Messing in the house!

[LoopyLou]

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Hi,

After some urgent advice please. At home we have 5 Whippets and one mad Italian Greyhound. 3 adults living at home all unfortunately work full time. The dogs have the back door left open for them so they can come and go as they please but every day we come home from work there is a lot of wee and poo inside. We have come the end of our thether with the mess now and was wondering if anyone had any ideas on how to stop this.

I know the dogs should not be left for the length of time they are but they do have access to the garden to do their business. We have thought of getting a shed in the back garden and putting heating in it but being as the whippets and italian greyhound are such whimpy dogs we don't think it's fair especially in the winter.

We have ordered some solution to try and clean the tiles and grout in the house to see if we can remove the smell that would have sunk in to the grout but we were after some tricks or training that we can give to the dogs to try and stop this. We had 2 dogs that have both left us now that were left for long periods and we never had any of these problems at all these were a Collie and a Lab.

Also 4 of the dogs sleep in with my parents (in the bed) and at least 4 times a night they are getting up to let them out for the toilet. They are sent out just before bed time for about 10 mins but still are getting them up in the night. Any ideas on how to stop this?

Please help as we love the dogs and would like a solution that will help home life without having to get rid of any.

 

[LoopyLou]

Forgot to mention we have 4 female Whippets, 1 just over a year, 1 at 5 and the other 2 are 7. One male at 5 and then the Italian greyhound female at 1.

 

[JoanneF]

There are people who regularly post here with good advice and I may be corrected on this but the first thing I'd check is whether they have any health problems. The messing could be behavioural but they should be able to get through the night without going out.

Should also ask, has this always been going on or is this a recent problem?

 

[gypsysmum]

Firstly you must ascertain that they are all well. Any kind of bladder of bowel complaint will muddy the waters when you are trying to fix a behaviour problem.

As the dogs are getting your parents up in the night it would seem that they have a basic concept of house training. At the 10pm garden visit I would go with the dogs to make sure that they are actually toileting and not just sniffing or waiting to come straight back in. It would seem that there is something wrong if they cannot make it through the night without a visit to the garden. This could be a health problem or some sort of behaviour problem. Rule out the health problem first. Try to find out why they need to visit the garden. Is it for a pee or a poo.

Next I would go back to basics with house training. Just because they have access to the garden does not mean that they want to use it.

Take each dog to the garden to toilet. As soon as they perform, give them a high value treat. Do not wait until they approach you. The treat must arrive immediately after the toilet and you should look happy and give praise. Keep this up until you see the dog looking for the treat as they finish toileting. They will then have the idea that holding on to their toilet until they can get to the garden brings high value rewards such as chicken or cheese etc.

You should, by taking them individually, know who has peed, who has pooped etc. If they have all emptied and are healthy then a visit to the garden in the middle of the night should not be necessary and your parents should just get them to settle rather than taking them out. If, however, one did not empty then a trip out might be necessary.

Do they get a walk in the evening? If not this might help.

Have you considered crate training? Dogs are den animals and usually love to snuggle in a comfy crate. This would help to control the situation while you work on the training. They should, however, not be left for longer than 4 or 5 hours without attention.

To clean the area you need a 10% solution of biological detergent. Wash, rinse, dry and then go over with a spirit like white vinegar or surgical spirit to clean the last of the fat deposits that might be left.

You may need the help of a qualified behaviourist to sort this problem out. Only use one with proper qualifications from either COAPE or the APBC.

Forgot to ask if the male dogs are entire dogs? Sometimes they scent mark and that is a separate problem.