TFacer

My wife and I adopted a 4 year old basset hound, Annie, from the Las Vegas Basset Rescue back in September. Since then, we have been able to contact the Rescue one time, and that was when our other dog, a bloodhound, started to throw up a week or so after we adopted Annie. We never received the vet records, so we signed Annie up with Georgia's (our bloodhound) vet. We ended up finding out she had a very bad ear infection which my wife worked diligently to clear up with the medicine and cleaner. We had no idea what her shot history was, so they gave her the shots she should have had. She developed a pretty nasty rash on her belly and armpits, they gave us antibiotics and the mostly cleared up. That is all the background to what has happened recently.
For some reason she no longer wants to pee outside. She was supposed to be housebroken, but she really wasn't. At first we blew it off and assumed the stress of a new house, new family, new "sister" was causing her problems. But now, over two months later, she has developed a fear of the rocks she is supposed to go on and now prefers to pee on the carpet, rugs, bed or couches. Unless we have their food or a treat, calling her name causes her to shake and pee. She is the biggest snuggle bug I have ever seen, but once we try to get up, she goes crazy. I am a disabled vet with bad knees, and getting down on them 3 times a day to try and pick up after her has gotten to me. My Aunt told us to have her checked out for a UTI, and she has an appointment tomorrow morning.
Does anyone on here have ANY other ideas we can share with the vet? I don't want to give up on her, but we can't keep this up. Please provide me any info you can. Is this a nervous dog thing? Was she beat before she went to the shelter and something triggered the memories? Anything? Thank you all for any help you can provide to my family!

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eclairs mom

Bless you for taking in a rescue! I don't have any answers other than what you have commented on yourselves. I can tell you that every dogs personality and back story is dfferent. I have 4 rescues, one had potty problems, one was real sick, one was petrified of his own shadow and one is very very needy. One rescue I have worked with taught me the rule of 3-3 days to get used to new surroundings, 3 weeks to catch on to new routeens and 3 months to truly bond!
Life with a rescue seems hard at first, but a solid consistent routeen and a lot of care and attention and you will get there, don't give up, your guy needs some time to adjust!

Jnfr

Sorry, I have no real advice to offer. Just wanted to say welcome and you have two FINE looking hounds!

If the vet rules out any medical causes, we have some great behaviorist here that may be able to offer some good advice.

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Jnfr

Sophie (ATB (1996-2010)
Abby (ATB 2010 - 2012)
Jake (2001 - )
Ellie (2012 - )

MaggieMaysMom

I am sure Micky will come along and have a lot of info for you. But I can tell you this much. Peeing only on carpet or beds or couches sounds like a substrate preference, the dog has learned to go in places that are soft to the feet. You mention rocks being the place to go, do you have an alternative that is softer on the feet, more like grass or dirt?
I would go back to basics, take the dog out often and treat when it goes where it should EVERY time for quite a while. If she's not predictable for when she goes, supervise her constantly, crate her when you can't.
I don't know if it's very much help, but I wish you well. She's so pretty!

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~Maggie May b. Jan 2011~
1/2 basset
1/2 pointer
1 whole love bug

bubbad

The difficult thing is not knowing the background but the rescue should have given you papers from whatever Vet they use,no rescue that I am aware of brings in a dog and doesn't bring it up to date on whatever they feel it needs. Housetraing,any dog coming into a new environment is likely to lapse in this area.You have to pretend she is a puppy and start from there.Don't let her anywhere in the house by herself she must be with you at all times or you will lose the battle. You can tie a long leash around yourself to keep her with you ,take her out after naps,playing drinking etc. just like a puppy.The stones may be something she has never been on before and feels weird to her feet,you may need to do something about that. If she goes inside do not react unless you catch her doing something,if you didn't see her do it don't let her see you clean it up,when you clean it up place the paper towel out in the area you want her to go to to pee,so it seems like she went there before.

TFacer

Thank you all for your help so far. A bit more background. I live in Las Vegas, where there is no water and therefore no grass. We have "desert landscaping" When we take the dogs on walks, Annie stops at any house with grass (ones built before ours was were grandfathered in) so I do believe she had grass at her last place. Technically, we are still in the "trial adoption" phase because we can't get a hold of the shelter. I gave up after emails and phone calls; my wife tried again recently with no luck. We have tried the treat thing, when the dogs come back in, they get a treat every time. Our bloodhound is 2 years old, we have had her since she was 6 months, and every time she comes in from the backyard she gets something. It's kinda hard to say, but my wife and I cannot have kids, so Annie and Georgia are our two special little girls. If she needs help, she will get it from us. We just need to know where to look. Just knowing that there is a site like this has already helped.

JustRoxy

She is a beauty, congrats on going rescue! I recently took in my first rescue and am also kind of learning as I go along. One thing I can tell you is you might want to try carrying treats with you as you go on walks or take her out and give her one and lots of praise as soon as she pottys. With my boys when we were potty training I started giving them treats when they came in and they missed the point completely - they though they were being rewarded for coming back in the house instead of for going potty.

TFacer

Jnfr, I think you might have actually helped me. You mention behaviorist, I have been trying to think of a physical problem, but maybe a mental one? She is a rescue dog, and I have no idea her background. But when we first got Annie, I was home on disability. In fact, that's why we looked for another dog. My bloodhound and I are best friends, I would come home from work at 6:30 in the morning and she would greet me with a flying tackle. We would play in the back yard until breakfast. I hated going out and leaving her alone. But my leg got worse, to the point where I was put in a walking boot and had to go on short term disability. I couldn't play with her as much, so we got Annie so Georgia could have a playing partner. Annie doesn't play much, she prefers to cuddle, and since I was home 24 / 7, the three of us spent a lot of time together, and my wife and I (she works swing shift, no one in Vegas works a regular shift!) would really spoil them. But... I went back to work three weeks ago, and it changed everyone's schedule. We leave my bedroom door open and some time between an hour or two after my wife leaves the girls come invade the bedroom and jump up with me (Annie has her stairs) I wake up, we have a few hours, then my wife gets home and I go to work. She stays up for a few hours hen it's back to bed. Could this change be part of the problem? She goes through massive shaking spells where we have to really try and calm her down, but we don't remember them happening when we first got her. Could the weird hours have her messed up?
I am sorry I am typing mini novels here... I know it's too much info but this is really hurting me trying to figure this out

TFacer

Roxy, I think you are on to something. Whenever we go in the backyard (I'm a guy, I love my grill and my smoker) and come back in, they run to the treat rug. Treat them outside after the go? Man I wish I had found this site so much earlier!

Wioleta

I think MaggieMay is on to something with the substrate preference. Since grass isn't an option for you, maybe you could try something that would be a substitute for grass, such as the "potty patch" or even some outdoor rug or mat that you could spray off with the hose after she goes on it.

And the change in schedule could have a lot to do with it. Some dogs (and people too) have a really hard time adjusting to changes in their routines.