A few little Lola glitches!

[whiskydry]

I don't want to be a failure for Lola so I'm not going to sit and dwell on the things that stress us out about her, I'm going to be pro-active and sort it!

1: She steals. Food. All. The. Time. We can't even put rubbish in the kitchen bin because as soon as we look away she is in it. She's had everything and anything left at about my shoulder height and below, whether packaged or not. This is getting just a tiny bit wearing now! I need to be able to put the shopping on the kitchen counter, and I need to be able to put my rubbish in the bin! And I don't want to have to crate her every time we want to eat ourselves!

2: She also steals toys from Rebecca's bedroom, and I currently have a full on toy hospital ward set up where teddies have had to have legs sewn back on Rebecca is learning the hard way to keep her door shut or toys out of reach!

3: She doesn't walk nicely on the lead for DH. I can't understand why because she is a dream to walk for me so I'm a bit baffled by that one.

4: Last night she stood in the hallway and did a massive wee on the floor - the back door was wide open and dh was outside at the time so I don't know why she suddenly decided not to go out there It was such a massive wee that it splashed up the wall

5: Just a silly one really but she doesn't poo out on walks, only in the garden. I would kind of prefer if she did it on walks - is it even possible to train a dog to do that?

I know she is only very recently out of kennels really so I'm not expecting miracles. I'm approaching the situation as if she were a little pup (a huge little pup who can get in big trouble ) but it's been many many years since we've had a pup! I have rung Jim Greenwood for some advice about her house hold manners so I'm hoping we can sort it soon. But all advice here gratefully received too.

I think we were spoilt by Barney being such an angel ;D

[Aoj]

OK, I'm no expert but here ar a few suggestions

1. Get a baby gate in your kitchen doorway. Brodie was a sod when he first got here and I had no option but to fit a gate to stop him from trying to get food from off the top of the hot stove. He was going to do himself some serious damage if I didn't.

2. Keep the door shut!

3. No idea on that one.

4. Take her out every hour on the hour. Use a consistent phrase such as "go pee" and "good girl go pee" when she does.

5. That will come with time.

[lurcherlot]

My thoughts - these are all very minor things, part and parcel of settling in ..... so will take them in order ...... firstly stealing, almost all hounds steal! Rubbish bins need to be in a cupboard, on top of work surface or outside. Any food left on a work surface is fair game

Rebecca will need to learn to keep her bedroom door shut .... again hounds steal toys.

I imagine she could possibly have been hurt by a man in the past?

Do you think she is frightened of your o/h? For her to wee inside, with the door open, I imagine could be because she's worried about going outside when he's there?

My only suggestion is to keep her out on a walk until she has a poo, and then reward her.

[dominique]

Well done to you for not dwelling on her litte problems and actively seeking some advice. I'm sure that you'll get plenty here.
A baby gate may be a useful addition to your household as it will stop her from being able to move at will between rooms without your 'permission' and just helping herself to anything that she fancies, and I can't remember how much training she has had, but perhaps a basic obedience class would be good for her, with your OH doing it with her. I found that teaching Ruby, my counter surfer to 'leave it' with a food reward helped to convince her that being given food was an easier option than stealing it (but she'll still occassionaly steal ) As for the bins..........well I gave in and just put it outside the kitchen door.
The huge wee, well Ruby did that just once and I really think that it was because she forgot to go because she was playing with Zak and it just happened (she looked mortified). I'd go back to basics with regular garden visits using a phrase such as wee wees as a signal to go and a reward when she does.
I'm sure that you'll get some much more useful advice from other Gap members who have had pointy dogs for much, much longer than me, but don't give up. I'm sure that there's an angel just waiting to get out she just needs to learn the rules.

[Deleted]

I know it's stressful having a new hound & overcoming the settling in glitches but all of those issues will be overcome with time & patience.

Ellie was a cowbag for stealing stuff when she first arrived, I couldn't put anything on the work surfaces without turning my back because she would pinch them, jars of pasta sauce, cans of lager, kitchen roll she stole it all. I set her up & left stuff on the side & squirted her with a water pistol & a big NO when she attempted to steal. Took 2 days for that to work.

I think Lola came from the same place as Fergal & he hasn't been walking very well for Geoff either. He is in a harness & I have been walking him only & it seems now that he has bonded with me & trusts me he has started to bond with Geoff & trust him & tonight Geoff walked him & he was fine. It may be a trust issue?

That sort of links to the weeing the hall when your OH was outside, perhaps she was too scared to go outside with him there. I think this batch of dogs have had a rough time at the hands of a male. She wasn't marking if it was a full blown gusher, she must have been busting. The only other suggestion I have is that she may have a water infection but I suspect the former.

The not pooing out on walks is common, and again to do with feeling insecure, once she feels more confident that will happen.

It'll all come together in a bit of time ;D

[whiskydry]

Thanks everyone. Interesting that Fergal has a simialr issue with walking with Geoff...makes sense that they have reason to be scared or less trusting of a man then. I have been watching her around dh and she isn't overtly scared but she isn't necessarily going up to him for attention either, whereas she is quite licky with me!

I know they are minor issues really but I'm concious of how easily little things can become big ones and we love Lola so we really don't want to get all stressy with her.

[Jen Wren]

The best thing to do when you're unsure is to get advice before you tear your hair out, so you are already on the right track with Lola already.

Lots of good advice already but I thought I'd share a few experiences from when I was new to hounds.

1. I learnt the hard way about hounds and kitchens. I had no kitchen door at first and the dogs had free access to there. Just because they do as they're told when you're watching, never assume they will when you're not I frequently had bins raided when I was out, Goldie stole 36 Jaffa Cakes and scoffed the lot, I won't tell you the outcome of that Got a kitchen door, problem solved. Current foster Biggles Croft AKA Bin Raider cannot be trusted in the kitchen alone as he will always drag stuff out of the bin. When I go shopping, I used to just shut them in the lounge when I unpacked. Now have a dog gate so it's quite good in as much as they can still see you but can't grab the tasty goodies ;D In my experience prevention is the only cure.

2. Same again with the prevention thing, keep the door shut ;D

3. Um don't wish to sound cheeky but is your OH a bit of a softy with the dogs? Biggles and Fella here walk fine for me cos they know I won't take their crap, but if my sister or anyone who they regard as a soft touch walk them they pull and generally 'try it on' Either that or perhaps as Liz said she is nervous of your OH

4. I found with all my hounds that are new to the house they get a bit confused by their surroundings and are unsure of the toilet procedure. Remember Lola has been in kennels, Sue's house and yours in a relatively short space of time. As the others said, back to basics is the right thing to do. Having said this my Dolly is a cow bag and although house trained, you need to keep an eye on her cos if the weather isn't good or she doesn't want to go out, she will wonder into another room and go ;D

5. Some dogs are really funny about where they poo. Sometimes it's just a confidence thing and when they get used to their new surroundings they will go, praise them etc. Fella will not poo when on lead, when he goes it will be when off lead and it's always in the most hardest to reach place imaginable. He doesn't like being watched either and always hides away when he does it ;D

Good luck in sorting out her training problems ;D

ETA I've found that the hounds are much harder to train then the non hound. They just never bluddy listen

[whiskydry]

I'm glad I posted this now. I was dead scared you'd all think I was stupid and not fit to be Lola's mum!

OK so off to Argos in the morning for a second dog gate. Problem number 1 solved.

Is my other half a bit soft with the dogs? Yeah, I reckon so. Obviously I need a trainer for him rather than Lola

I can't believe you'd say hounds don't listen - I only have to rustle a bag somewhere in the house to get 2 hounds rushing to find me ;D

[andywillow]

I know exactley what she's like Wendy, definitely move your bin. Mine had to be moved into the porch when we got our first hound Andy and its stayed there ever since! Lola was a pig and always put her head in it on the way out
We never had a problem when eating as I issued the kids with a water spray, she acted as if she was being sprayed with acid and never came near. I also had this on the kitchen side when preparing food and again she kept away.
We too had the problem with weeing so I dont think its because your hubby was outside. She did it here when no one was outside and both patio doors were wide open but she happily squatted on the carpet to pee. I used to lock her outside and say go wee wee's, she'd stand and stare at me through the glass but if I walked away she would always go and wee then I gave her lots of praise. She did poo on walks with us, but again I think she did lack confidence at first and it will come with time. Really don't know why she doesnt walk nice for you hubby and only you, although I only walked her here and she walked lovely.
I think the fact she is only just 2, she is still a baby and all will come in time. I think the last week here she was completely clean here, she does need watching and like Angela says take her out on the hour every hour until she wee's. She was always spotless at night in her crate. She was spotless the first week but then had a few accidents after her spay so I put it down to that.
I'm sure she will be fine soon with a routine. As for Rebecca's teddies, just tell her to lock the door
Give Lola a big squidge from us all here.

