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Potty issues

384 Views 5 Replies 4 Participants Last post by  Curls
Hi, everyone. I am not new to owning dogs. In fact many years ago I bred Rottweilers.
This is my first experience with a small dog.
He is a 7byear old Yorkie. He's a perfect dog except for one thing.
He won't think twice about going to the bathroom in the house. We walk him 2 -3 times a day. He isn't crate trained. But we have grandchildren and we have a large corral ( it's a big, fold up one to set up a quick area to keep the kids in. ) when He's in there he will hold it. So we know he can hold it if he wants. But if we leave him alone for awhile then all bets are off.

So I would like any suggestions 🤔 that the community will come up [email protected]
Thanks
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We have only had him for 3 weeks.
Keep in mind that it can take a newly rehomed dog some time to settle in, to adapt and adjust to all the changes they have gone through (-- your pup has been 'rehomed' at least twice in a very short period of time). Some dogs it may adjust fairly quickly, while for others it may take many months for them to trust and believe they are not going to be rehomed again.

This graphic gives a general outline of what to expect.

Dog Vertebrate Carnivore Dog breed Mammal


So we know he can hold it if he wants. But if we leave him alone for awhile then all bets are off.
I am assuming by this, that you mean when you leave him by himself in the house?

It is also not uncommon for newly rehomed dogs to experience 'abandonment'/separation difficulties, (from their perspective - it happened before, it could happen again), (I have adopted several rescues over the years) until they learn to trust, with practice and over time, that when you leave, you indeed will be returning home to them. Stress/ anxiety may be contributing to his inability to maintain house training skills, and he may need help to understand that when you leave, you will indeed be coming back. Perhaps consider practicing 'separation' and work up to actually leaving the house- (you could start with simply leaving him in another room), very briefly at first, gradually increasing the time you are gone, give him a stuffed Kong to work on, or safe chew bone - something to help keep him calm and busy. (Make a point of giving him a Kong or some other item you plan to use at other times as well, so that the item does not become associated with the fact that you are leaving him.)
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