Dogsitting help?

Question

I am dogsitting my step dad's lhasa who is around 6 years old. I have had the dog for a few days and I am having a problem with him going to the bathroom in the house. I have followed the schedule that my parents gave me for walking him pretty much exactly but he still is going to the bathroom in the middle of the night in the house. The problem is that he wont go to the bathroom for me when I bring him outside to walk him. I am wondering if any one has any suggestions on how to get him to go when I bring him out so that he doesnt go in the house. Another problem is that it is really cold here (as in it was -11 F when I walked him this morning and that isnt counting the windchill) and has been since I got him and I physically cant stay outside with him for more than 20 minutes because he starts shaking. Any ideas? I cant have him going to the bathroom in my house!!

He doesnt have a crate and has never been crate trained he is a very spoiled dog. I am not going to go buy a crate for a dog that will probably bark all night if I put him in it. He is used to sleeping in their bed. Also, my parents are out of the country so I have no way to reach them unless they call me.

Answer 1

I do petsitting and this is not uncommon the first few days - some dogs just get really neurotic and act out when their owners leave. sometimes they simply get better when they are more comfortable with you and you are more attuned to their daily routine. Nothing's foolproof, but here's what I suggest:

The number one thing you need to do is to get the dog to start doing his business outside. The dog is probably being a wimp about the cold and this is a big factor. A lot of dogs will do the same thing if it is rainy, and sometimes the problem is simply that they won't go on wet grass. (If it's snowy this could be your problem.) The main thing I would suggest is forget the schedule and walk that dog as often as you can for much shorter periods of time. When people are potty training a puppy it gets taken out practically every 30 minutes and you might want to try something similar. Especially take the dog out right after it eats or if you see it drinking water. Bring treats with you on the walk, and when it does it's business go crazy with the praise - tons of good boy and petting and kisses and a treat immediately. (although WAIT until the dog is done to touch it.) another problem could be that you are not giving the dog enough privacy when you walk it (some dogs are like that.) so SHORT walks and LOTS of them. (short because then it won't be so cold and lots of them because it's almost guaranteed to go if you take it out constantly, and then you can praise it.)

Are you at your parent's house, or is the dog in a different neighborhood by you? The dog may have certain places he "goes" and again you've upset his routine. If the area is new to him, try taking him the exact same place each time so it becomes familiar (and by all means if he goes once you should return to that place every day.)

Another thing to try is clothes or a sweater - keep him warm - or even booties because maybe he's fussy about snow or ice on the ground.

when he goes inside the house, clean it up immediately with a product called Nature's Miracle, which eliminates the odor. do NOT yell at the dog. I've never done this but I've read you can actually try yelling at the poop or pee. But not the dog. If you yell at the dog, he won't understand and will just be afraid of you.

people are suggesting crates because dogs won't "go" where they sleep. So instead of getting a crate, try to set up something blanket/denlike for it on the floor. Don't lock it up in a bathroom or small room because it will just whine/bark and probably pee/poop in the back corner anyway. But try to give it a comfy place on the floor with towels, warm blankets and ideally something that smells like your parents (shirts, socks of theirs) to ease the separation anxiety. (I assume you aren't letting it sleep in your bed.) if it will sleep in/on this bed, whenever it goes to it give it a little treat and praise it like crazy. With any luck it just won't get up and poop near the bed. (If it's sleeping in a human bed the dog will probably just get up, get off the bed, pee on the floor and get back in bed since that's not the same place to it.)

I hope this helps. You could also try moving to California - it was 80 degrees here on superbowl sunday...lol

Answer 2

A few questions that you could answer to help:
Does the dog do the same thing for your step dad? My guess is no, siince the dog is already 6 yrs old.
Where do you keep him at night?
Does he only go to the bathroom at night?
Does his stool look healthy? If not you may need to take the dog to the vet, and it may be the reason the dog is going inside the house.

If its not a health issue, then i would do this...
If the dog only goes to the bathroom at night then I would put it in a crate at night, maybe keep the crate in the same room as you to prevent whimpering. The crate needs to be big enough so the dog can turn around easily, but not much bigger. Dogs dont like to go to the bathroom in crates that only allow them to comfortably lie down... if the crate is too big, it will most likely go in the crate. When you let the dog out of the crate, immediately go outside.

Also, the cold weather may be too much for the dog, and it may take awhile for the dog to finally decide to go. I live in atlanta so therefore am not familiar with -11 degree weather and dogs, but my guess is that the dog is uncomfortable. Could you put some kind of dog sweater on him?

Hope this helps.

Answer 3

I think this dog knows full well that you are not his pack leader, and has decided to do his own thing. He may be reacting to a change in environment or his routine, even though you've done your best to stick with it.

The cold certainly is a prohibitive factor, so kudos to you for walking him--a lot of people wouldn't. I can also understand not being able stay outside for extended periods of time with your weather issues. I don't know of any way to 'make' a dog eliminate outside at designated times, except to get into a routine of taking him out very frequently, like every two hours. If you increase the frequency, you're more likely to 'catch' him when he has to go. I know this type of routine is not always feasible.

You may want to consider shifting his mealtimes to a couple of hours earlier and limiting his water consumption after he eats his dinner. Unless he's exercising or playing heavily, not having water overnight is not a problem, I promise.

Is the dog crate trained? If so, it would be a huge advantage to you to crate him overnight. If he is not crate trained, you probably won't have the time to train him successfully, so perhaps gating him in an area with a tile or hard floor surface would be a band-aid to the problem. You could potentially line the floor with those silly puppy pads to avoid cleaning up in the morning in case he does go.

Since you are not going to be living with this dog long-term, your interventions are going to be limited at best.

Answer 4

Put him in a crate when you are away. Still make sure you come back home during scheduled walk time so he can keep a routine. The dog is just not use to his surroundings yet. You could try the puppy pads, but my dog did no more than eat them. I know they work for some people though.

Answer 5

Little dogs usually won't go outside if it's cold or wet. They are princes/princesses that way. Call your parents and check if you can use potty pads instead.

I hate that idea of using potty pads because you're training the dog to go inside the house BUT it's less of a clean up. Put them by the door. If he responds to them well then when you take him out put one on the ground for him to use and YOU make a big deal about it.

He'll start responding to you more and feel more comfortable about going potty not only infront of you but in the cold.

Also - regulate his food. Don't feed or give him water about 3-4 hours before bed.

It also may be that he misses your parents. Dogs sometimes act out in that way when they are lonely, bored, or upset. Make sure you don't punish him for because it might make it worse.

Good Luck

Answer 6

First of all, get a coat for the dog (at any pet store) so that he feels warm enough to go outside. And if possible, try letting him off the leash to pee. But, the dog needs to smell his own urine in a spot to be able to pee there (its a physical response in a dog). Try and get some of his pee outside in the spot you want him to pee, and then use vinegar inside the house where he has pee'd so that he won't smell his pee inside anymore.

Answer 7

you can put some newspaper on the area that he was going to pee and later put the newspaper near the door or in the bathroom so he can do his job? in the middle of the night in your bathroom. maybe cleaning in this method is disgusting but it's better than cleaning up the floor.

Answer 8

YOu need to put him in a kennel at night then. and give him food in there also(this way he wont pea or poop in the kennel)
then in the morning let him outside. let him do his stuff. he if he dosent put him back in his kennel till he does his stuff outside.

Answer 9

well you have to let him know you are mad when he does this by rubbing his nose in it, whipping him with newapaper, then take him out side, they have to find the right spot before they will pee, when he does do his job outside brag on him.