Sue

[vickyb]

We stopped Gracie from stealing food by putting citronella oil along the edges of the worktops and all around the bin itself, worked like magic with her. Downside is I hated the smell too and always seemed to have it on my hands. We also had the clearest worktops - everything containing food got put in a cupboard after she opened the biscuit jar and ate a full large packet of custard creams, a whole loaf and 2 part baked bread cakes (smashing a pot bread crock in the process) and on another occasion opened a lock and lock container and ate 11 weetabix . We also used a pet corrector spray as she was doing anything she shouldn't like stealing food and it worked like a dream.
She is so good now, 5 months on that I recently popped out to the shops and stupidly left Rivers bowl on the worktop with his chicken and potatoes in it - it was untouched when I got back. She knew it was there as she pointed her nose at it when I came in. So proud of her for not wolfing it down.
It does get you down, we had the problems with shopping, she ate/destroyed 4 toilet rolls in the blink of an eye in the early days, and we had a lot of inappropriate weeing and also had to take all soft toys away and re-introduce them gradually and she's learnt to stop tearing them apart.
It will get better, she's gone through a lot and needs to learn that food will always come as will walks etc. and she needs to feel secure then I'm sure she'll improve, just keep asking for advice and see what works for her and you then I'm sure you'll love having her.
When we got Gracie in march I felt like I'd been hit by a truck as our other 2 and us were settled into our comfortable routines and along came this gorgeous monster and it was like hell let loose! I shed more than a few tears and questioned whether I'd done the right thing but she's fine now. Well most of the time!
Good luck, Vicky

[helen7]

Hi Wendy,

It's v late and I must go to bed! but just wanted to say that re your bin - why not buy a bin that has a clip/push down to open bin? I have one and the hounds can't get in it. My mum has a simple flip top bin and Twigs can get in that no problem. No hound has ever tried to get in mine including any of my fosters. Mine is a cheap version of the Brabantia bins. I've posted a link just so you can see the sort of bin I'm talking about.

www.amazon.co.uk/Brabantia-Touch-Brilliant-Steel-litre/dp/B00026LJH0

Also Sapphy didn't poop on her lead on walks until she'd been with me for 3 months. Now she often does 2 when on the lead. None of my fosters did either to start with. As others have said this is normal.

I don't know how feasible this is but if she is chewing toys is it worth investing in some boxes etc so Rebecca can put her stuff away so norty hounds can't get it? Perhaps not if it's soft toys. Closing the door is probably the only option, if the hounds are allowed upstairs or a child's gate on Rebecca's door.

[Barneysmum]

My Barney is an absolute nightmare for going for a poo on the lead - whenwe do the camping weekends with gap friends he has managed to go the whole weekend without having one.

It might 'come' with time but don't stress out if it doesn't, just get used to rushing to the back door after having a walk.

Marie

[Deleted]

Jul 29, 2008 20:52:52 GMT -5 helen7 said:

Why not buy a bin that has a clip/push down to open bin? I have one and the hounds can't get in it. My mum has a simple flip top bin and Twigs can get in that no problem. No hound has ever tried to get in mine including any of my fosters. Mine is a cheap version of the Brabantia bins. I've posted a link just so you can see the sort of bin I'm talking about.

www.amazon.co.uk/Brabantia-Touch-Brilliant-Steel-litre/dp/B00026LJH0

Yes I have one of those which I ordinarily would have recommended but Fergal has learnt he can open it by banging his chin on the lid

[whiskydry]

Jul 30, 2008 1:13:19 GMT -5 wanda said:

Jul 29, 2008 20:52:52 GMT -5 helen7 said:

Why not buy a bin that has a clip/push down to open bin? I have one and the hounds can't get in it. My mum has a simple flip top bin and Twigs can get in that no problem. No hound has ever tried to get in mine including any of my fosters. Mine is a cheap version of the Brabantia bins. I've posted a link just so you can see the sort of bin I'm talking about.

www.amazon.co.uk/Brabantia-Touch-Brilliant-Steel-litre/dp/B00026LJH0

Yes I have one of those which I ordinarily would have recommended but Fergal has learnt he can open it by banging his chin on the lid

My hopes where raised and then dashed again then It may be worth a go though, if only so I end up with a fancy bin... ;D

[whiskydry]

Jul 30, 2008 1:07:42 GMT -5 Barneysmum said:

My Barney is an absolute nightmare for going for a poo on the lead - whenwe do the camping weekends with gap friends he has managed to go the whole weekend without having one.

It might 'come' with time but don't stress out if it doesn't, just get used to rushing to the back door after having a walk.

Marie

Yes I can imagine Lola not pooing the whole time we are camping. I'm psyching myself up to try them camping but I'm not sure I'm going to be up to the job! I hope I'm wrong, it would be fun to take them. I'll be needing a bigger car first though