# No, don't pee in other people's homes!



## Ari214 (Oct 9, 2014)

This is embarrassing to even admit, but I've been told that Kipper is not 100% welcome at the dog sitter's home because he keeps wanting to pee inside the house 

I am crushed. I was just about to up his visits to twice a week and now this. I don't blame the guy for not wanting to deal with it, but I just don't know how to keep this from happening!!! He doesn't pee or poop inside our house anymore, so what other sort of training can I give him? 

I know there's probably nothing anybody can say. I was just looking to let this out. Truth be told it made me kind of sad that my poor sweet boy has been rejected  He also pretty much called him needy. Which is strange b/c if you give Kipper attention, he'll take it! But if you stop paying attention to him he knows to go lay down and leave you alone.


----------



## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Ari214 said:


> This is embarrassing to even admit, but I've been told that Kipper is not 100% welcome at the dog sitter's home because he keeps wanting to pee inside the house
> 
> I am crushed. I was just about to up his visits to twice a week and now this. I don't blame the guy for not wanting to deal with it, but I just don't know how to keep this from happening!!! He doesn't pee or poop inside our house anymore, so what other sort of training can I give him?
> 
> I know there's probably nothing anybody can say. I was just looking to let this out. Truth be told it made me kind of sad that my poor sweet boy has been rejected  He also pretty much called him needy. Which is strange b/c if you give Kipper attention, he'll take it! But if you stop paying attention to him he knows to go lay down and leave you alone.


I think I remember that Kipper is a rescue, am I right? If that is the case, of course he's going to be a bit "needy" when he's left with people he doesn't know as well, at least for a while.

As far as him not being totally reliable in terms of his potty training, it is also completely natural for a dog to learn FIRST that it's "not OK" to potty in his own house. Dogs' don't generalize well. it takes a lot longer for them to learn, "W don't potty in ANY building". If this person isn't willing to watch Kipper and let him out frequently enough that he doesn't have potty accidents in the house, I see that as a failure on the part of the caregiver, NOT on the part of either Kipper or you. Kipper is just being a dog.

I had to go away a couple of times when Kodi was under a year of age, once for almost two weeks. I guarantee that the person who cared for him needed to keep an eye on him and get him out regularly to prevent accidents. If he did have any accidents while I was away, I didn't hear about it, because she would have realized that it was HER fault for not watching him, not his, and certainly not mine. Find someone else to watch your adorable Kipper, and don't blame yourself!


----------



## Ari214 (Oct 9, 2014)

Yes, he is a rescue. I hadn't thought about the fact that this fact may play into all this. He might act more needy when I leave him at day care. 

Part of me did want to tell Wes (dog sitter) that I think Kipper would learn to not pee in his house if he would just kind of watch him and teach him, but I couldn't bring myself to say it. If he doesn't want to spend the time doing it, not much I can do. But I did feel a little angry because wouldn't that be part of the whole thing? I pay you to watch my dog, which would include guiding him so he knows to go outside. Which I would assume shouldn't be TOO hard since he's learned it at our house. I guess I do need to find a better fit for Kipper.


----------



## Wags Mom (Dec 15, 2013)

Any chance Kipper might be marking rather than just peeing? If he is sharing space with an unfamiliar dog at the sitter's house, he may urine mark to claim territory. This issue is usually more common among rescues or puppy mill dogs.


----------



## civano (Sep 29, 2014)

krandall said:


> I think I remember that Kipper is a rescue, am I right? If that is the case, of course he's going to be a bit "needy" when he's left with people he doesn't know as well, at least for a while.
> 
> As far as him not being totally reliable in terms of his potty training, it is also completely natural for a dog to learn FIRST that it's "not OK" to potty in his own house. Dogs' don't generalize well. it takes a lot longer for them to learn, "W don't potty in ANY building". If this person isn't willing to watch Kipper and let him out frequently enough that he doesn't have potty accidents in the house, I see that as a failure on the part of the caregiver, NOT on the part of either Kipper or you. Kipper is just being a dog.
> 
> I had to go away a couple of times when Kodi was under a year of age, once for almost two weeks. I guarantee that the person who cared for him needed to keep an eye on him and get him out regularly to prevent accidents. If he did have any accidents while I was away, I didn't hear about it, because she would have realized that it was HER fault for not watching him, not his, and certainly not mine. Find someone else to watch your adorable Kipper, and don't blame yourself!


