1yo Rott pooping/peeing inside

[Leinahtan]

Hey guys, first post here. Recently, about a month ago, I rescued a dog from a pound type place where she was going to be euthanized. I thought rotts were mean dogs and she looked pretty intimidating standing up against the fence in a kennel of her own (because she supposedly didn't get along with other animals.) However this was not the case.

She's about 1 to 1&1/2 years old, and I have trained her some basic commands in the past month such as sit, kennel, look at me, come, etc. She seems to have a very good ability to learn fast, and is a very good dog in general. She gets along with 3 cats in the house very nicely, she seems to be just interested in them, not prey-mode interested. Her only problem is the house training. Supposedly she was house trained before I got her, (that's what the people at the pound said) but she doesn't seem to be. I have house trained her a bit, she will go to and whine at the door when she needs to go to the bathroom, and I have always given her positive reinforcement when she goes outside, (treats & good talk) but the problem is mainly while I'm asleep.

I take her out before I go to bed, but lately she has peed inside probably 5-6 times and pooped twice. Some nights I guess she holds it until I wake up, but her whining while I'm asleep doesn't wake me up; I'm not sure if she even whines sometimes. She is very quiet about it.

I guess my question is basically how long it takes to house train usually, and if it doesn't take long, could there be any other reasons why she would be going inside?

She doesn't seem to have a UTI, she doesn't have trouble peeing or anything like that.

Thanks for any help.

[tla0126]

Are you crating her at night are just letting her run around free? You probably need to crate her awhile until you can trust her. Or, if you don't want to do that, treat her like a puppy, set your alarm a couple of times through out the night and get up and take her out... You may want to take her to the vet and get her checked out... They don't always have to have trouble peeing for it to be a UTI... Good luck and thank you for rescuing!!

[AngelBunny]

Thank you for rescuing your girl. I'm involved in rescue and know firsthand about the many nice dogs (of all breeds) in shelters who can make fine additions to families.

We're active in Rottie rescue and have fostered one adult male after another.

I treat every single dog as tho the dog isn't housetrained. I don't care what the OS papers say or what shelter personnel say about the dog. That dog is living in my house and I want proof positive the dog is housetrained.

Assuming your girl doesn't have a UTI, her behavior clearly says she's not housetrained.

What this means for you is that she should never be out of your sight unsupervised. Leash her to you. If you can't watch her, crate her. Feed, water, and exercise on a schedule as doing so will help regulate her system.

Crate her at night. From your post I gather you're not crating her?? When I get up to go to the bathroom at night, I'll open the crate door and ask the dog if he wants to go outside, then I'll walk him to the door and put him in the pen.

Adults are much easier to housetrain than puppies because they're old enough to concentrate and have bladder and bowel control.

[bliss7373]

Also, how late are you feeding her and how much water is she drinking close to bed time? I'd make sure I was feeding her in the early evening, pulling water about an hour before bed time....and taking a LONG walk before bed to make sure she's completely "empty."

Good luck!

[aldelgreco]

i don't even know how you potty train a dog without a crate to be honest.

[SABELLESMOM]

A 1-1.5 year old dog should be able to hold her urine throught the night. So first, have her checked at the vet for a urinary infection. Once you know she is clear, crate her at night. Cease to let her roam free during that time.

The crate should be large enough for her to turn around. Do not release her from there in the morning until you are ready to take her out. She'll get the hang of it right away.

I'm betting on the UTI. But it could also simply be getting used to new surroundings. Remember, at the pound/shelter, she was left in a fenced type kennel. I'm betting the had to urinate inside their enclosures. Give her a chance to relearn.

PS: She sounds wonderful!

[fostermom]

Thank you for adopting this girl. Since you've only had this girl a month, she hasn't had long enough to truly settle in. My current foster was having accidents in the house which took several months to resolve...there were several things I did to stop this which might help you:
1. check for a UTI....and ended up he had one!!!
2. shut the dog off from rooms where he had accidents if possible...in rooms where that wasn't possible, thoroughly clean the areas with an enzymatic cleaner as they are more likely to continue going in one area once they've had an accident there
3. if you don't have a crate and the accidents are happening at night, you could try leashing her to you at night...I don't crate my new fosters at night, just attach the leash to them and let them sleep next to my side of the bed on the floor until I'm comfortable that they're trustworthy at night...I've NEVER had a foster have an accident at night while doing that (but a couple who I decided to leave off leash immediately walked over and pottied!!).
4. continue to treat her like she isn't housetrained..take out frequently, don't give her unsupervised house privlidges until she's trustworthy, praise her when she "gets it".
5. a lot of these accidents are stress related and resolve with time and a bit of supervision from you...also dogs coming from shelters sometimes "forget" their housetraining as they are forced to eliminate inside their runs

Best of luck...she sounds like a very sweet girl.

