How often a puppy has to relieve itself depends on its age. Until the puppy is about 12 weeks old he/she is going to need to eliminate as often as every hour or two while they are awake. The older they get, they longer they will be able to wait between walks as his/hers bladder control improves and the bladder itself gets larger.

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Miami Dade and Broward Dog Training

I have an eleven-year-old borzoi who has just started to refuse to go OUT through the dog door. He approaches the door enthusiastically, then stops. He’ll stare at the flap for a second, and even stick his head through a bit. He still start to go through – then STOP, and even retreat. So, for the first time in his life, he’s having some housebreaking issues because he can’t will himself through that door in time. I must stress that we are NOT punishing him or yelling, etc. He’s a sweet old man who is having a challenge, and I would never give him grief over this. We just quietly clean up and then give him some extra TLC. The house soiling is NOT the reason I’m writing; I’m hoping for insight on WHY he’s suddenly stopped going through the door on his own. In other words, I want to treat the disease not the symptom.

We’ve decided to try to head off any house soiling issues by giving him regular walks. (Because we have the doggie door, daily walks aren’t part of our pack routine. They have a big yard and two other dogs to play with; they get PLENTY of exercise.) My theory is that if he gets used to eliminating on walks, the scary, scary dog door won’t be an issue. But obviously, we want to also help him re-learn how to go out on his own, as he has for so many years, too. We don't want him to be a prisoner in his own ome, unable to go enjoy his backyard whenever he wants to.

He isn’t having problems with his vision, as far as we can tell. He navigates around the house with no problem, even with chairs in unexpected places, etc. He is not head shy, doesn’t seem to be startled by objects near him, doesn’t trip over his bed, etc.( I’ve had a dog with vision problems, so am somewhat familiar with the signs.)

Once he is encouraged, he hops through the door with no problems. He re-enters the house without hesitation, so my thought was that maybe he fell once going out and it hurt and now he is afraid? I also thought that since the deck outside is darker than inside, he was having problems seeing his “landing” so I put some rope lights out to illuminate the way. He still won’t go out on his own – as he has without problem for the eight years we’ve lived in this house). And today, during full daylight, he refused to go out until I physically held the flap out of the way and commanded him to go through, and then minutes later, but blew right through coming back in without the tiniest hesitation.

But SOMETHING’S changed … I don’t think he’s suffering from cognitive dysfunction; he’s his “old self” and has no problem coming when called, knowing where bowls are, recognizing his pack mates, etc.

Any ideas? Suggestions? We’re taking him to the vet as soon as we can, but certainly would appreciate any advice from those who have either seen this before or have other insight that might help us help our sweet old man.

Hi -

I have two french bulldogs that are just over a year old. Both are potty trained. However, one (the slightly younger one) has an issue with going to the bathroom at night in their sleeping area - laundry room. The dog has shown the ability to wait till 6am before being let out in the past, but recently it seems that his accidents are occuring almost every night. There has been no discernable change in their schedule.

We feed them once during the AM with appropriate amount of food...vet indicated that it was alright to feed them at this interval. My wife works at home and lets them out regularly during the day. No food or water after 6pm. They are let out again right before bed and do their business. I'm generally up at 5am - 5:30am to let them out and lately clean up after him. Whats worse is that the dog has taken to eating the poop to hide it.

I'm at wits end. I've tried putting the one dog in the crate, but he poops in it. I have not yet tried reducing the size of the crate or geting a new one, but fear that given his eating habit, it won't make a difference. Does anyone have any ideas...I really want to solve this problem!

Thanks.

Hi, ok so we just rescued a dog a month ago. She is 5mo old. Very sweet, very smart we got to teach her sit,stay, lay down, drop it,paw, high5. But walking! We live downtown Detroit so there is a lots of distraction outside. She now walks fine at night sometimes she stops but with a little nudge she walks again. But she doesn't want to walk when its a daylight out. I seriously have to pull her so she moves. I use a harness. I tried everything treats, and so on but she doesn't move she just moves when I say ok lets go home.
Please help.:confused:

I have two lab mixes, one is almost 10, one is almost 6. They have both been through basic training.

We walk daily - a few trips outside for bathroom breaks, a short afternoon walk, and a long walk in the evening when it cools down.

We've been doing this routing for about 6 months now, after moving to a house with no fence. Before, walks were just for exercise.

As the 6 months have gone on, they've gotten better about pulling. I use Gentle Leaders after an incident where the younger dog pulled me over backwards and dragged me to a beagle. (I wouldn't let go because we were by a busy street).

Generally, our walks are pleasant. But there are certain dogs that make them go berserk, and I can't figure out why, or what to do about it.

Tonight, one pulled his head out of the gentle leader, and took off after his 'arch nemesis', a white german shepherd that ran loose one day and came right up to our patio. They've had an obsession with him ever since.

The other dog didn't pull out of the leader, but managed to pull the leader off the leash.

It was mayhem, and I didn't react well. I didn't stay calm. The shepherd's owner even told me that I scared her more than the dogs did. But this has never happened - both of them getting away from me and going after another dog on leash. That beagle episode was at a park where the beagle was running free. (Not a dog park, mind you. He should have been on leash.) We pass dogs several times during our walks, and with so much walking, that's a lot of dogs! And this has never happened.

They used to be well socialized. We still have playdates with a Weimeraner, but I've stopped the playdates with other dogs, because as the oldest one has developed a thyroid condition, he's gotten snappier, and I don't feel safe. He got into a tussle with a friend's Rottie once on a playdate, and once at the vet's office, so I've been keeping it to just dogs we know ever since.

The younger dog is all bark. He acts really tough, rearing up and barking his head off, when he's on leash and a dog that sparks his interest walks by. But off leash, he's a big wuss. Or when I'm not around. Sometimes I let him bake in the sun with his leash hooked to the front of the house. If anyone or anything walks by, he wimpers to come inside. But if I'm with him, he acts like a monster.

The older dog keeps to himself. He barks but doesn't pull, doesn't attempt to go at the other dog. He only gets snappy if they come at him. Tonight was a first for me, though my husband says he did it to him a few weeks ago too.

So here's my thing. My husband is leaving for deployment soon (military) and I will be the sole walker, every day all day, for six months. And now I'm scared. And I know that's a problem.

Any advice? Or insight into this behavior? If you read all that, I appreciate it!

So i have 2 great danes. Havoc is 1.5 yr and Luna is 3yrs. Havoc is neutered and Luna is not but she will be in the new year. We just got her about 2 months ago I believe now. The dogs are doing great together. They play well together, don't fight, cuddle together, etc. Now something weird has recently started happening when we take the dogs out together. If we are walking and someone comes to see the dogs they both are happy and excited to see the person but if that person says hello to Luna and pets her and loves her up first Havoc seems to almost throw a tantrum. He will sometimes bark and sometimes even growl. Then if they try and acknowlegde him he wants nothing to do with them. Its really weird and he has always been very social. This is not an always thing but happens sometimes. If he is by himself on leash and Luna is at home then it is not even an issue at all since they are paying attention to him. Any ideas on how to curb this behavior?

Ok, so I adopted a Jack Russell from a shelter about a year & a half ago. He was pretty much housebroken. But when I'm gone, he always seems to use the bathroom. For a while, it was both. Now, we've got it down to only peeing. If I crate him, he pees. If I leave him out, he pees. It's ruined my carpet at my old house, his urine seems to be the most yellow, carpet-staining urine ever! I've recently moved & don't want this to happen again. I bought plastic to put under his crate to make for easier clean up at least, but somehow, he managed to pee OVER that & onto the carpet. When I'm home, he'll go forever & not have any accidents. But when I'm gone, BAM! Any suggestions? He's around 6 years old. I have another JRT who is almost 10 & never had these issues.