Dogs Pooing On Furniture

[keetamouse]

Morning all

I have a major problem with a couple of foster dogs pooing and weeing on furniture and it is becoming a major issue, I do have a lot of dogs in my home all under 5-6 kilos, they have access to my lounge area with vinyl floors, access to outside 24/7, then onto a semi enclosed deck and then the yard.

They step up on to trampoline beds in the yard and poo and wee on them, they have done it on a dog lounge I have in my lounge room, "my" lounge is off limits.

One dog came back after 3 months for doing this so is going to be hard to get him out of it, or is it??? this has only been happening in the last 12 months with a couple of dogs.

Need help asap

Maree

CPR

[Roova]

Yikes, that would not be nice to come home to!

If they're behaving as if they aren't toilet trained can you go back to the beginning of toilet training and take them regularly to where you do want them to toilet so you have an opportunity to treat and praise heavily?

Maybe even remove the outside beds or barricade the couch until they are regularly toileting where they should?

Good luck :)

[Christina]

Its a dominance/pack order thing.

When my youngest boy became mature he did this in all the other dogs beds & on the lounge too. As I have an old male & both are not desexed I knew this was how he was trying to establish dominance.

You have to isolate the culprits ( be sure you have the right ones ) & move anything they can do this on. Then teach them a toilet word. Mine is piddles for anything. Tell them to go when they are out & praise & in time allow them individually into other places but watch them all the time. I tell my boy no piddles before he comes in the lounge on the odd occasion & watch him but he can do a sneaky one usually on the floor on corner of something. I doubt he will ever stop, maybe when the old boy is gone.

They may or may not become reliable in time. Depends on the dogs temperament & if they can establish themselves comfortably in the pack order. Some need to be only dogs.

[RuralPug]

And you already know this Maree, but do use an enzyme cleaner like Urine Off to remove every last trace or they will continue. If the foster home was using an ammonia based cleaner on the poo/wee spots it could actually aggravate the behaviour.

Belly bands for boys can be used in retraining which will stop marking. For a stubborn soiler, I would be tethering the dog to me whenever inside so that you can instantly nip in the bud any attempt to soil or mark indoors.

Retraining two at the same time - ugh - I would probably rely on the enzyme cleaner on the outdoor dog beds AND lock the soilers out of the house when I was not there. When I was home it would be eternal vigilance when they are inside and perhaps finding their substrate preference and giving them an outdoor toilet spot that suits that preference.

[Mrs Rusty Bucket]

Yikes.

I would be crate training all of them. And the ones that aren't toilet trained can be in their crate or outside unless I had time to supervise eg they'd be on lead in the house and the second there was any sniffing of the ground - they'd be outside for supervised potty time. And it's good to have a word.

A lot of dogs - is a lot of competition - depending on the dogs, and it can also be a lot of stress for those at the bottom of the pecking order - each with their own crate - would be a stress relief.

I'd also be careful about clean up - bleach will encourage more marking. Bicarb Soda followed by vinegar doesn't and then a finish mist with some essential oil eg lavender + water or lemon and water - that discourages re marking.

And some DAP maybe - with so many stressed rescues in one house - I'd have DAP dispensers plugged in every room there is a dog.

Jo who (used to) run little legs rescue and post in here should be able to provide some advice - tho she always limited how many dogs she would take on at once.

https://www.facebook.com/LittleLegsDogRescue

[_PL_]

Maree, a quick fix is try a strip of alfoil on the couch seat. It doesn't work for every dog but cheap and worth a try while you set up something permanent like crates or baby gates.

White pepper has never worked for me, it's supposed to get up their nose but was really just for dogs gnawing sofa corners not for the seats.

xAnna

edit

There's a dog foil seat protector 'PetzOff' you can order but if you grab one of the cheap emergency foil wraps it might work. I haven't tried it though. :)

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Space-Blanket-Thermal-Thermo-Foil-Emergency-Survival-Camping-Rescue-First-Aid-/361041642880?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_15&hash=item540fc24580

Edited December 1, 2014 by Powerlegs

[Maddy]

Yikes.

I would be crate training all of them. And the ones that aren't toilet trained can be in their crate or outside unless I had time to supervise eg they'd be on lead in the house and the second there was any sniffing of the ground - they'd be outside for supervised potty time. And it's good to have a word.

A lot of dogs - is a lot of competition - depending on the dogs, and it can also be a lot of stress for those at the bottom of the pecking order - each with their own crate - would be a stress relief.

I'd also be careful about clean up - bleach will encourage more marking. Bicarb Soda followed by vinegar doesn't and then a finish mist with some essential oil eg lavender + water or lemon and water - that discourages re marking.

And some DAP maybe - with so many stressed rescues in one house - I'd have DAP dispensers plugged in every room there is a dog.

Jo who (used to) run little legs rescue and post in here should be able to provide some advice - tho she always limited how many dogs she would take on at once.

https://www.facebook.com/LittleLegsDogRescue

DAP doesn't work for every dog and individual responses vary a lot. A trainer friend of mine used DAP spray in her house (has four dogs, two weren't getting along) and besides having no effect on three out of four, the fourth dog took to marking every single spot she'd sprayed with DAP. End result.. no improvement in the situation and as an added crappy bonus, urine to clean up everywhere.

Here's a bit from the actual DAP website..

What are pheromones?

Pheromones are extremely widespread in the animal kingdom and are used to communicate between members of the same species. The pheromones emitted by one individual can affect and change the behaviour of other individuals of the same species. Examples of pheromones with which pet owners will already be familiar are the sex pheromones of dogs and cats. In addition to making the bitch or queen more attractive to the male when they are in season, they can also influence territorial marking, aggression, etc...

How those pheromones influence behaviour is questionable. In my experience, I've seen everything from food guarding, marking to excitability as a result of using DAP (interestingly, never seen dogs calmer as a result of using DAP). In a house where inappropriate toileting is already an issue, I think using DAP would be akin to throwing kero-soaked rags at a fire to put it out.

I've had a few foster dogs who would mark (mostly with urine) beds, water bowls and even food. It was mostly entire or newly desexed males, seeemed to relate to numbers of dogs around (mo' dogs, mo' marking) and stress caused by badly matched groups or individual personality conflicts definitely made it worse. Reducing numbers, desexing, spreading resources further apart will probably help. To give you an example of how I managed things.. at least two beds available per dog and beds spaced out as far from each other as possible (both inside and out), a variety of "safe" places to go (crates, etc), feeding in crates and removing all food before anyone comes out and in some situations, simply dividing areas entirely to keep certain dogs out of each others' way. I'd also be limiting offenders' access to trampoline beds or couches until their toilet training is back on track.

Edited December 1, 2014 by Maddy

[Mrs Rusty Bucket]

Adaptil pheromone dispenser system from Ceva products

http://www.ceva.com.au/Products/Products-list/ADAPTIL-R-Diffuser-Refill

There was an older product called DAP that didn't work as well.

On the website for the current product, there is no suggestion of increased marking as a consequence. Tho maybe an undesexed male might get territorial if he can smell a lactating bitch?

Canine appeasing pheromones are secreted by the sebaceous glands of the intermammary sulcus in the lactating bitch, These pheromones calm the puppy at times of stress and provide reassurance, particularly in unknown environments and when encountering novel experiences. Research has shown that the reassuring properties of these pheromones persist even into adult age.

So the current Adaptil dog pheromones for dogs - is not an "on heat" sex hormone, it's mummy's got milk pheromone...

I've not used any of them so I don't know for sure. I do know that the maternity ward of any hospital is not a calm and relaxing place for me - no place with an upset baby is.

But I agree with the part about separating the dogs into smaller more compatible groups could help.

[Maddy]

Adaptil pheromone dispenser system from Ceva products

http://www.ceva.com.au/Products/Products-list/ADAPTIL-R-Diffuser-Refill

There was an older product called DAP that didn't work as well.

On the website for the current product, there is no suggestion of increased marking as a consequence. Tho maybe an undesexed male might get territorial if he can smell a lactating bitch?

Canine appeasing pheromones are secreted by the sebaceous glands of the intermammary sulcus in the lactating bitch, These pheromones calm the puppy at times of stress and provide reassurance, particularly in unknown environments and when encountering novel experiences. Research has shown that the reassuring properties of these pheromones persist even into adult age.

So the current Adaptil dog pheromones for dogs - is not an "on heat" sex hormone, it's mummy's got milk pheromone...

I've not used any of them so I don't know for sure. I do know that the maternity ward of any hospital is not a calm and relaxing place for me - no place with an upset baby is.

But I agree with the part about separating the dogs into smaller more compatible groups could help.

No one was talking about an old version of the product?

[Mrs Rusty Bucket]

Apparently DAP is the old product name and ADAPTIL is the new name - according to their website.

But again - I don't know - I was just looking for more info on why they market it for helping with exactly the problem that you say it aggravates.

They're scamming if that's the case and they don't mention the problems on their website.

All the websites that mention the problem refer to sex pheromones and the old product name.

[*kirty*]

We use DAP at work in the kennels and it seems to have a positive effect.