I’ve got 2 small dogs, both just shy of 4 years old. My ex was very lax with discipline.
Now, the carpet in my apartment is a sort of medium tan, so it’s pretty much impossible to see any stains unless the blinds are open and there’s direct sunlight angling in perfectly.
Anyways, my girl has been peeing in various open areas, and my boy has been hitting some wall corners and some furniture corners.
The problem is, I really have no way of knowing when it has happened, so any spot I find may very well be weeks old. Kind of pointless to punish them on that one, and it really kills me to do it.
I know they’re doing it when they’re alone while I’m at work, but that really doesn’t help. I live in a tiny apartmen, and while I could use a crate, I really hate doing that.
Is your kitchen linoleum? How about getting a gate and confining them to the kitchen while you’re at work. No where near as cramped as a crate and if they do mess, it’s easier to clean up.
Might I also point out I found it incredibly funny that in a thread of this topic, you used the words “ex” and “lax” so closely together
Well, unintentional humor can be some of the best.
Anyways, I do have linoleum for the kitchen, so that’s a possiblity. It’s small apartment complex kitchen, though, so the thing is probably three feet by six feet. Certainly better than a crate.
They love staring out the window, but enough is enough. The other possibility is that I have a small balcony I could put chicken wire around (since they’re narrow enough to fit through the railing), but that would mean leaving them outside. That would probably lead to annoyed neighbors, and some wet, wet puppies.
Anyone have any other ideas before I pen my dogs up in a kitchen for 10 hours a day? From all the animal lover threads I’m used to seeing, I thought I’d get other responses…
I’d rethink the crate. When we were contemplating this, we were told that if you never used the crate as punishment, the dogs would come to see it as their very own special safe spot. Kind of like their own den, and they know not to soil their own den.
Turned out to be true. Our dog took to it well, and would go right in with little prodding. Never had a problem with him messing the crate, and we were gone all day at work.
Of course, now the dog is 13 years old and used to being around people all day. So if we leave him home alone in a crate he poops in the box to punish us.
The crate is the way to go. My 80lb Golden can’t get enough of her crate, she spends most of the day in there and I am home 24 hours (I work here).
The first week or so it was like utter hell to her - “MEEE - go in THERE???” but now she loves it. It’s her haven, her safe place. She has never once peed in there, as I’m told most dogs would never pee in their crates.
I think any trainer would tell you either the crate or the kitchen. They may be your best buds and your babies, but you have to show them who’s in charge. And they also need boundaries. They won’t get that by having the run of the house as their personal pee pad.
You might also want to consider taking them out more than you have been (even stopping home during the day to do so), or if you’ve got the $$ doggy day care. Me and my pup go to classes at our local day care and it’s quite popular!
My two small Chiahuahuas had similar problems. When I left them in the house while my wife and I were away at work, they would get bored and mark furniture in the house and pee on the carpet. They like to sit on the back of the sofa in the sun during the day and look out the window, but I couldn’t handle the furniture damage. So we started penning the dogs in the kitchen. One of the dogs is an escape artist and would find creative ways to escape including: knocking over chairs and jumping on them, then jumping over the gate, banging himself (all 12 lbs. of him) against the gate and knocking it loose, knocking over the trash can and jumping on it to get out, etc. So I started kenneling my little Houdini and over time he got used to it and is now very happy to go in there. They do not pee or crap in their confined areas unless they are sick.
