New House - Peeing Inside - Help!

[smashtank]

Hi everyone

Not sure if this is the right place for this.

My 13 month old Frenchie, Tank, has started peeing inside on carpet since we moved house last week. I'm kind of at my wits end with him and am starting to get more and more angry and frustrated with/at him.

Does anyone have any advice please re correcting this behaviour? He used to be really good inside. I was thinking crating him again at night, restricting him to the kitchen when not home (it's small though and he won't like being in there if we are home), leaving him on balcony, etc. (balcony is north facing so gets sun most of the day which isn't ideal for a Frenchie).

Also, what do I need to do to make sure the carpet isn't destroyed? I don't have any proper cleaning product yet so have just been trying to soak it all up with a towel and then water over the area. I don't really care how much a product costs - I just need to be able to get rid of any smells (thankfully not noticeable yet...).

Apartment is rented so REALLY need to sort this out...

Thanks for any advice!

[Rosetta]

The carpet needs to be sponged with a solution of diluted vinegar to neutralise the urine smell so he does not keep going back to the same spots. You need to be patient and teach him all over again where his toilet spot is - (balcony?). Do you have a dedicated toilet spot for him? A week is not a long time for a dog to get readjusted to a new place. They don't automatically know where to "go" unless they are taught. A paper towel or cloth with the "pee" smell placed where you want him to toilet will help him learn and confine him away from carpet when you are not there. He will eventually learn and be "good" again :)

[smashtank]

Thanks

I will get a bottle of vinegar. Assume Home Brand is fine? How do I dilute it?

Will try him on pads again too... :)

[dragonwoman]

Hi everyone

Not sure if this is the right place for this.

My 13 month old Frenchie, Tank, has started peeing inside on carpet since we moved house last week. I'm kind of at my wits end with him and am starting to get more and more angry and frustrated with/at him.

Does anyone have any advice please re correcting this behaviour? He used to be really good inside. I was thinking crating him again at night, restricting him to the kitchen when not home (it's small though and he won't like being in there if we are home), leaving him on balcony, etc. (balcony is north facing so gets sun most of the day which isn't ideal for a Frenchie).

Also, what do I need to do to make sure the carpet isn't destroyed? I don't have any proper cleaning product yet so have just been trying to soak it all up with a towel and then water over the area. I don't really care how much a product costs - I just need to be able to get rid of any smells (thankfully not noticeable yet...).

Apartment is rented so REALLY need to sort this out...

Thanks for any advice!

He is just doing what comes naturally!! It is we humans who don't like it..............probably traces of another dog left many moons ago......plus he will be feeling insecure and needing to remind himself he is on top of the situation

[Steph M]

Has he got access to outside?

Where was he going before and where is he expected to go now? Perhaps he doesn't know where to go now, I know mine won't go on concrete, as they've always had grass. Perhaps you need to go back to step one when you're home, watching him and taking him out every half hour and making a big deal when he does it outside?

Does he have a 'wee word' or anything you use to cue him to go pee? I find that's invaluable too. Makes life a lot easier when you know they've gone. Haha.

Just out of curiosity, is he desexed? Could be marking behaviour.

[smashtank]

Yep. He's desexed. He has a toilet word "go toilet" which I use with him.

He used to hold until we'd take him out in our last place or he'd go if he had to in a tiled area (same surface really as our balcony now).

Probably will just need to go back to square one! :/

[Steph M]

Yep. He's desexed. He has a toilet word "go toilet" which I use with him.

He used to hold until we'd take him out in our last place or he'd go if he had to in a tiled area (same surface really as our balcony now).

Probably will just need to go back to square one! :/

Could he have not made the association between courtyard and balcony? Perhaps taking a few steps back and starting fresh won't hurt. Sounds like maybe he just doesn't know where to go yet?

[smashtank]

Hopefully! Just frustrating as you can imagine. He's not the best listener being French and all ;)

[Rosetta]

Thanks

I will get a bottle of vinegar. Assume Home Brand is fine? How do I dilute it?

Will try him on pads again too... :)

I would just try half/half of white vinegar - any brand. Try a small patch first to test the carpet. I would get a paper towel first and rub on the urine patch and take that outside to place on his toilet spot so he associates the smell as the right place to pee. Take him there regularly and use your toilet command. He just doesn't know at this stage where the right place is - he will soon learn :)

[Her Majesty Dogmad]

Have you got a doggie door so that he can get out? The likelihood is that he may be going over old stains from pervious owners OR he's showing some sign of distress over moving house and this is how it's coming out.