Well said! I totally agree with Karen. I hope you find someone who will be a better fit and do what you are paying them to do with Kipper!


----------



## Carma (Mar 10, 2015)

I agree with Karen.


----------



## SOPHIES-MOM (Oct 4, 2010)

I had the same experience. Rambo was 9 months and we went away and left him and Sophie with a girl that keeps several dogs in her home.When we returned she said Rambo had peed a lot in the house. I was shocked because he was not going in our house. I am sure she was not home as much as she said and he was not able to go out as much as he needed. 
She said she would gladly keep him again, but I am not so sure that is a good idea.Not sure what to do next time we leave them.
Not the dog's fault, for sure.


----------



## Ari214 (Oct 9, 2014)

Wags Mom said:


> Any chance Kipper might be marking rather than just peeing? If he is sharing space with an unfamiliar dog at the sitter's house, he may urine mark to claim territory. This issue is usually more common among rescues or puppy mill dogs.


That's a likely possibility. He did say he put diapers on Kipper but he tore them off. And he acknowledged that there's obviously a lot of old scents where other dogs have peed before and he's smelling that. So I'm sure in Kipper's mind it's okay to pee there, too. So I don't see how it's totally Kipper's fault, but I guess it's not the sitter's fault, either, and it's just a bad situation.


----------



## Ari214 (Oct 9, 2014)

SOPHIES-MOM said:


> I had the same experience. Rambo was 9 months and we went away and left him and Sophie with a girl that keeps several dogs in her home.When we returned she said Rambo had peed a lot in the house. I was shocked because he was not going in our house. I am sure she was not home as much as she said and he was not able to go out as much as he needed.
> She said she would gladly keep him again, but I am not so sure that is a good idea.Not sure what to do next time we leave them.
> Not the dog's fault, for sure.


Something I didn't mention is that they have a doggie door. Their two dogs know how to use it. I was very excited about this because I hoped Kipper would learn from them. And maybe Kipper is slow but I don't think he spent any time trying to get him to use it. I think he just hoped his dogs would teach Kipper. Which brings me back to one thing I keep asking myself, what do you pay for when you take your dog to someone's home so they can watch him?


----------



## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

SOPHIES-MOM said:


> I had the same experience. Rambo was 9 months and we went away and left him and Sophie with a girl that keeps several dogs in her home.When we returned she said Rambo had peed a lot in the house. I was shocked because he was not going in our house. I am sure she was not home as much as she said and he was not able to go out as much as he needed.
> She said she would gladly keep him again, but I am not so sure that is a good idea.Not sure what to do next time we leave them.
> Not the dog's fault, for sure.


When Kodi was young, I always delivered him to any caregiver with ex-pen, crate and litter box, with specific instructions that he was to be IN the ex-pen if the caregiver wasn't home. Not only did this keep potty training on track, but it gave me piece of mind that he couldn't get into anything dangerous when he wasn't being supervised. You NEVER know when a puppy or young dog is going to get it into their mind to get in trouble with something unexpected!


----------



## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Ari214 said:


> That's a likely possibility. He did say he put diapers on Kipper but he tore them off. And he acknowledged that there's obviously a lot of old scents where other dogs have peed before and he's smelling that. So I'm sure in Kipper's mind it's okay to pee there, too. So I don't see how it's totally Kipper's fault, but I guess it's not the sitter's fault, either, and it's just a bad situation.


IMO, if there's left-over pee smells in the house of a caregiver, that IS thee fault of the caregiver. It's just about impossible to explain to a dog, let alone a young rescue dog, that it was OK for OTHER dogs to potty in the house, but he's not supposed to add to it. I definitely would not want my dog staying there.

