Greyhound potty training

[Gareth and Lilo]

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Hi!
Last week, my girlfriend and I recently adopted a 2.5 month old greyhound called Lilo (pronounced leelu as we are in Spain), from a rescue centre. He is a lovely but very anxious dog, very scared of being alone or in confined spaces. He was found abandoned 2 weeks ago. He wants to be with me or my girlfriend at all times. He has a decent amount of space to roam in our flat and seems pretty settled though jumpy.
We are trying to encourage him to use a pee pad to go toilet but this is having very mixed results in that he will use the pad once then pee on the floor a few times around the flat and then we will get him to use the pad again. We tried the pads in a few places with no luck and have now put them in the second bathroom in the flat and attached a baby gate to not scare him by shutting the door, we will then literally go and sit with him in this area encouraging him to use the pad but he generally whines a lot usually doesn´t go and then will pee on the floor or against a wall a while after he comes out of the bathroom. It's obviously frustrating for us but also confusing for him as we are encouraging him everytime he uses the pad but he is used to going to the toilet on the floor.
We live in an apartment and are not yet able to take him outside to toilet as he has not had his full vaccinations.
I fear that we may have messed up on his first days by allowing him too much space in the flat, as this is what he was used to in the house that kept him for a few weeks before adoption. Had we confined him to the bathroom to start with, putting his bed etc in there, he may have been more settled. As such he is now used to using whatever floor space to toilet. I have looked for a crate but again think it is maybe too late for this option.
We will be getting his final vaccinations in 2 weeks time but are getting desperate as he is lifting his leg and peeing all over the walls and doors.
We are a bit worried to take him outside as we live in central Madrid and though we want to socialise him we are worried about him getting ill.
He is pretty well behaved in general, he bites a fair bit but we are managing that, he is also very needy but we assumed that is because he was abandoned and as he is sooo young!
If anyone can help give us some advice on how we can try and toilet train him better we would appreciate it and also share your views on letting him socilaise before his final vaccinations. It may be that we can take him to the street just to toilet but as he is so anxious I think that these trips may be long ones as we encourage him but then we may contract an illness.
This is my first do so am using guides etc to help. I am also debating getting a trainer to help him.
Any advice greatly appreciated
Gareth and Lilo

 

[JudyN]

I would start off by asking your vet about the prevalence of dog disease in your area. It may well be low enough that starting to take him outside would be worth the risk. Make sure you're using something like white vinegar or a product designed for the purpose to clean up his accidents - if you use any product containing ammonia it will encourage him to use the same spot.

 

[Josie]

Welcome @Gareth and Lilo ,

It’s great that you and your girlfriend rescued Lilo! It’s definitely important that you get any problems under control before he gets bigger!

I’m afraid I don’t have much experience with puppies but what was the lady doing with him beforehand? Was he used to going in the garden?

You’ll find lots of great help and advice on here

 

[Gareth and Lilo]

Thanks for the advice, I will ask the vet tomorrow. The white vinegar sounds like a good idea as well, we have tried regular floor cleaning products and even diluted bleach but that hasn’t helped yet, probably because he has a large space to pee against and is scared of the confined space in the bathroom where we have set up the pads!

 

[JudyN]

There's more details on how to remove dog pee odours here: Most Effective Ways to Eliminate Pet Urine Odors

 

[Gareth and Lilo]

Hi Josie, he was going in the house, pooping on a pad and peeing everywhere apparently!

 

[JoanneF]

I hate puppy pads. They slow toilet training massively because they confuse the dog about whether indoor ticketing is allowed or not. However I do understand that you don't have many options. Do you have a balcony? If so (actually even if you don't you might be able to do this indoors) can you get a shallow box - as big as you can manage - and put some compost and turf on it? If you can do this on a balcony, all the better.

Toilet training happens when two things come together - the ABILITY to hold the toilet, along with the DESIRE to hold it in order to earn the reward for doing so.

Ideally you want him to not be in a position where he needs to toilet before you have him out on the balcony or in his tray, so that every toilet is in an appropriate place - as far as possible, there will be accidents! So set him up to succeed by taking him out even more than he needs; for example every 45 minutes to an hour and always after sleeping, eating, playing. When he toilets outdoors make a huge fuss (never mind the neighbours, act like toileting on that spot is the best thing you have ever seen) and reward him with a high value treat. Do that immediately, don't make him come to you for the treat so he is clear that it's for toileting and not for coming to you. The idea is that he eventually wants to earn the treat enough to hold the toilet until he is outside - once he is physically able to control his toileting obviously. If he has an accident inside don't react at all. If you get annoyed he may learn to fear your reaction and avoid you if he needs to toilet - the opposite of what you want. As he is actually performing the toilet you can introduce words he can associate with it (like 'do weewee' and 'busy busy') that later when he is reliably trained you can use these to tell him when you want him to toilet.

Indoors if you see him circling or scratching the floor, that can sometimes precede toileting so get him out fast.

Overnight he is unlikely to be able to control his toilet as his little bladder and bowel are underdeveloped and not strong enough to hold all night so set your alarm to take him out at least once if not twice during the night.

 

[Gareth and Lilo]

Hi Joanne,

Thanks for your advice, we don’t have a balcony unfortunately. We have a space just outside the front door of the flat that may work instead. It’s a good idea to get the box.

We are moving house after Christmas to a flat with a terrace but by then he can go outside.

Thanks again

 

[Josie]

Hello @Gareth and Lilo - I just wondered how you were getting on?

I stumbled across this picture on @sydney_and_winnies Instagram and I thought of Lilo! I asked the company and they don’t ship to the EU unfortunately but you could do your own DIY version?