Rescue dogs still not toilet trained after 3 years

mariposa23

I have 2 rescue dogs - ive had one 3 years and the other 2 years. we wouldn't be without them now. They are great dogs! The only problem we have is that if we leave them alone in the house for any length of time they go to the toilet on the kitchen floor. I don't think its separation anxiety as they don't do any other damage while we are gone. They know to go to the door when we are in the house to let us know when they need to go. They are big dogs so they create a big mess. its exhausting cleaning it up every day and embarrassing if we've friends calling in. Any advice?

andreac

Have you actually trained them to go outside?

DBB

How long would you have to leave them for to come home to the mess op? By this I mean, would they do it regardless of whether you were gone for an hour or 5 hours?
What sex are they?
Are they neutered?
What age were they when you got them?

mariposa23

Yes I trained them to go outside and they do when Im there but they don't wait when I am not. they are both neutered. male and female. They were around 7 and 3 when I got them first. Neither were toilet trained at all when I got them. I use the "get off" dog repellent spray on the kitchen floor but it doesn't seem to make a difference. I could be gone less than an hour and they'd have gone on the floor. It's very frustrating.

kylith

Get Off is to keep them out of flower beds. You need to wash the kitchen floor with a solution of biological washing powder to get rid of the wee smell that tells them this is a toilet.

Then you'll have to go back to first principals - take them out every 2 hours or so, stay out until they toilet then give them a treat and a big fuss.

mariposa23

the get off I have is for indoor cleaning to discourage them from going there again. it doesn't help though. ill try the washing powder

cocker5

mariposa23 wrote: »

the get off I have is for indoor cleaning to discourage them from going there again. it doesn't help though. ill try the washing powder

Sounds like they think the rules are its ok to go inside when they are alone and outside when your home etc - their a little confused..

What is your reaction when they go in the house?

Have you thought of crate traning?

DBB

On the assumption that you let them out and they pee before you go out, and assuming this has been going on since you got them (has it?), and assuming there's no underlying medical issue going on (which can only be definitively ruled out with blood and urine tests, no matter how healthy they look or act), I think there's a good chance you're dealing with a separation-related issue here.
Destructiveness, howling/barking, and inappropriate toileting are all signs of a separation issue, but they most certainly don't have to happen in concert for it to be this problem, so don't rule it out just because they don't chew stuff while you're out. You might even find it's one dog doing lots of peeing, or that one dog sets the other off.
I'd suggest that you set up a webcam and video them when you leave for a short while, because I think it's vital that you can see exactly what's going on there before jumping to any conclusions. It would be worthwhile asking a behaviourist to have a look at the video too, many will do so at no charge. But do select a behaviourist who's properly qualified and experienced. There are a lot of charlatans out there.

mariposa23

ok thanks I always thought there would be other behaviour when it comes to separation anxiety. they dont make noise when im gone either as I check in with my neighbour. ill try to set up a webcam and go from there thanks!

They sleep in my room as they never go to the toilet there and I was sick of coming down to mess every morning!

sillysmiles

I just watched this video yesterday - http://youtu.be/2sP-ATqvf2k
Toileting was one of the big things on separation

ShaShaBear

Just to throw it in here, my Shadow suffered with separation anxiety for years and the only thing he ever did was poop as soon as he knew we had left. Never howled, or chewed or scratched - just pooped. If you walked out and waited about 2 minutes and then opened the door you'd actually catch him mid-poop. It took a strict regimen of ensuring that we never left the house shortly after any feeds and even then he sometimes managed to squeeze a dredge out. Vet reckoned it was because he was afraid he wouldn't get to go outside and just gets it done. He never ever did it in my mother's house and ironically when we got tiles in our kitchen like our mum has he stopped doing it in our house too.

Might be worth looking into separation anxiety, or changing their food.

DBB

ShaShaBear wrote: »

Just to throw it in here, my Shadow suffered with separation anxiety for years and the only thing he ever did was poop as soon as he knew we had left. Never howled, or chewed or scratched - just pooped.

I remember meeting a couple of dogs in a home where they peed every single time the owner went out.
After a significant amount of questioning and trying to figure it out, it turned out that the dogs were terrified of their owner returning home, and literally peed in fear when they heard the key in the door
As younger dogs, they had had a bit of a chewing party when left alone, and the owner went ballistic with them when he got home... I won't go into detail, but this guy was a total dick :mad:. That incident marked the start of a problem that got worse and worse as he lost his rag with them repeatedly upon coming home to puddles on the floor.
This is why it's really important to figure out what else is going on (webcams weren't commonplace in those days!), because this guy thought his dogs had separation anxiety. But far from it, it was owner-return anxiety. Dick. :mad:

even then he sometimes managed to squeeze a dredge out.

Lol :pac: