Would this be too cruel?

Question

My 8 month old shih-tzu has suddenly started using our bed and our couch as a toilet. She was sort of toilet trained and now this started. I tried telling her off firmly for the last month but doesnt seem to work. My holidays are soon over so she will be left home alone again for 7 hrs a day. We have the nicest dog walker that comes and takes her out for 1.5hrs while we are at work. We normally leave our bedroom door shut when she is alone but would we be able to leave living room door shut too? Our couch is nearly ruined and she would have approx 7m hallway, kitchen and bathroom to roam in. We have a garden too but am terrified that someone will steal her. I walk her too and she has garden. She was trained on the puppy pads but now refuses to use them.
So what I want to know is: Can we leave bed and living room door shut during day? Will it work? Or would that just be cruel? She really is the friendliest nicest dog and my only other option would be to cover couch in cling film :-)

English Rose: Covering the coach in cling film is a JOKE.

Also I have to work to be able to afford a dog/ dogfood / vets and a dogwalker. Am not as smart as you where you can pay for those things without working.

Answer 1

You have mixed responses to your question & no you are not cruel but I think you need to do some firm house training with your dog or it's going to smell real bad & as for putting your dog in a crate which some have sugested is the crulest thing possible to leave your dog locked up in a small space like they are on some sort of prison term,arghh makes my blood boil,why do people get dogs,,so no your not being cruel,your dog will have enough room to move about,plus you have a dog walker,so don't worry.

Answer 2

That is the perfect solution. Dogs shouldn't get the run of the house unless they show that they are trustworthy.

It may save your couch and bed, but she may just find a new spot to use as her toilet. You need to scrub everywhere she pees with an enzyme cleaner (Nature's Miracle is the best) to keep her from going back to those spots.

Also, you might consider a crate or small dog enclosure (they make them out of those baby gates) or confine her to a single room. This will lessen the likelihood that she will pee because she doesn't want to soil her space.

Also I personally don't recommend using puppy pads. I feel that dogs find it confusing. They are allowed to go inside and many don't distinguish between being allowed to go on the puppy pad but not on that bit of carpet or the couch. It's much easier for dogs to distinguish between inside and outside. Since you do have a dog walker, your dog should be able to hold it for the 3 hours or so in the morning, go when the dog walker takes her, hold it in the afternoon, and then go when you get home.

Answer 3

I mostly agree with Kimble. I have to say, this must be the most negative replies I have read since I joined this Q&A Forum.

First of all, you say that the couch is ruined already, or nearly, so what are you worried about? With all due respect, but something doesn't quite add up. Your Shih-tzu was totally toilet trained at 8 months and the pattern changed, after you took your holidays?
This nicest of dog walkers, walks an 8 month old Shih-tzu for 1.5 hrs? You walk your dog in the morning before going to work and again in the evening when you get home, yet suddenly she starts peeing on the couch and your bed @ 8 months of age. What are you feeding her? How often are you feeding her?

A small dog does not need 1.5 hrs walk and when she is walked is she walked by herself or with a whole group. How much time during the 1.5 hrs is she sitting in a car and how long is her actual walk?

Animals like routine and you carry on as you start or you start as you intend to carry on. Crate training is not a convenience to avoid picking up dog mess. This comes with the territory of owning a dog. The dog will not reach maturity until 18 months, and from one day to the next all the mess stops. All the same, this mainly applies to dogs in a pack. Your little Shih-tzu lives alone and has all the time in the world to focus on your instructions. A dog should not be left in a crate for more than a couple of hours and only for specific reasons, which does not include, avoid going to the toilet on the couch.

She may well not like your very nice dog walker or the company she has the share her walks with and therefore she has become nervous and confused. She could indeed have an underlying infection, but that is easily spotted, as she will be drinking excessive water and licking herself constantly. If this is not the case, she has not got an infection, she is purely a nervous wreck.

A single dog, does not change their routine from one day to the next and they do not wee on the bed and couch, unless confused. Do not worry about the couch or the bed, there are many wonderful cleaning materials you can use that clear the smell and any bacterial traces. It will cause some inconvenience but it is not a problem. Closing doors is perhaps a solution, but not really. It merely confines the problem to an area you find easier to clean.

From what you describe, your dog is upset and this is why she is weeing all over the place. She is nervous and you are not understanding the signs she is communicating with you. Maybe the food you give does not agree with her, but my instinct tells me it is your 'friendly' dog walker, is the problem. Unless there are changes in the environment, noisy neighbours or perhaps the fact she is about to start her first season or may have just finished her season.

A dog should not be left unsupervised over 4 hours. Check
A dog needs to be exercised before you go to work. Check
A dog needs to be exercised when you return from work. Check

An 8 month old is still on two meals a day and if she eats dry food she needs 80% water in context. If she eats wet food she merely needs 20%, whilst with natural food she needs no water. Maybe just a little sip to keep her throat wet.