[jennC]

In the past I have rescued two different dogs, one from a pound and the other from a rescue, both had many housebreaking problems. The one that I rescued from the pound was a baby when I got her and was severely neglected from the pet store that animal control had seized her from, she did not completely housebreak until she was about 9 months old. The other dog that I had rescued was about one year old and said to be housebroke, but was not at all, and I was using a crate and it made no difference at all. She would soil herself and the crate. I am not sure if there is a coincidence in the fact that I rescued both of them or not, but I did not have a hard time housebreaking the two puppies that I have now(both from breeders). Valek is 12 months and Ozzy is 4 months, Ozzy still will have an accident or two, mostly because we do not hear him ask to go out, but for the most part he was a piece of cake, thanks to Valek.

[iluvdakota]

really? dont know how to potty train without crate? im opposite.had many pups of all different breeds and never used crate

[brunie's mom]

Originally Posted by iluvdakota

really? dont know how to potty train without crate? im opposite.had many pups of all different breeds and never used crate

Much quicker and easier with a crate. When we first got a puppy over 30 years ago, there were no such thing as crates you used newspapers. That's just awful, because first you teach the pup to go on the paper inside the house, and then you have to teach them that they must go outside. It took much more time then crate training.

I've crate trained two puppies now, and I could count on one hand the number of accidents they had in the house. They were always my fault for not seeing their signals. I've not had a thing chewed, or destroyed or had a puppy swallow something it should not have.

I can't see why anyone would not use a crate. After seeing both sides..I would never go back to the dark ages.

Gina

[iluvdakota]

hmmm..maybe next pup i get i will give it a try
i just never had the heart to watch my puppy in a cage and to leave it sleep in there 2 . hearing or seeing them cry to get out would just kill me
i know this is a bad thing, something i will have to toughen up 2 eventually, but so far ive had luck with training the pups ive had without.
ive never paper trained either
i just make sure im out with my dog very often and get up throughout the nights...very tiring sometimes but not too much probs

[Max'smom]

Congrats on your rescue. Follow the advice of posts. Definitely get her checked by vet for UTI, then go from there.

I also agree with crating at night. You have to treat her like she's not potty trained, at least until you know her well enough. Set a schedule like you would have to do with a puppy, a few times a night, and slowly make the outings less often. Let us know how she is progressing.

[natesmom14]

We did have one rescue (my sweet Daisy who just passed away March 31st) who was confined 24/7 for the first few months of her life to an extremely small cage with mom and other pups- after that she was petrified of enclosed spaces and we could not get her used to a crate, closed bathroom or anything else. She did EXTREMELY well in housetraining and if she ever had an accident, you knew she was sick in some way- once was UTI, once was Giardia...When she got very old, we did take her water up after a certain time of night, because she just got to a point where she physically could NOT hold it anymore if we didn't take some extra precautions (taking up water, letting her out several extra times a day, etc)- totally not her fault- she was a bigger dog and 13 years old when she passed.

Nikki (our rescued Rottie- got her over 3 years ago when she was approx. 18 mos. old) has had very few housebreaking issues and was not in a crate- any accidents she has had was also when it was MY fault.

That being said, our new Notweiler pup (who is 12 weeks old) that we rescued IS crate trained- he's all of 4 pounds right now and can go from 9PM to 4:30am (when my husband takes him out when his alarm to get up for work goes off- he is totally quiet and doesn't make a peep until that alarm goes off!). Then he goes back in his crate until my alarm goes off at 6:40. On the weekends, he wakes us up at around 6am to go potty. If one that small can comfortably go that long at night, there is no reason your 18 mos. old Rottweiler can't. Definitely check for UTI and after that, I would use the leash or crate for sure- it can make a huge difference VERY quickly!

Good luck!