Advice On My 2 Old Whippets...desperate!

[racheljmartin]

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I am in a hard situation, any advice or thoughts would be appreciated.This is a longish story.I have owned whippets for 18yrs. Up to July we had 3 whippets bitches (age 13)one of the passed away in July which left me with 2. At this time there was alot going on. In August me, my husband and son moved to Austria (for work). I felt the best thing for the 2 dogs was to stay in their own enviroment at our home in England with my eldest grown up daughter and her fiance in the family home. I felt with the age of the dogs and a complete life change to a city and an apartment (they are use to the country and a garden) this was the right thing to do for them. However it just isnt working, the dogs are obviously distressed with the changes. I use to me at home most of the time, now both my daughter and partner work full time so the dogs are left for long periods,they have been howling at night but the most problematic thing is the weeing and pooing in the house. It is happening every day and it sounds like they are using the place like a toilet. My daughter is following the advice im giving her re encouraging the dogs to go the toilet outside when they are there but its not working. so they are weeing during the day in the kitchen when they are alone but also doing it when my daughter is home. Clearly this is miserable for my daughter and the dogs are not happy either. I am in Vienna and it is very distressing, I am seriously considering getting them to vienna as what I thought was best for them clearly is not. I am concerned about the massive change for them as they are both old and life in an apartment with balconys and lifts is going to be a huge shock to them, will they adjust if there with me, is this fair on them. Im struggling to know what is best now. Anyone help?? on the toileting issues and taking them to another country, thanks for anyone who responds..

 

[Strix]

what a horrible situation for you all

the first thing is that a dog will always return to a spot where they have soiled previously. Their noses are much more sensitive than ours, so cleaning up to human standards just isn't enough. It needs to be cleaned with bio soap, or steam cleaned to remove all traces. As far as your dogs are concerned, it smells like a toilet, so it IS a toilet, hence them going inside when your daughter IS home

The original problem may have been scent marking. This is what dogs do when stressed, or given the responsibility of looking after a territory as huge as a house when the leader of the pack is away. I always ask people if they would leave a toddler with a house to look after. I've yet to meet anybody who said 'yes'. If we wouldn't do it to a toddler, we shouldn't do it to our dogs!

You really should consider crate training to give them a small den instead of a huge territory to defend. They'll need somebody who can let them out/walk them (which ever is appropriate given their age) during the day. Don't worry about them being cooped up all day (so long as the crate is the right size for the dogs), as I'd lay money on them spending all day sleeping whether they had company or not now they're well past puppyhood

 

[banana]

Hello Rachel and welcome to Dog Forum

Sorry to hear you are embroiled in such a stressful situation.

I do think some good deep cleaning in the areas they are soiling along with some retraining would be good but I guess they are lonely after having you for company all day.....

 

[racheljmartin]

Thank you for your sensitive and practical replies.

The 'girls' have a very large crate as their bed already, though they dont get shut in during the day to allow them to have a wander (they are confined to the kitchen) as they are left for longer than they are use to. I have told my daughter to shut them in at night to prevent coming down to a huge mess in the morning but apparently one of them is then being picked on and cant get away if shut in. She is in the processs of getting a crate divider but the company sent the wrong size!

I have made the decision to have them with me in Vienna and I am making the relevant steps for that to happen. I hope I can sort out the toilet issues here or I'm going to have a very annoyed landlord! Hopefully they will cope with the travelling and living on the top floor of an apartment, the good thing about Vienna is that they are very dog friendly, they are allowed in shops on buses, trams and Ubahns!

Any tips on materials to use on a balcony for toileting? Would astro tuff work and be cleanable?

Many thanks

 

[banana]

How about one of these?

http://www.doggysolutions.com/Catalog/category/pet_patio_potty.aspx

 

[chelynnah]

The thing is that as well as the changes, they are older, and older dogs need to go more often. Are they used to sleeping downstairs or did they used to sleep with you? That change in itself is enough to cause a problem. If daughter and fiance are working long hours, and then dogs are left to themselves overnight when are they getting the companionship they are used to? This is not a criticism, just looking at it from the dogs' point of view. Staying in their home with a countryside and garden is all well and good, but if they're not getting the exercise or companionship they have always had then really it doesn't matter that they are still there - I hope that makes sense.

If they stay with your daughter then they will need someone to come in partway through the day to let them out and maybe have a play or walk. This will likely cost money, unless you have a neighbour the dogs like who is willing to do it. But it's unfair on them to go from having someone home all the time to having full time alone without a period of adjustment to get used to that time in increments maybe. Or is there a neighbour who would have them at their home for part of the day so they have the companionship?

I think your rationale for leaving them home was sound, but to be honest they sound like they would be much better off with you. They will adjust to the new routines, you know their quirks and personalities, and probably have more patience to deal with their adjustment to apartment living.

The other option is to look into homing them with someone who is home more? Not ideal, and I do think they would probably adjust well to being with you.

Best of luck and keep us posted on how you get on and what you decide.

Wendy