You have not given enough information to properly assess what is really going on or how to solve your problem. The answers provided are mere plasters and temporary solutions that will not resolve the actual real issue of why your Shih-tzu had a change of routine. None of it makes sense and I agree with the first answer, you are a very nice human parent to your dog, without a shadow of a doubt.

The fact she refuses the puppy pads tells me that it has nothing to do with you also. Something is upsetting her. Remember to never judge a book by its cover and always be observants to everything around you. Imagine yourself to be 'the dog'. What has changed in her life?

Answer 4

Try doggie diapers. The do make diapers for dogs of all sizes that are used while they are being "potty trained". My best friend used them on her dog along with puppy pads and it worked great. If you have people walking her, they can change the diaper for you. When they take off the diaper, bring her out, she will get the idea eventually that the removal of the diaper and outside means pee outside. They don't bother the dog either. As far as crates, I'm really against them because this same friend of mine acquired a dog that was in a crate for the entire time the owner was at work. This dog has so many issues with timidness, being afraid, it was awful. Now that she has been crate free for 4 yrs, she is so happy now and friendly. I know this could be an isolated incident, but it can happen. Just close doors. The kitchen is the best place for her to be. Either put newspaper on the floor while you're gone or puppy pads. Most people don't have carpeting in the kitchen so if an accident happens, at least the floor will be much easier to clean. I also want to say,. that perhaps she is also anxious about being alone all day this scares her. She's still a pup right? At that age, they need a lot of attention. She will eventually get trained as long as you are persistent about it. but I think her anxiety level must be high because of being alone. Just my thought A kitchen is much better than a crate, which must be like being imprissoned.
Edit: Buzzer, I don't think any of us want to imply that you are not doing a good job and the fact that you have to work, like the rest of us, makes you a responsible pet owner. Please don't take offense, these are just opinions and shouldn't be taken as insults. I know that I certainly don't want to give you that impression and I don't think any of the others do either. I have pets and I have to work to be able to feed them. Most of us do OK. Another thing, who said you weren't smart?

Answer 5

I dont think that is cruel at all, at least she will be at home, some stupid people leave their dogs outdoors, so dont torture yoru self about it, its perfectly fine to leave her where you will, i woul drecomend you house training her properly though this way you will not have "little surprises" every time you get back home, you should first get rid of all odours in the house, like that settee, get it cleaned of get rid of it, as she can smell her self there she will do it once and again and again, once you have got rid of it, get your self a baby gate to put in the kitchen, at least while she is still a puppy and she is old enough for her little blader to hold the wee untill you get back home, once you have the gate, you leave her there while no one is at home, just to avoid her leaving her mark everywhere in the house, then plan her meals, if you feed her in the morning she will be ready to evacuate in the afternoon/night, also before you go to work make sure she goes for a walk or outside to the toilet, and once you get home first thing you do is you let her out and let her out regularily while you are home, this way she will learn what time and when to go to the toilet, this routine needs a lot of consistency and i can guarrantee you it works, i have a staff and a dogue the burdeoux that stay home alone for 7 or 8 ous a day and we do not have "accidents" i only have to make sure they have a decent walk in the morning and another one in the afternoon/evening to make sure they are evacuating and get enough excersice outside, believe me it works, takes a lot of time and effort but it pays. Good luck.

Answer 6

Firstly, don't panic. I have three females dogs and can say that it took me the best part of 12 mths to have them reliably housetrained. Secondly, you are not cruel at all. When I go out, or at night, mine have their beds in the kitchen and are kept in there. In the event that there is an accident (which occasionally happens) the kitchen floor is easily cleaned and the rest of the house doesn't get ruined. When I'm at home, which is most of the time, they do have the run of the house. Please don't leave her in outside all day, I'm the same, no matter how secure your garden is, you are taking a risk that someone will take her.

Answer 7

No I don't think this would at all cruel. I would leave her some sort of dog bed to lie on in the hall and make sure that she has access to a bowl of water. When my dog was going through the chewing stage she was only allowed in the hall, bathroom and kitchen and it hasn't done her any harm.

I pesonally don't like dog crates.

Answer 8

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Answer 9

well try getting your dog walker to take her out into the garden every hour or so then when she pee's get the dog walker too say go pee or go wee whatever you would prefer to say then when you have done that a few times every time you take her out say go pee and she will associate that with going to the toilet. Also you can buy this spray which stops dogs going in certain parts of your house so you could spray it on the sofa.

Answer 10

Not at all!! We shut all are door's when we leave they don't need to be going in our rooms and making a mess. All are dogs have is the hall, kicthen, and living room (we have a small house) My dog gets locked in a cage while where gone and she lays and chews on bones that we give her all day long but I've also potty trained her so that she knows when her potty time is if I'm at work she goes out in the morning and then at night. My mom's dog has the three rooms and potty trained the same way. There's nothing wrong with giving them barriers.