[ryanp]

I moved into my parents old house about 1 year ago. I inherited their animals in addition to my own. I now have 4 cats and 2 dogs, with 2 of the cats and one of the dogs originally being mine. The cats are no problem and dont play into the equation (or at least that is what I think).

My original dog is a Cocker Spaniel. She is a female that is 14 years old and around 25 pounds. She has a one blind eye and has bad hearing, but otherwise is in good physical shape.

The dog that I inherited is a Jack Russel that is about 9-10 years old male. I lived in the house with him for 3 years about 5 years ago. At the time we had another dog that has since passed away. They got along without any real incidents.

When we first moved in the dogs were a little standoff-ish. The Jack Russel is much more physically agile and energetic. They got into a few spats over food earlier on, resulting in a few nicks. They seem to have gotten over that and get along pretty well and have had no fights in over half a year.

However the Jack Russel has been peeing on the floor that we sleep on. He will pee in the rooms that we spend our time in. We know it is him since he is peeing up against objects, like a suitcase, the baseboard, or a chair. It seemed like it was happening a little bit when we first moved in, and then was pretty much done for a long time. However in the past month or so it has started again and he is pretty much peeing everyday now. He will sometimes pee and poop on the floor as well.

He will sleep in the bed with us and curl up with us on the couch and has no problems with getting attention. We have seen if there is any relation with him getting walks and excercise, and there does not seem to be any. Just tonight the spaniel was sleeping downstairs while the jack russel was sitting with us upstairs. The Jack russel walked into the other room and pooped and pee'd.

I am going to try some potty training books and information from the internet, but I am not sure about his behavior. I would assume that it is feeling threatened from the other dog, but the peeing stopped for a while and has come back now when the dogs are getting along better than ever. Plus it seems like he is peeing in the house even when there is no situation to instigate it.

Any ideas?

[cigwyllt]

Hi there. Is the Jack neutered? I doubt that neutering him now will make much difference but it would help to make more sense of his behaviour. It may be worth getting him checked over by the vet to be sure he hasn't got some sort of water infection that has recurred.

Obviously his routine has been disturbed by the arrival of your family of humans and animals and it is easy to understand why he would feel the need to start marking but much harder to find a way to stop it.

If I was in your situation I think I would start by severely curtailing his freedom. If he wasn't under the supervision of someone responsible he would be confined to the kitchen or some other area which an easy to clean floor.

You need to clean the areas where has marked very thoroughly - if you google "clean dog urine" you will find lots of inexpensive solutions you can mix yourself which will neutralise the odour. Make sure you don't use anything with ammonia as that will just encourage him to continue to mark there.

Alongside that treat him as you would a tiny puppy - toilet breaks at least every hour, after every meal, every nap, every game. Take him out and make it as boring as possible until he has obliged then act as though he has done the cleverest thing imaginable.

Toilet training really is a tedious operation but alongside the measures - constant supervision, thorough deodorising and reward for when he gets it right he should very quickly get the message.

[ryanp]

yes the Jack is neutered. He was neutered when we got him many years ago.

It is odd that he stopped peeing for several months and then has started again. I think that bringing him to the vet just to check is a good idea.

I have a carpet cleaning company scheduled to come in to clean the rooms that he has been peeing in, and am going to start monitoring him at all time or keeping him confined. I am going to try some techinques that I have seen and tracking when he pees so we can see if I can find a pattern.

[Todd]

Originally Posted by ryanp

yes the Jack is neutered. He was neutered when we got him many years ago.

It is odd that he stopped peeing for several months and then has started again. I think that bringing him to the vet just to check is a good idea.

I have a carpet cleaning company scheduled to come in to clean the rooms that he has been peeing in, and am going to start monitoring him at all time or keeping him confined. I am going to try some techinques that I have seen and tracking when he pees so we can see if I can find a pattern.

I agree. Most likely he's marking. First thing you need to do is make sure you are considered the alpha to him. This way, he may stop challenging you for dominance (marking is a form of this sometimes). Could only be an issue between him and the other dog or both the dog and humans. Here is a good link on establishing yourself as the alpha;

http://sonic.net/~cdlcruz/GPCC/library/alpha.htm

Once and while this is etablished, be sure to correct when you catch him in the act of peeing or pooping in the house. Correcting him after the fact will be no good. When you catch him in the act there are several things you can do. One being to firmly yell "no" and taking him outside. When he goes outside give him a treat and praise him. Could you be paying more attention to the other dog? This may make him feel jelous and could be part of the problem. Treat both with the same amount of attention. Another method while catching him in the act is to blow a blowhorn, creater some sort of shaker with a bottle filled with pennies for instance, or any other noisemaker to try and stop the dog in the act and grasp its attention. Depends on the temprement of the dog though. You may not want to do this to a shy dog and would have to alter your correction/training methods. Could even try spraying him with a spray bottle. Try different things and see what works best. Trail and error. You are basically reinforcing potty training while addressing the other issues.

Once the carpet is professionally cleaned also be sure to purchase a pet odar nuetralizer designed specifically for marking prevention after an accident. Typical cleaners may not be enough because of how strong dog's noses are. A commercial pet odar nuetrailizer or home pet odar nuetralizer may very well be necessary. Good luck!

[cigwyllt]

be sure to correct when you catch him in the act of peeing or pooping in the house.

I am sorry Todd but that is NOT the way to toilet train a dog.


Please do not tell him off in any way. Interrupt him if you catch him in the act and take him outside but DO NOT tell him off or "correct" him. It will only cause him to be more secretive about where and when he goes - you run the very real risk of scaring him from going to the toilet in your presence - even if it is in an appropriate place so he will not "go" when you want him to if out on a walk for instance..

[Todd]

Originally Posted by cigwyllt

I am sorry Todd but that is NOT the way to toilet train a dog.


Please do not tell him off in any way. Interrupt him if you catch him in the act and take him outside but DO NOT tell him off or "correct" him. It will only cause him to be more secretive about where and when he goes - you run the very real risk of scaring him from going to the toilet in your presence - even if it is in an appropriate place so he will not "go" when you want him to if out on a walk for instance..

Well to be honest I think it depends on the temprament of the dog. You may want to verbally correct a storng willed dog but you wouldn't want to as much with a shy dog because this could do what you said, scaring the dog from going in your presense. I believe that toilet training a dog is impacted on the dog's individual temprament. For example, my dog is very outgoing and dtrong willed and this method worked well for us. I'm glad you brought this up though. It makes sense. Every dog is an individual and requires different training methods.

[Yogi]

I need to point out also that this is not a matter of an alpha thing. I have been around many people who are in no way holding an alpha status with their dogs and have taught house training to them quite successfully. Learning and teaching alpha status is primarily reserved for those breeds that are highly intelligent and free thinking.
Granted this is a JRT which fits to some degree but noting that it did not have this problem until recently could also be a UTI issue combined with simply marking due to the scent of a new dog in the house. I have found that bathing a dog with a common shampoo eliminates the scent thus transitions new dogs much easier and have done this for many years with rescues and have had no problems. As noted, the JRT had no problems with the other dog but now after years being alone so to speak it is put in with a new dog and somewhat abruptly. Older dogs can take longer to acclimate to this situation especially if they have not shared space for some time.