Once again it feels like forever since the last post about Wellie. This month has been full I tell you.
First up, almost immediately following the last post was Westfest. It was a blast and we had a great time. On Saturday (the longer day) I brought Corduroy and she just loves it – she laps up the attention and still wants more. On Sunday I brought Wellie and she did really well for her first big festival. She was very well behaved and went on two long walks with Rolph, the dog walker for Bark & Fitz. The only thing was that she was a bit overwhelmed with all the people. I’ll probably just stick to bringing Corduroy next year, but it was nice for Wellie to go once just to experience it.
One thing I did find out during Westfest is that Wellie really hates skateboards. She actually went crazy nuts barking and trying to get to the skateboards when some kids were skating around at one point on Sunday. I’m not sure where that is coming from, but I’ll be sure to watch for the next time we see a skateboard and we’re not around a bajillion people, to really see what is setting her off about them. The sound? the fast pace?
Once again I wish I could report more success in housetraining, but I am sad to report it’s actually gotten a lot worse. Ugh. While we seem to have the pooing under control, as long as we make her go at her “usual” times (6am and 4pm), but it’s just the peeing now. Well to be honest, I don’t fully trust her not to poop inside yet either, but I’m sure she’ll earn that in time.
So the peeing. It’s not a physical issue, because she holds it every single night. It’s a choice – she’s choosing not to hold it and going all over the house. We haven’t been able to catch her (aside from last Saturday, which I’ll get to in a moment). And the funny thing is that she does it mostly while we are home. I am wondering if it’s something to do with attention seeking? What is working in the mornings is taking her out on a leash, I just don’t know how long I should keep this up for – taking her out on leash every morning. Every once and a while at 4pm if she’s not going poo and just wandering or wanting to go in the house, we’ll put her on leash again and walk her around the yard. I just don’t understand why she would rather always be inside than out – but then tries to dart out the front door every chance she gets. Ack! I think she is singlehandedly keeping the “pee stain remover” industry in business! haha.
What I previously thought was a fear of our back yard grass isn’t – it’s actually a strong dislike of the grass being wet. Any time it rains or is dewy in the morning, she doesn’t want to go out. I remember Corduroy being fussy like this as a pup but she’s fine now so hopefully Wellie will get over it.
The peeing inside is getting to be quite the problem. At the three month mark, we were getting up to four days sometimes with no accidents but this month (aside from the past two days – yay!), she’s had accidents almost every single day. This past Saturday was a HUGE setback and she peed on our bed, while Thomas was in it reading. Not good. She had just been outside and didn’t go.
It’s quite emotionally draining and takes a lot out of both Thomas and I. It’s really hard to think you’re making progress and then you’re right back at square one. It’s not that she doesn’t understand and we are very frustrated. So much so that we have a behavourist coming in this weekend to help us out. Gwen, who runs Birch Haven Rescue and Rehabilitation, is a wonderful trainer and will hopefully be able to give us some insight into Wellie’s behaviour, and give us a plan of action that we should be taking to help Wellie to stop having accidents in the house.
Wellie has also begun talking back to us, mostly me, and I’d like to have Gwen’s insight into this as well. I’m not sure if she’s going through her own little “teenage phase” or if she just doesn’t respect me, but she’s been barking at me and biting at my feet and hands when she wants something (like her breakfast). How I’ve been dealing with it is while preparing her food, I keep the little squirt water gun right there and simply squirt her if she jumps up. It seems to be working. Previously I had tried to growl at her, verbally telling her to stop and that just got her going more so I don’t even say a word when I squirt her now.
It’s funny to compare Wellie to Corduroy and Paddington. Sometimes she is so much like Paddington it’s crazy. Paddington never used to let us pick her up – she would back up if we made the motion to pick her up. Wellie does the same thing (now Paddy will let us, but only in the past year or so). She’s also much like Corduroy in that she likes to be near you, or at least know exactly where you are.
Some major things will be happening in our lives in the next few weeks. I’ve made the decision to leave my day job and become a full time photographer (exciting!!) so I’ll be home much more with the dogs. I am hoping that I’ll be able to help Wellie along with her housetraining by being around the house a bit more. Because of this, I am also not being very good about updating the blog so you’ll have to put up with me not updating this blog as much as I should be. Soon I hope to sit down and work an entire full day updating it! But back to Wellington.
All in all, Wellington is such a sweet little girl and I know we can beat this housetraining thing (even if it does seem hopeless sometimes…). I just love her to bits.
ps. Update at 9pm – so our almost 3 days of no accidents has been broken. She peed on the living room carpet sometime today. 
boo
Read 3 Months with Wellie here | Read Week 8 here |Read Week 7 here |Read Week 6 here | Read Week 5 here | Read Week 4 here |Read Week 3 here | Read Week 2 here | Read Week 1 here | Read Welcome to Wellie here.
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Liz Bradley is a dog lover who lives in Ottawa, Ontario with her husband,
13 Users Responded in " Four Months with Wellie "
Hi Liz,
I really enjoy these Wellie updates and am happy to hear that despite a few set backs she is settling into your pack well.
I have an idea for Wellie’s accident problem. What if she just really loves carpet and the comforts of an indoor setting? Perhaps you could consider putting a piece of carpet outside, close to the back door and teaching her to go on that. I have a ‘dog garden’ — a medium sized rectangle of gravel with a shrub in it, which is where we taught our girls to do their business. We had the problem that they would hunt around for AGES and AGES trying to find the perfect place, which of course was unpractical and unnecessary. The designated ‘dog garden’ has really helped and now all the girls know to go there and only there (in a timely manner, haha)
Of course your behaviourist will have all sorts of great insights into Wellie’s furry head. Just thought I’d share my experience
Best of luck! Chat soon!
~Laura
I can’t remember if you’ve mentioned this or not before, but have you tried getting her to do her business on command? I read about this in a training book, and tried it out on my own dog – it really worked! Every time he had a pee, I just say the chosen command (ours is “hurry up”). Soon the dog learns what that action is called, and now when we go out in the backyard, and I say “hurry up”, he knows what he’s supposed to do.
I’ve always taken the dog out to do his business on a leash. I find it easier to keep track of what he has, or hasn’t done that day, and he doesn’t get so distracted with smelling around, or looking for squirrels. I’d say you should continue to take Wellie out on a leash and keep her focused on the task at hand.
@Laura great ideas! I’ll ask Gwen about it and see what she says for Wellie in particular.
@Kerri – yes we do commands but I’ve never mentioned it on here. We have “go pee” and “go poo”. I know she knows what they mean, but I think she has selective hearing. haha.
Hi Liz,
First of all, great forum. Giving people the chance to see that everyone can have dog issues will hopefully encourage people to seek help as opposed to being embarrassed or worse, angry at their dog.
I’ve just started following your blog so there is a chance that I’ve missed this. Have you done a workup on Wellie? I’d be curious if a urinalysis would come back clean. If their is a bladder infection or bladder stones in Wellie the house training will become so much easier with that taken care of. The behavior side of Veterinary medicine lacks, I’ll admit but I do agree that starting a quest like house training without a full picture will only frustrate you more. It will cost more up front but even if things do come back clean you won’t have the doubt in your mind that maybe something medical is the cause. Just make sure you find a good Veterinarian who will take the urine via cystocentesis and will plate it for growth. Also, an X-ray won’t show all stones but it can show some so it may be worth the investment in the end. I wish you the best of luck with Wellie.
@Becky – thanks for stopping by the dog blog!! Wellie has had a full vet workup and has a clean bill of health. We went to the vet about 2 months ago and she’s all good.
Hi Liz,
I may have a solution that could break your heart. It was certainly hard for me to do. My male dog J was a notorious “bedwetter”- of his own bed. His crate was his favourite place to go to the bathroom, he’d even hold it from outside to run in and potty in his crate. It was very frustrating and emotionally draining, and it seemed nothing I did helped.
So I started ignoring him.
For two months the only attention he got was when I got up to unhook him from a nearby chair every hour or so and put him outside. Not a word. No training, no petting, no cuddling, nothing. He was attached to his chair, near his crate, near the door. First week he was put out hourly; second, bi-hourly; third, four times a day.
After those two months he was unleashed. Now, five months from the start of this program, he’s even able to wait 6 hours in the bathroom without a mess!
It’s hard, but sometimes tough love is the only way to go.
HI Liz,
My Shih Tzu has the EXACT same problem. She will hold it in the crate overnight but will pee and poo in the house when I am not watching. The only way to help this is to not give them a chance to have an accident. The more they have accidents the more they will continue to as they can still smell it. I would suggest getting your carpets cleaned etc… and supervising Wellie at all times. I am in the midst of this with my dog (who is 2.5 years old) and it is hard but worth it. I feel your pain, ripping the sheets of your bed at 2 in the morning because your dog peed in it is not a good time. Neither is waking up to accidents on your floor!
Good luck!
I enjoyed reading your blog about Wellie. I too am having some challenges house training our new pup (a small miscellaneous mix). I believe he is a smart puppy, at fourteen weeks he already consistently comes when called, knows sit, down, stay, leave it and roll over. So I don’t doubt he has a reasonable level of intelligence. The house training though has been trying.
When I had this problem with one of our cats, it turned out to be an anxiety issue. I tried a few different meds and finally came across Clamicalm and it completely resolved the problem. The cat ended up being on this medication for 10 of its 17 years. Each time I tried to wean the cat off, it would resort back to inappropriately eliminating itself. The medication is not known to have any long-term side affects and while on the medication, the pet was by far more content with life. On the meds, he was just a happy, affectionate and playful kitty.
If I am unable to resolve our issue with the pup, I may talk to our veterinarian and try an anti-anxiety medication for a month or two to see if it makes any difference. Perhaps Wellie may also benefit from this option?
This comment is actually for Kimberley..
If I’m reading your comment correctly, you say that you’re having problems housebreaking your 14 week old puppy? Is this right?
Some dogs take longer to housebreak.. and honestly, your dog is *14* weeks old. I’m not sure what you expect? I would strongly urge you not to put him on medication at his age, because that seems a little ridiculous.
What happens when you crate him?
Currently is your pup alone during the day? Accidents that go unnoticed the second they occur will only lead to more accidents. You need to be supervising 24/7 to nip the behavior in the butt right away.
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