Weeing in the house & leaving alone

[claireforest]

Hello

Been reading the forum for a little while now but this is my first post

I adopted a greyhound from RGT four weeks ago, and absolutely love him to bits, cant imagine life without him.
We were told he was an ex racer and had been at the RGT kennels for about 8 months and they were struggling to rehome him because he was so shy and sad looking compared to all the other Greys who couldn't wait to meet you. He also couldn't be homed with children, other animals or anyone that was too loud.
I fell for him straight away, he was sitting in the corner of his kennel not asking for any fuss but I took him for a little walk and knew I had to take him home with me.
He is very shy and quiet and frightened of pretty much everything, the louder the sound or the smaller the dog the scarier it is.
When I brought him home I was prepared for a lot of hard work trying to get him to feel safe and settled however he really surprised me and has taken to life in a house really well. He loves lying anywhere warm and having lots of cuddles and treats.
I think the fact that he settled so quickly made me relax a lot more thinking I wasn't going to have any problems with him however about a week after he moved with us he started having a wee in the house and if I close him into a room while busy in the kitchen he starts clawing at the door and then usually has a wee. At first I thought maybe he thinks when a door is closed he goes to the toilet as I always close the back door behind us when letting him into the garden for a wee but now I'm starting to think maybe he is doing it so I have to go back into the room with him. The past week I have not shut him out but made him lie on his bed while I am busy or ignore him and he goes to lie down himself and we didn't have any accidents until this morning...I let him out in the garden for the toilet then went upstairs to get ready for work, he started crying as soon as I was upstairs but settled himself after a few minutes then I heard him running around with his toys so I thought he was okay. When I went down to see him after getting ready he had peed in the living room again  I'm not really sure where to go with this as he only does it when I'm not in the room.

As for leaving him alone, I am lucky to have the help of my parents so they take him out during the day when I am working so he is only left for a few hours. I have been using a crate and only seem to have had two bad days where he has tore his bed up in there and once he tried to break out of the cage and bent all the bars, since then he has seemed ok. He does cry until he settles himself down and goes to sleep. I now want to allow him out of the cage when I am out of the house, I have tried letting him sleep in the living room the past few nights and he has been great but I tried this morning to leave him for an hour out of his crate. I left the house and parked my car down the street and walked back toward the house and I could hear him barking and crying from the driveway. I had to go to work so asked my mam to call over and check on him as I didn't want him barking for too long, when she arrived about half an hour later she said he was quiet and just lying in his bed.
I know these are not massive problems but I'm not sure I'm doing the right thing by shutting the door behind me and going to work as I don't know if I'm telling him he can wee all over the living room but I also don't want him running around the kitchen incase he gets hurt or gets into his food.

Other than that he is great and has even started wagging his tale something he didn't do at first.

[suzieq]

It might be that he is just a bit anxious. Do you stop out with him until he has had his wee? You might find as well he will wee in the same area of living room each time as that is where the scent is. Rug doctor is recommended! We invested in a dog gate from Argos for the kitchen and then put their rugs next to it so ours can still see us whilst cooking without trying to help.

[claireforest]

Hi, Yes I stay out until he's had a wee then we go back inside.
Thanks I will have a look at the dog gates as I don't want to close doors if it makes him wee
Its always in different places too, I use disinfectant at the moment to clean it up.

[suzieq]

The gates are currently £33.99 and I must admit although mine is up it's only rarely I have to use it now which is good as it's a pain in the bum trying to open the gate with your hands full.

[ragsysmum]

Sounds like a bit of separation anxiety. You need to do intensive 'alone' training'.

[gvgeam]

If you haven't done so already, it's worth reading Lisa's posts on bringing a new dog home and separation anxiety that can be found in this area of the forum.

[Flaperoo]

Lisa's post on separation anxiety is excellent and well worth following.

From the way you describe it it does appear that in his mind if he wees he gets your attention (his reward) so he needs to get lots of praise from you when you watch him go where you want him too which means you need to stay with him until he goes. If I had neighbours that could see what I'm doing when I am doing house training with a new dog I think they would almost certainly think I was loopy . I go over the top with praise, start twirling around and bow playing with them. I also take them out very often and go through the same over the top reward when they get it right. I always say to people your dog wants to please you, wants to make you happy and so if you show pleasure and happiness when they do what you want they will very quickly get the message.

Using child gates is worth a try it is less excluding than closing the door. Using a crate, again it needs to be seen from his perspective as a positive, safe place and not a place where he feels abandoned. Whenever I have had a greyhound reluctant to use a crate, apart from making it very comfortable and a fun place to be I use treats. I don't make a big deal of it but put treats into a kong or snuggle mat and place it in the crate. When they go in to eat them I partially close but do not completely close the door. I want them to be happy in there because although extremely rare there have been times when I have had to close the door because they are injured and need to be safely contained for their own safety. Encourage use of the crate when you are there; if you only use it when you leave again he may make the wrong association. Also do you have a radio you can leave on when you leave?

I have found plain old biological washing powder the best for removing scent.

Good luck he sounds like a typical greyhound finding his way in a bewildering world bless him and it would be lovely to hear how you get on.

Mary xx

[claireforest]

Thanks for the reply's. I will work more on the separation anxiety.

Mary, thanks so much for your advice. I have started going way over the top when he has a wee outside and (touch wood) it seems to be working.
I always leave the crate door open through the day and he goes in it whenever he wants to have a sleep so he does like his bed being in there, I just don't think he likes me going out and leaving him in.

Thanks again for all your advice