I checked out a small dog day care at one point (without Kodi) thinking it would be nice to have somewhere close by that he could stay on the rare occasions that I need to be out all or most of the day. I could SMELL the pee in the house. No thank you!!! So when I have to be out for the day, he stays in my office, with his crate, water bottle, litter box and a comfy couch and a few toys and antlers to chew on. I have someone stop by mid-day to either take him for a walk (if the weather is OK) or at least play with him for a few minutes and let him out in the back yard in case he needs to poop. (he doesn't like to poop in the litter box, except as a LAST resort!)


----------



## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Ari214 said:


> Something I didn't mention is that they have a doggie door. Their two dogs know how to use it. I was very excited about this because I hoped Kipper would learn from them. And maybe Kipper is slow but I don't think he spent any time trying to get him to use it. I think he just hoped his dogs would teach Kipper. Which brings me back to one thing I keep asking myself, what do you pay for when you take your dog to someone's home so they can watch him?


Some dogs may learn by watching and following another dog. MANY dogs need to be specifically taught how to use a dog door. Even then, if he doesn't understand that he shouldn't potty inside, and there are lots of potty smells in the house, why should he bother going out?

I would never, EVER let a caregiver put a diaper on my dog rather than getting them outside when they needed to go!!! This guy sounds like a lazy slug who wanted an easy way of making some money and not doing any work!


----------



## Ari214 (Oct 9, 2014)

krandall said:


> IMO, if there's left-over pee smells in the house of a caregiver, that IS thee fault of the caregiver. It's just about impossible to explain to a dog, let alone a young rescue dog, that it was OK for OTHER dogs to potty in the house, but he's not supposed to add to it. I definitely would not want my dog staying there.
> 
> I checked out a small dog day care at one point (without Kodi) thinking it would be nice to have somewhere close by that he could stay on the rare occasions that I need to be out all or most of the day. I could SMELL the pee in the house. No thank you!!! So when I have to be out for the day, he stays in my office, with his crate, water bottle, litter box and a comfy couch and a few toys and antlers to chew on. I have someone stop by mid-day to either take him for a walk (if the weather is OK) or at least play with him for a few minutes and let him out in the back yard in case he needs to poop. (he doesn't like to poop in the litter box, except as a LAST resort!)


You could smell the pee? That's terrible!!!! Ewwww. I will say their house did not smell like pee or poop. But obviously accidents have occurred inside, it happens. But the more and more I think and talk about this, the more convinced I am that it's just not a good fit for us. My husband and I are now contemplating hiring a dog walker instead. He has reservations about this because they'd be coming into our homes, but I think it should be okay...
I'm thinking I may also look for someone else through DogVacay and explain what happened previously and make sure they're willing to put in some time teaching Kipper to go outside in their home.


----------



## Ari214 (Oct 9, 2014)

krandall said:


> Some dogs may learn by watching and following another dog. MANY dogs need to be specifically taught how to use a dog door. Even then, if he doesn't understand that he shouldn't potty inside, and there are lots of potty smells in the house, why should he bother going out?
> 
> I would never, EVER let a caregiver put a diaper on my dog rather than getting them outside when they needed to go!!! This guy sounds like a lazy slug who wanted an easy way of making some money and not doing any work!


Hahaha. Lazy slug. That made me laugh. You may be right. See, they have great reviews on DogVacay and seem like nice people. But his wife just got a full time job, before she didn't. I think it was her running the show before and she probably took more time with the dogs. He is in the process of writing a book and said he was kinda busy with that. As I'm typing this, I realize how crappy that sounds. Grrrrrrrrr.


----------



## Wags Mom (Dec 15, 2013)

Another dog vacay might work out fine. You never know if one of the other dogs might have stressed out Kipper. Some little dogs are terrors .


----------



## Ari214 (Oct 9, 2014)

Wags Mom said:


> Another dog vacay might work out fine. You never know if one of the other dogs might have stressed out Kipper. Some little dogs are terrors .


Very true!!!


----------



## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

yes this guy doesn't sound too accommodating. But initially it is your responsibility to train your dog at least during the first visit to a new location. He most likely is marking and that in and of itself is a bit more challenging. But generally, marking is treated the same as regular housetraining. The first time you go into any new building you have to immediately within the first minute use your command for eliminating and march right back outside. If he eliminates outside, praise him enthusiastically. Upon re-entering you have to diligently watch him and do the same in another ten minutes. Let him know that this is another place where you go outside to eliminate. With young dogs the more you do this with EVERY new place ,the quicker they get the idea , but never assume that they ever totally learn it in ALL situations. Give them a chance to do it right.


----------



## 31818 (Oct 29, 2014)

davetgabby said:


> The first time you go into any new building you have to immediately within the first minute use your command for eliminating and march right back outside. If he eliminates outside, praise him enthusiastically. Upon re-entering you have to diligently watch him and do the same in another ten minutes. Let him know that this is another place where you go outside to eliminate.


Gracias, Senor Dahveed for this nugget of training expertise. I learn at least one new "trick" on this Forum everyday. Gracias to all my HF amigos! 

besos, Ricky Ricardo


----------



## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

Ricky Ricardo said:


> Gracias, Senor Dahveed for this nugget of training expertise. I learn at least one new "trick" on this Forum everyday. Gracias to all my HF amigos!
> 
> besos, Ricky Ricardo


who ever said " El loro viejo no aprende a hablar" ?


----------



## Ari214 (Oct 9, 2014)

davetgabby said:


> yes this guy doesn't sound too accommodating. But initially it is your responsibility to train your dog at least during the first visit to a new location. He most likely is marking and that in and of itself is a bit more challenging. But generally, marking is treated the same as regular housetraining. The first time you go into any new building you have to immediately within the first minute use your command for eliminating and march right back outside. If he eliminates outside, praise him enthusiastically. Upon re-entering you have to diligently watch him and do the same in another ten minutes. Let him know that this is another place where you go outside to eliminate. With young dogs the more you do this with EVERY new place ,the quicker they get the idea , but never assume that they ever totally learn it in ALL situations. Give them a chance to do it right.


Yes. I agree. We went over for a meet & greet before we actually started the day care visits. They took the dogs outside and they played for a bit. Once we were back inside, I was being very vigilant about watching Kipper and making sure he didn't try to pee. And he did try, and I stopped him and took him outside. He did get a few drops on the floor, and he didn't really pee once we were outside as he didn't really have anything to dispense! Should I have done this during his first few visits? I would have if they would have asked me to! I really just figured he'd take care of that; that it was part of the territory... It's hard to know where to set your expectations when it's your first dog.


----------



## civano (Sep 29, 2014)

davetgabby said:


> yes this guy doesn't sound too accommodating. But initially it is your responsibility to train your dog at least during the first visit to a new location. He most likely is marking and that in and of itself is a bit more challenging. But generally, marking is treated the same as regular housetraining. The first time you go into any new building you have to immediately within the first minute use your command for eliminating and march right back outside. If he eliminates outside, praise him enthusiastically. Upon re-entering you have to diligently watch him and do the same in another ten minutes. Let him know that this is another place where you go outside to eliminate. With young dogs the more you do this with EVERY new place ,the quicker they get the idea , but never assume that they ever totally learn it in ALL situations. Give them a chance to do it right.





Ricky Ricardo said:


> Gracias, Senor Dahveed for this nugget of training expertise. I learn at least one new "trick" on this Forum everyday. Gracias to all my HF amigos!
> 
> besos, Ricky Ricardo


Yes, thank you for this! :rockon:


----------



## 31818 (Oct 29, 2014)

davetgabby said:


> who ever said " El loro viejo no aprende a hablar" ?


La misma persona que lo dijo, "no se puede enseñar a un perro joven cómo utilizar el Internet." :ranger:

besos, Ricky Ricardo


----------



## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

yes , the more you show them the better.


----------



## Hsusa (Dec 21, 2014)

I am going to try Dave's advice each time I take Sheba to my parents. Unfortunately, I have never really taught her to eliminate on command. I need to work on that because she has gotten into the habit of playing first, then peeing in a hurry when I say "Let's go in the house." She's never been great about getting down to business right away.


----------



## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Hsusa said:


> I am going to try Dave's advice each time I take Sheba to my parents. Unfortunately, I have never really taught her to eliminate on command. I need to work on that because she has gotten into the habit of playing first, then peeing in a hurry when I say "Let's go in the house." She's never been great about getting down to business right away.


Kodi was ALWAYS on-leash when he was being taught to potty outside. He didn't get off leash until after he had "performed". I did use a Flexi for this, just to give him a little more space, but I stood in one place, and didn't talk or let him roll or play until after he had gone. No wandering around "smelling the roses". Business first. That did two things. Taught him to go on command, and playing off leash was the reward for doing his business.

Now he's pretty funny. Before we get in the car for a long ride, I tell him, "Go pee, go poop!" He will almost visibly roll his eyes and squeeze out what ever drops are available of pee. If you can't poop, you can't poop. So then he'll just stand there looking at me like, "I REALLY can't, Mom!" Then we don't have the typical toddle thing of needing to stop one hour into the road trip! :laugh:


----------



## Hsusa (Dec 21, 2014)

i'm going to start to leash Sheba. She is a little dickens! When I tell her "do your business!" she takes off in the other direction like nobody's business. She probably thinks it means "go play!" I think I've done it all wrong and now I'm going to have to pay the price. Oh well! It's certainly not the first time.


----------



## 31818 (Oct 29, 2014)

krandall said:


> Kodi was ALWAYS on-leash when he was being taught to potty outside.........He didn't get off leash until after he had "performed".


Same here amigo Kodi! Even now, Popi insists I make an effort to potty or poop in my yard before I can even go on my walkies. What is it with peoples? Sometimes I just DON'T hafta go! So sometimes I just lift my leg and pretend to go or just squeeze out a couple of marbles......just to make Popi happy! :croc:

su amigo, Ricky Ricardo


----------



## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Ricky Ricardo said:


> Same here amigo Kodi! Even now, Popi insists I make an effort to potty or poop in my yard before I can even go on my walkies. What is it with peoples? Sometimes I just DON'T hafta go! So sometimes I just lift my leg and pretend to go or just squeeze out a couple of marbles......just to make Popi happy! :croc:
> 
> su amigo, Ricky Ricardo


Ha! Kodi will squeeze out a couple of drops of pee (while rolling his eyes at me!) before getting in the car. But when he doesn't need to poop, he just looks at me, like, "REALLY?!?!? Can YOU poop on command?!?!" And then I know he really doesn't have to. :laugh:


----------



## morriscsps (Aug 17, 2010)

Jack can't handle carpeting. We don't have carpet or rugs. When we go visiting, I have to watch him like a hawk or he will pee on them. No idea why. He isn't trained to go on pads.


----------



## Ari214 (Oct 9, 2014)

krandall said:


> Ha! Kodi will squeeze out a couple of drops of pee (while rolling his eyes at me!) before getting in the car. But when he doesn't need to poop, he just looks at me, like, "REALLY?!?!? Can YOU poop on command?!?!" And then I know he really doesn't have to. :laugh:


Ha. When we're in the backyard and it's his usual pooping time, I let him out and I walk a little into the yard and tell him to go poo poo. If he has to go, he goes. But if he doesn't and I keep insisting b/c it's his "usual" time, he looks at me and is like "Okay, I'll humor you" and he goes and walks the path he usually poops on but then just comes right back. Haha.It's like he's saying I don't have to go, but I'll make the effort just so you can let me back in the house.


----------

