[tsherma]

Hello,
it has been about a week and a half since we adopted our dog. He is about two years old and was found abandoned under a bridge. Beyond that we don't know much anything about his background. He does seem to have been loved and cared for at some point. He is the friendliest little guy and is fairly well trained. The first few days after we brought him home he would do all his 'business' outside, although he would only go on the sidewalk. He had no issues running around and being in the grass, but when it came time to do his 'business' it was always on the sidewalk. A few days ago he changed that. When we take him for walks he would pee on a pole or a tree, but only enough to mark his territory. He just stopped pooping all together. He had a good appetite and was in a good mood. After a couple days we called the vet and she told us that if he wasn't unsuccessfully trying to go while on a walk, then he probably just didn't have to go and not worry about it. During this time while he keeps eating and stopped pooping, my wife and I took him for lots of walks to try to encourage him to go. Still nothing. Finally one day while we not home for about 2 hours (we had walked him right before we left) he just exploded. I have never seen so much poop. It was all 3 days worth of poop saved up for this one occasion. It was even normal poop (no diarrhea). We figured that he was just blocked up and hopefully he will be better now. Well it doesn't look like that is the case. It has been two days, and hasn't pooped. He barely pees outside, although he did pee in his crate today.
Things started out so well, I am not sure what happened. Does anyone have any advice to get him back on track? He is still well behaved and friendly, and other than this has been great.
thanks

 

[Grabby]

I would start Housetraining 101. Treat him as though he was a young puppy being housetrained. Don't scold him for any accidents. Do praise and give him a treat every single time he goes outside.

It takes time for dogs to settle in a new home. We can't really imagine all the stress they might be feeling over new people, new house, new schedule, new rules, etc.

This is a great blog post by a well known trainer. Her book, which is mentioned, is also well worth getting for anyone with a newly adopted dog.

Three Ways to Confuse a New Dog

Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[tsherma]

Thanks for the advice. We are trying the basics with him and are hoping they start to work. He seems like a very smart dog and has already picked up on many other of the routines around the house and responds some basic commands.
I read the article you attached and I am hoping that everything settles down by three months. Honestly if Teddy was having these house-training issues on day one I would have found it easier to deal with. But like I said, for the first week, he knew what to do, he went outside, slept quietly in his crate and didn't have any indoor accidents.
We'll keep trying and I am sure he will get it. It is definitely taking a toll on us in the mean time. No matter how many times we walk him, we just expect to come home to some kind of accident no matter how short of a time we are out for.

Thanks again, I'll keep you posted.

 

[tsherma]

we may have had a breakthrough. Its still early to tell, but so far seems to be working. Rather than crating him, we are now tethering him the couch. It keeps him from going upstairs or into the kitchen during the night or when we are out, but lets him have enough room to be comfortable and not feel caged. He did not bark all night and did not have any accidents. So far he has not shown us any issues with chewing furniture, so this might work.
We will start working on him learning to stay downstairs and our of the kitchen and eventually we can take him off the tether.