Older Shiba going to the toilet in the house...

OK, advice needed again!

Portia is nearly 7, and has lived outdoors most of her life, in purpose built and very nice kennels - however, house trained she ain't. When we first got her she was mostly OK - but the last couple of weeks she's been getting worse and worse... and the last few days she positively refuses to go outside, and seems to hold herself for indoors. She goes in the house about 4 times a day... I really don't know what to do, we've tried all sorts, back to basics style, firmly telling her no, and taking her outside... but of course, she can't go offlead, so doing the whole newspaper thing isn't really possible. Other than that, I don't knwo what to do and would be grateful of any tips. I've spoken to the breeder she came from, who said she really does need a fenced in garden, but I really don't think it's possible for us to fence this garden in - so we could build her a run, but I'm not sure it could be big enough to be honest - 10' by 10' would be about the largest - is that enough for her to go to the loo in? (the rooms she soils are smaller ).

She really won't go properly on walks, no matter how long we have her out for, she'll always come back and go inside. Sometimes as little as 5 minutes after she's come in!

xx

Hi Zounds . Does Portia do both or just pee in the house? Is she spayed (if so part of the problem could be urinary incontinence requiring medication) , has she had a vet check for a urinary tract infection etc.

Other than that is is the usual thing of treating Portia as a non house trained dog and being consistent with training how ever long it takes.

This means taking Portia out at frequent intervals after sleep/food/ excitement/ first thing in the morning/last thing at night/about an hour since she last went out and make relieving herself a rewarding experience by giving lots of praise and a tip bit like a piece of chicken the moment she goes. It will also help to take her short walks to areas used by other dogs, their scent will stimulate her to 'go'.

Also previously soiled areas in the house will need to be throughly cleaned with a none ammonia based cleaner to remove all traces of the smell of urine which will prompt her to soil there again , biological washing powder is good for this.

Building a run won't really teach her not to soil in the house if she has got into the habit, only training and patience will do that

Hi Mini! thanks for the reply.

All of the above currently in practice - so maybe it's just a case of stick at it and hope she cops on soon enough. She's doing both in the house, and hasn't been spayed yet.

Also, if it helps, she was OK when she first got here, and it's been getting worse over time, now she seems to only want to go indoors and does so several times every day...

xx

Had the self same problems with Mya, Laura.

You HAVE to stick with it....... it took Mya months and months to get the message, and even now, we have an occasional (but rare) accident, and she's been with us over four years now.

She does, however, now pee on command..... something I'm very pleased I taught her.

Best not to let her out of your sight, if you can help it. That way you can discourage her peeing if it looks like she's about to. Mya used to pee right in front of us........

Stick with it kiddo - ex breeders have no sense of house-training at all and are a definite challenge.

x0x0x

Hi Zounds has anything scared her outside when she was going? If all the other things have been covered it may just be a habit she has got into which will be helped with very frequent trips outside and making 'going' a rewarding experience.

Try to be casual when you take her out, any stress may make her worse and of course if anyone has previously punished her for soiling she may be reluctant to go when someone is near her , a long lead may help too .

This isn`t an unusual problem - a friend rescues street dogs from Greece and they adapt well to homes.
I would blitz the house first -clean any areas she`s already soiled as she`ll go back to them. I use Dettol for marked areas as the dogs don`t like the smell.
Then just do the puppy house training thing (take out every hour, praise when she obliges). And be persistent.
Good luck!

Thanks all for the advice, and Vicki, it's good to know we're not on our own with Portia!

Today has so far been accident free. We went out last night and bought a long plastic coated dog cable (I think 30 foot), and a stake for the ground, one that it can't get tangled in. We made sure it's in a 100% safe place, and she can't strangle herself. Added to which, she wears a harness as well as her collar, so it's added safety, as she cannot slip that.

She's not a big fan of this contraption, but prefers it to the lead. So far she hasn't gone indoors at all today - OK, so she's been out every 2 hours or so, but it's a start. We also have borrowed a dog crate long term from a friend, which she'll be going in at night, and when we're out, as she's less likely to soil that, and then we can keep working on training her when we are around!

I don't think she's had a scare Mini, she's just finishing a season if that might be anything to do with it? She really is reluctant to go outside at all, which is a bit upsetting... even today with the long cable, she diesn't really go about the garden, she sits by the door waiting to come in. If you take her out, she spends the entire time waiting to come in, but as soon as she thinks she's offlead, she just runs for the hills! She's a bit daft, because then she comes to the end of the long lead, and can't get any further!

xx

Mya hated the lead with a passion, and, after consulting with Shadowboxer, it was decided that the firm approach would be the one to take.

I literally dragged Mya for about a month on her evening walks. I used to have to chase her to get the lead on her, and it was a total nightmare.

Slowly but surely she came round, and is now eager to go out for her walks, even if they are a bit short (she's mega-people shy).

Patience in spades is what you'll need hon, but it will be so worth it in the end.

x0x

I'm fortunate, she's fine with leads, not really a fan of the crate, but will go in it and settle quickly. Walking is fine, the only problem is that she won't walk around sniffing when she's on the long cable, like she would if she was loose, because she knows she's on a lead, and would rather not be!

No presents during the night, she was crated, and didn't go in her crate, so that's great, so far, that's a whole day where she's not gone inside!

xx

Quick update to this! Portia has improved 1000 fold since we got her a tie out cable and a crate. She likes the personal space the crate gives her, and always goes in there of her own accord, and the tie out cable gives ehr a chance to wander safely around the garden without us watching her (or so she thinks ), as us watching her seems to "put her off"!

We have a third reception room, which is laminate floor, and we use it as a music room, but it has very little furniture (except one scruffy old sofa that the dogs love to use! ) soooo they go in there most of the time, as it's a big room, adn they have loads of space to run about. She loves this room, so whenever she goes to the loo outside, she gets to run around in the music room immediately after!

So far, since we got the crate and tie out cable, she's only had one *accident* indoors, which I'm sure was on purpose as Karl shut her in the utility room while he was feeding Dudley. She was very cross, and almost immediately did the whole works on the floor!

Anyway - thought you'd like to know what improvements we've had!

xx