[Josey]

Hi all,
Don't know if you remember me, but I think one of the last times I posted, I was looking for suggestions on getting a new basset.
Well, about a month ago, we adopted a 2 y.o. rescue who is an absolute dear.
The only real problem so far is going to the bathroom in the house. I'm not bothered by the accidents that happen every now and then because I don't get home in time to put him out; that's my fault and I know why it happened.
What I *am* bothered by is that my 2 y.o., by all acoounts housebroken dog regularly -- as in, several times a week -- goes to the bathroom (pee or poop) in the house while I **am** home, with no indication that he needs to go outside, and sometimes soon after he came in from outdoors.
I usually let the dogs out first thing to relieve themselves, then feed breakfast, then we go to the barn to play. Once, right after he ate breakfast (after going outside), he pooped inside, in the 10-minute span between finishing breakfast and leaving for the barn. This morning, he went out TWICE (going to the bathroom both times), then peed inside while I was in the next room.
I understand that activity can get their bladders going, but I wonder if this isn't related to something more behavioral, like being "mad" because he isn't getting the attention he wants? (This morning, I was painting the house and he kept getting in the way, so I was pushing him aside, then he went and peed.)
We are the fourth home he's had in his two short years, and while he bonded with us incredibly quickly and he's a joy in every other sense of the word, I wonder if this is some behavioral problem related to being passed around so much.
This is a tough problem; if it happened while I was gone, maybe I'd crate him during the day, but it happens while I'm around, when I'm not looking.
Any insights or suggestions?

[ February 13, 2004, 07:34 PM: Message edited by: Josey ]

 

[Betsy Iole]

How terrific of you to give this guy another chance! It sounds like he's not housebroken (or he's not generalizing any housetraining he may have received), and this might be one of the reasons he's been passed around so much, poor guy.

 

[Libbo]

I have a 6 year old basset named sabastion. He was an outside dog until last year when we found out he had heartworms. He is a great dog inside the house except for his pee pee problems. Every 30 minutes he goes to the door wanting out to relieve his bladder. (which by the way does'nt hold much). At night he has accidents because he hates to wake us up. He will not do his business in the daytime but always at night. I have heard basset are hard to housebreak. I wish I had an answer for you.

 

[Josey]

Betsy,
Thanks for the suggestions, particularly the 6-ft. lead. Because the accidents literally happen in the time it takes me to turn the other way (this morning, he was out of my sight for all of three minutes), keeping him contained unless I can watching him like a hawk would essentially doom him to a life in the crate.
I'm trying to figure out what his potty cues are, but it's tough.
The other night, for ex., he woke me up at midnight whining... Did he need to go potty? No, he was just whining at the closed bathroom door because he could smell a bagel with cream cheese that he'd dug out of a coat earlier that was thrown in the garbage there. Four hours later, tho, he woke up and started padding around again. I'm thinking "enough about the bagel, already!" when I hear the tinkle of tinkle in the corner.
It's odd to me, too, that when we aren't home, he seems to understand the importance of trying to contain himself until he's let out (the accidents that happen while I'm gone are very predictable, like when I get stuck at work and he's home six hours without being let out), but doesn't do the same when we are around (see urinating indoors soon after being let out).
I'll read those housebreaking links and see if there's anything else there that I can cue into.

 

[corvuss]

Put him on a schedule. Outside to potty when he wakes up, after eating, after playing, and every hour or two.

Go outside with him to potty, and praise, praise, praise and treat when he does his business outside.

These things helped Tremendously with Dudley, our rescue Basset (he's almost 2 years old). After almost 3 months here, we have maybe 2 pee incidents in the house per week. Big-time improvement over when he got here. Don't know about yours, but watch him in bad weather too, Dudley still would rather stay dry and pee in the house than go out in the rain!

Oh yeah Josey, what's your dog's name?

 

[Anonymous]

When we first got Toby it took him a while to get properly house trained. His clues were so subtle it took us a while to catch on! Also he seemed to be nervous or something so that he drank water all the time, so had to pee all the time. We just praised him to high heaven and gave him a treat every time he did any business outside. If we did not actually see him messing in the house we ignored it. If did catch him at it, we told him "bad dog" and put him outside, and gave him a cookie when he performed. It just takes time to convince them that it is really worth their while (i.e. treat coming) to do their business only outside. Good luck.

 

[Barbara Winters]

Instead of trying to figure out his "potty queue's" try teaching him a way to signal you he needs to go out. I've used a bell for years. For info on this and other suggestions see a previous thread: Potty Problems! Please Help!

 

[Barb Couilliard]

It took Sophie a year to figure out potty training. She did a lot of the same things your 2 yr old is doing. I haven't seen this before on this forum, but I would pick her up and put her nose in it. I wasn't physically rough, but I'd press her nose in it and say "bad dog", then I'd put her outside for 10 minutes or so. We did this umpteen bazillion times. Whenever she went in the yard we praised her to the heights. Eventually the light bulb went off. I suspect with all the different foster homes, your little guy has never gotten out of the potty training stage. Also, I used Nature's Miracle like crazy. I didn't want her smelling places in the house to go to the bathroom. My thoughts are with you.....I know how trying this time can be.

 

[Aruuuu]

Originally posted by Josey:
. . . keeping him contained unless I can watch him like a hawk would essentially doom him to a life in the crate.
 

It may seem that way now, but a few weeks of containment could make all the difference. It will be worth it if you can use a crate to get past the most difficult training period.

 

[Josey]

It looks like we may be going the crate route, both for its housebreaking benefits and for a new problem that cropped up today:
I have a woman who rents a bedroom from me, and when she found Copper on the couch (where he's not supposed to be, as he knows-- when I catch him up there, I say "No, get down!" and he gets off), she tried to get him off (I'm assuming by pulling on his collar or pushing his body) and said he tried to bite her. This woman is a bit on the excitable side, so I can't really say how sincere his effort was, but I also can't have her feeling threatened by a 45-pound dog in her home.
He may have to go in the crate just so she doesn't need to deal with him.
I'm surprised and worried by this new behavior; snapping at people isn't a side of him that I've seen.
I've put in a call to a good dog trainer who helped me train Josey, my older and impeccably behaved mutt, when he was a pup. This may be an instance where some professional help up front could save a lot of hassles down the road.

 

[joanr]

Congrats on your new boy! One thing that really helped me in potty training was just remembering when the dog went in the house it was my fault. When he pooped in front of the frig, I thought HEY I keep my food there how dare you. I just had to remind myself that it was my fault, he didn't know better, and I had to keep an eye on him at all times. And I had a treat keep near the door, and always took it out with him. He only got that treat when he went outside.

I think it's great your not wasting any time seeing a trainer. I think you'll get this all worked out.
Joan

 

[Anonymous]

Bubba was seven months old when we got him. He had been in a home with four other Bassets, they all went out as a herd, and we were told he was house broken. Lots of accidents. I guess being on his own confused him, and we had to start all over, with crating, rewards for going outside, kept him leased to us when we had him out in the house, etc. It took us about three months and he finally got so he would do a silent sit at the door. You would turn around, and no Bubba, and there he would be by the door patiently waiting to be let out. We tired to teach him to woof to go out, he will woof on command, but he won't do it to go out. How ever, when it is below zero he will woof to get back in.
There was one spot he kept going back to if he got a chance, in spite of our efforts to clean and dedorize it. I read somewhere to put their food bowl in that spot and feed them there. It worked. They won't go where they are fed. Nothing like food and water bowls sitting in the middle of the living room floor, but it did work for us.

 

[Josey]

Thanks again, everyone.
Bubba, I read the same thing about the food bowl, so I've started feeding him in the living room, which of the several spots he tends to go in, is the one I want to curtail the most.
I'm trying to be much more enthusiastic about when he does go outside. Until now, given that I was told he was housebroken and my other dog is such an old pro about it, I didn't really make a big deal of him going to the bathroom outside; I just took it for granted. Now I'm trying to bring that positive reinforcement back into the picture.
I'm also trying to keep a much closer eye on him, as Besty suggested, calling him back to me if he starts to wander out of whatever room I'm in, and take him out whenever he starts getting ancy.
I look at the big dog and can just see him pratcially rolling his eyes over all the fuss being made, but if this gets us past this hurdle, it's worth it.
I'll keep y'all posted.

 

[Betsy Iole]

If he's not otherwise hand-shy, snapping at the renter when she tried to move him off the couch sounds like resource guarding. Here's a good discussion of this topic.

MINE! The Resource Guarding Dog

 

[Mikey T]

FWIW Jean Donaldson believes hand shyness is also relate to resource guarding. and outlines a detailed plan for desensitizing the dog in her book Mine! A GUIDE TO RESOURCE GUARDING IN DOGS
A dog with poor bite inhibition and/or does not go through the normal stages of aggression ramp up, (i.e. bites first growls second), may not be a safe dog to attempt densensitation with especially without protective equipment.

 

[Josey]

Again, thanks everybody for all the great suggestions. I'm happy to report that we haven't had a single accident since I last posted, but every day is a new opportunity! ) and Josey just loves it, turning this way and that so little Copper can get the other side.
I'm so happy to have him and he's the perfect addition to the family, I just want to get this issue cleared up.