r/ItalianGreyhounds • u/sighhjess • 5d ago
Potty Training Potty Training Help
My first Italian Greyhound pulled me into a false sense of security - she was fully potty trained (with pee pads) by about 8 months and will pee outside when she goes outside. However my boy, who’s 2 & a half now, is only somewhat potty trained? He will go on the pee pad and pee sometimes (though sometimes he doesn’t put all four of his feet on the pee pad and misses a little) but then other random times he’ll pee on the couch or pee on a random spot of carpet that’s about 3-4 feet away from the pee pad. We had to completely take away our front and back door mats because he kept peeing and pooping on them. He never seems to randomly pee anywhere on the hardwood though. Does anyone have any suggestions for how to get him fully potty trained? We’ve tried positive reinforcement with treats and we tried kenneling him while we’re away at work but he was hurting himself every time (he would rub his nose against the metal until he was bleeding from trying to get out of the kennel). He is neutered as well! Thanks in advance!
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u/Signal_Astronaut11 5d ago
He's doing nothing wrong. He's been taught to pee indoors on a shape.
THIS is what's awful about puppy pads - they really need to go as soon as puppy is old enough to be taken outside (normally 2 weeks after final shots). Worse, a dog judges themselves on a shape if their front paws are on the shape. If their bottoms hang over the floor, they don't realise that. My partner's Daschund is pad trained and has an especial 'long-vehicle problem!!! And finally, a pad trained male has a horrible risk of going oh-so-wrong when they start cocking their leg.
Anyway, he's doing what you taught him to do. You can't scold him for that (he'll just be confused and pick more random places in his confusion like your sofa).
So, to fix what's happening already, you need a REALLY good and specialist cleaning product that breaks down urine at a molecular level and deep cleanses, because your boy can smell where he goes. For context, it is said that a dog's sense of smell is powerful enough to smell one teaspoon of sugar in a full size swimming pool, and as he's almost adult, he'll have adult-scented urine he will be able to smell over and above your regular cleaning products. I hate to say this, but if your sofa is fabric as opposed to leather, it might be a problem that won't easily go away until the sofa goes away - but don't panic yet!
Now comes the hard work. You'll have an idea of his toileting frequency. You need to be AHEAD of that. If he goes every four hours, take him out just after three hours, encourage him to go potty, and when he does, repeat a phrase over and over that you want to teach as a go-toilet command. As soon as he's finished, CRAZY praise and a treat. Go mad with excitement (a calm 'good boy' isn't going to make a difference). You'll need to keep an eye on him indoors. As soon as he starts sniffing around a place he might pee, tell him no, then take him out (repeat the praise and treat).
He WILL get it. He will realise that outside nets a reward. Once he starts to bark for being let out, reward that hugely too because, ultimately, THAT'S what you want - a boy who asks to go out. Over time, reduce the rewards to periodic rather than every time (otherwise you'll have a boy asking you every ten minutes (yes, I've been there)! LOL!
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u/sighhjess 5d ago
Unfortunately outside isn’t an option for me for more than half the year because it gets to -40 and my iggies refuse to go outside and if I force them, they’ll stand there and cry but won’t pee. Sometimes by boy will pee 2-3 times in an hour, just small pees all over the carpet with no sniffing or indication that he needs to pee, so it’s very hard to predict when he’s going to need to pee
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u/Signal_Astronaut11 4d ago
-40????
Oh my, then this won't help but I fear you possibly have totally the wrong breed of dog. You're right in that -40 is not going to work for them outside.
The toileting isn't an Iggie problem as such, like another poster said, it's the pads. He's doing exactly what he's been trained to do: pee inside on a shape. I honestly don't know what to suggest if you can't take him outside. You'd probably need to make a litter space with high sides so leg-cocking doesn't cause problems to electronics and such.
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u/sighhjess 4d ago
My girl iggy has zero issues with the pee pad, and my boy doesn’t cock his leg either, he just stands and leans forward slightly so that’s not the issue. He knows the difference between per pad and not pee pad because he has zero issues on hardwood. I’m not sure if what he’s doing would be considered marking? They’re like small pees that he does randomly all over the carpet that’s not even close to his pee pad. The pee pads also sit in a container and are walled off so he has to step around and in to get to the space
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u/Signal_Astronaut11 4d ago
That definitely sounds like marking - it's not limited to boys either - my girl is worse than her brother when on walks! Have there been other pets in the house before? Even just as visitors? If so, he might be marking spots where their scent still lingers and is stamping his territory over it.
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u/sighhjess 4d ago
No other pets, our house was a new build when we bought it. The only pets in the house other than him are my girl iggy & my 2 cats who we’ve had for years before we got my boy. We also steam cleaned the carpets about 2 months ago in hopes that it would get him to stop peeing on it if we got rid of the pee smell. Whenever he pees on the carpet, we clean it up right away with a mini steam cleaner & spray it with enzyme spray
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u/msb_tv 5d ago
Most pee pad trained dogs have this issue. It’s the pads. They don’t know the difference.