee or poop in the bathroom. I know he can hold it freakishly long because I had him on a leash/crate for 18 hours when it was raining and he refused to go. Oh, and I bought him a jacket so he'd go out in the rain, but wearing it seems to make him homicidal.
Please help me, I spend my nights cleaning human waste I don't want to come home to dog waste. He's becoming more of a burden than a companion at this point.
Then.....the trail mix.
I came home from work (I'm a nurse and work 12 hours), took a shower and found that that Bowie had eaten an entire snack size bag of fruit and nut trail mix. He was fine for a day, then on thanksgiving day he spent the entire day lethargic, projectile vomiting and pooped on the floor. He was so sick I thought I was going to have to take him to an e-vet, but he survived his trial. And a new, non housebreakable Bowie emerged.
I've tried crate training him, but he freaks out in there. I've tried secluding him in one room but he has full blown panic attacks. I bought him a belly band but when I put him on him I might as well be strapping him to some hot coals with the way he reacts. Also he tries to bite me on occasion. I work 3 nights a week, and my boyfriend works odd hours. For the most part someone is always home, albeit I'm asleep sometimes. We walk him probably every 2 hours. Quite often he will pee on the walk and come home and immediately pee or poop in the bathroom. I know he can hold it freakishly long because I had him on a leash/crate for 18 hours when it was raining and he refused to go. Oh, and I bought him a jacket so he'd go out in the rain, but wearing it seems to make him homicidal.
Please help me, I spend my nights cleaning human waste I don't want to come home to dog waste. He's becoming more of a burden than a companion at this point.
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how long is the time between the your walks?
perhaps he just can't hold it for so long.
or the walks are too short for him.
he's still adjusting, give him a few months of time and in the meantime walk him every 2 hours, be patient and treat him like puppy that still has to learn all that pee-and-poo-outside-business..
perhaps he just can't hold it for so long.
or the walks are too short for him.
he's still adjusting, give him a few months of time and in the meantime walk him every 2 hours, be patient and treat him like puppy that still has to learn all that pee-and-poo-outside-business..
You’ve had your dog for around 6 weeks? Not very long is it? Just because he didn’t toilet in the house for the 1st week doesn’t mean he was housebroken.
To me it sounds more like he was disoriented, unsure of where he was and what was what. Then he got very ill and now you feel that he is non housebreakable? How did you react to his accidents and his illness? Maybe your dog feels that he hasn’t had many nice experiences in his new home. First very ill, then stuffed in a crate, then put in a room on his own, then belly bands, a jacket? I think I’d be freaking out if all these new things were just foisted on a frightened little me without a proper, gentle introduction.
What do you use to clean up accidents? If you don’t remove all trace of the smell, he will be attracted to the same spots again.
Do you reward him when he toilets outside? If not, you should, generously to begin with. And not make any fuss if he goes in the house. Nobody likes to come home to a mess. But in many cases it is part and parcel of bringing a new dog home.
Have you and your boyfriend really got the time to properly train your dog? If so, there are many stickies on this website on housebreaking and crate training, but time, patience and real commitment is needed. And he will make mistakes, and you will make mistakes, and you will lose sleep, I’m sure lots of new dog owners do and feel it will never end. But with gentle, consistent training you should achieve your goal and have a clean house and a happy dog.
Good luck.
To me it sounds more like he was disoriented, unsure of where he was and what was what. Then he got very ill and now you feel that he is non housebreakable? How did you react to his accidents and his illness? Maybe your dog feels that he hasn’t had many nice experiences in his new home. First very ill, then stuffed in a crate, then put in a room on his own, then belly bands, a jacket? I think I’d be freaking out if all these new things were just foisted on a frightened little me without a proper, gentle introduction.
What do you use to clean up accidents? If you don’t remove all trace of the smell, he will be attracted to the same spots again.
Do you reward him when he toilets outside? If not, you should, generously to begin with. And not make any fuss if he goes in the house. Nobody likes to come home to a mess. But in many cases it is part and parcel of bringing a new dog home.
Have you and your boyfriend really got the time to properly train your dog? If so, there are many stickies on this website on housebreaking and crate training, but time, patience and real commitment is needed. And he will make mistakes, and you will make mistakes, and you will lose sleep, I’m sure lots of new dog owners do and feel it will never end. But with gentle, consistent training you should achieve your goal and have a clean house and a happy dog.
Good luck.
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