You can get the carpet professionally cleaned but check they have something they use that removes the old smells. It could be almost impossible for you to try and find all the old smells until he goes over them. You can try a mixture of Napisan and water - pour over where he's gone, let it soak in for a few minutes and then get an old towel and stand on it to soak up all the moisture.

[Her Majesty Dogmad]

And you can train or retrain a dog at any age - I have used my method on 14 yr old dogs that have never been in a house in their lives and it worked, here you go:

HOUSETRAINING TIPS

Ok - first thing to do is decide on the command (I call it “do wees”) you will repeat over and over. You have to really focus on the dog for about 2-3 days to be successful. You have a pocketful of special treats on hand all the time for the first 2-3 days.

Walk the dog several times a day and every time the dog wees, you get very excited and keep saying “Good boy/girl, do wees, do wees” – give the dog treats every time.

First thing in the morning, last thing at night and every time you see the dog eat or drink (both precursors to weeing) whisk the dog into the garden and repeat the command “do wees”. Get very excited and present treats every time dog goes.

The dog’s aim in life is to please you. If the dog should have an accident inside the house – say NOTHING at all. The dog soon gets the idea that when he/she goes outside you are really, really pleased and he/she gets rewarded.

NB: Please note that the smell of urine must be properly removed for any housetraining to be successful. There are products on the market such as “Urine Off” but they are very expensive. A mix of white vinegar and water is a much cheaper alternative and should work for tiles and other surfaces although you should always take care with wood etc. For carpet/rugs, I use either a mixture of Napisan/water or bicarb of soda and water. I completely soak the stain using a dab on technique with a cloth. When it is very wet, I use an old towel to soak up the excess moisture. Again, be careful on any expensive carpet/rug, I have never had any problems but I cannot guarantee any method here.

[Esky the husky]

I've always always had to go back to square one with toilet training each time we move..

Just be patient and teach him the habits you want in the new house :)

[HazyWal]

My greyhound Maddie did the same when I moved 7 months ago. She only knew my old place ever since I had her and she was quite stressed when we moved here, weeing at the back door even if I went out for 10 minutes. I have floorboards and there had not been dogs living here previously. It took about 4 months for her to settle and now she's fine.

[Her Majesty Dogmad]

Hi everyone

Not sure if this is the right place for this.

My 13 month old Frenchie, Tank, has started peeing inside on carpet since we moved house last week. I'm kind of at my wits end with him and am starting to get more and more angry and frustrated with/at him.

Does anyone have any advice please re correcting this behaviour? He used to be really good inside. I was thinking crating him again at night, restricting him to the kitchen when not home (it's small though and he won't like being in there if we are home), leaving him on balcony, etc. (balcony is north facing so gets sun most of the day which isn't ideal for a Frenchie).

Also, what do I need to do to make sure the carpet isn't destroyed? I don't have any proper cleaning product yet so have just been trying to soak it all up with a towel and then water over the area. I don't really care how much a product costs - I just need to be able to get rid of any smells (thankfully not noticeable yet...).

Apartment is rented so REALLY need to sort this out...

Thanks for any advice!

Getting angry with him won't help - it might create a further problem, you need to understand the root cause of the issue.

Also, did you live in an apartment before or have you moved from somewhere he could get outside into an apartment??

Moving house is a big adjustment for a pet sometimes, you do need to try and be a bit understanding.

[ChewieTAG]

I find moving house to a new environment, we would need to re-train (keep an eye like a hawk) for 2-4 weeks before letting them roam freely without supervision. Regardless the age. Somehow they need to associate the new house is their new den!

I moved house recently and that was what I did. After about 2 weeks, they got the idea that this is their new home...

[Dogsfevr]

Yep. He's desexed. He has a toilet word "go toilet" which I use with him.

He used to hold until we'd take him out in our last place or he'd go if he had to in a tiled area (same surface really as our balcony now).

Probably will just need to go back to square one! :/

So reality is toileting inside for him if required was normal except it was tiled & Now its carpet.I doubt he has any clue that he is expected to go outside to the balcony because it sounds like toileting outside for him is when your with him otherwise its inside .

Frustrating even more for him .

Ideally i would have trained him from day one to use a indoor toilet ,even now you could simply buy some rolled turf & place it in a tray on the balcony & encourage him to use that but again this will depend i gather on the door being left open through winter ??

[koalathebear]

Even though all of our fosters are house-trained, we warn that they will almost inevitably have accidents when they first go to their new homes. As people above have mentioned, it's usually best to go back to basics.

I keep the dog on a leash inside or I section off a small area of the house e.g. the study so that the dog is never out of my sight. For the pups, they are crated.

I toilet the dog after drinking, meals and at regular intervals. As the dog becomes more trustworthy, it has access to more of the house. Some dogs catch on faster than others. If I slip up and don't supervise properly, we will sometimes find a puddle or a renegade poo in a strange room of the house with which the dog isn't yet familiar. With younger dogs, any sign of sniffing, slightly frantic behaviour or pacing results in them being taken outside to toilet.

We use urine-free (or an equivalent) to spray the area after we clean up.

Good luck with it. House-training is one of the least fun aspects of dog-training and requires a lot of patience. We also have a lot of princesses for some reason so as soon as we the dog house-trained, it have a protracted period of rainy weather and then all bets are off

[apocalypsepwnie]

I use half and half vinegar after soaking up as much as I can with a pee pad (they are better than paper towel and you can get them from the reject shop cheap. Also Biozet washing powder is wonderful. I use both that and vinegar on cat wee and it works so it'll work on dog pee.

We had Vinnie trained early and we used a few things;

-Adaptil around areas he would wee commonly

- Skip-to-my loo which is a product you spray on the surface you want him to wee on. Try it on pads first and slowly move them out the door

-Taking him after every meal and play time, before sleeping and after waking

- Treating when he went outside

[VizslaMomma]

I use half and half vinegar after soaking up as much as I can with a pee pad (they are better than paper towel and you can get them from the reject shop cheap. Also Biozet washing powder is wonderful. I use both that and vinegar on cat wee and it works so it'll work on dog pee.

We had Vinnie trained early and we used a few things;

-Adaptil around areas he would wee commonly

- Skip-to-my loo which is a product you spray on the surface you want him to wee on. Try it on pads first and slowly move them out the door

-Taking him after every meal and play time, before sleeping and after waking

- Treating when he went outside

That's great advice.

Because of an issue with a neighbour,the front lawn was no longer wise to use.

It took another period of adjustment to get Herbie to use the back yard.

Treats sealed the business, so to speak.

ETA: What type of adaptil was used?

Edited May 7, 2014 by VizslaMomma

[random111]

Hey all

First time poster.

We got our first puppy two days ago. He is a lovely little pug boy that is 12 weeks old. Came from a registered breeder with his papers.

We familiarized him with his crate from day one, put a ticking clock in there under a blanket which has relaxed him. He slept most of the day yesterday, got up for play and to meet new people as they visited.

We have his crate set up in the laundry with a baby gate at the doorway at night. He has around 2m x 1m to move around in the laundry when we put him in there. We set up puppy pads and are trying to teach him to 'go potty' on these with no luck. It's only been a couple of days but we have made no progress whatsover and have not been able to get him to go on the pads.

Here's what we usually try:

1. Get him to sit outside his crate, put his food down telling him to wait.

2. Once he has waited we let him eat his food in his crate and close the door.

3. We leave him in the crate for 30mins to 1 hour.

4. We take him out of the crate and straight onto the puppy pads outside his crate but in the laundry.

5. We wait there encouraging him to go potty with no luck.

6. The minute he gets out of the laundry, he waits until we aren't looking and he does a pee or poo.

Last night he slept fine in his crate with his door open in the laundry and puppy pads about a metre away from it all night, we leave the baby gate on the laundry so he can leave his crate to move around, have some water and chew on some safe toys. We were hoping he would also leave his crate to pee or poo on his own in the laundry. This morning we let him out of the laundry and the poor bugger had been holding his pee the whole night, he pee'd two times in quick succession no where near another pad we had set up in the living area.

Long story but he may have contracted kennel cough when he was leaving the breeders from a stray the breeder had taken in to care for, the breeders Vet advised to keep him indoors, warm, well fed and hydrated and he will get over it. If he gets worse then we can get him on antibiotics but he was reluctant to do so from now. So I haven't been able to take him outside to pee in the morning or evenings as it very cold, plus it is heated indoors so the change in temps i thought would not be good for him.

Can anyone help us with the following:

1. Why is he refusing to go in the laundry, is it too close to his crate where he sleeps so he does not want to go where he sleeps? I'm worried about him holding it all night, last night he held it for 10 hours! We woke up in the middle of the night to let him pee but he didn't. Is this possibly related to kennel cough?

2. What do i do when he goes potty somewhere where I don't want him to? Do i give him an 'Ah' or be negative with him? (first time dog owner here so I am still learning)

I've read this thread but am really struggling with the potty training and also biting, but I had a read of the biting thread and will try a couple of the techniques from there. Just concerned about potty training for now!

Can anyone help?

Thanks