Question:
: I recently resued a jr/rat from an animal shelter. They told me that he was "house broken/trained". Well, he continues to urinate in the house and defecate as well. I take him out regularly, however it is starting to make the house smell like a barn. The other thing is that I'm finding that when I leave the room, he takes my underwear from the hamper and places it on the bed with him. Is this normal?? I'm really worried, I do NOT want to send him back to the shelter, however it is starting to disrupt my relationship with my girlfriend. She originally wanted a puppy, but I found this one "Dreyfus" on the net. Please, any information or advice you could provide would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again.
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Hi Pete,
Most dogs will have some trouble with "where to potty" when moving to a new place, even if it's with the same people. Additionally, rescues and shelters aren't always fully or correctly informed of a dog's history, or the time spent in a shelter, pottying in a kennel, may have caused a relapse of previous training.
So... this is what I always advised my rescues' adoptive parents. For the first 60 days (or more), treat the dog as if it was 8 weeks old, no matter its age or history. Check out the information on this site about housebreaking and crate training, and follow it. He may be physically 1 year old, but he needs to be treated like a puppy until you guys are all in tune to his cues and he is truly housebroken. He may not have received any housebreaking training in the past, so in that area, he may be 8 weeks old. You've got to watch him like a hawk, and if he does have an accident, take a rolled up newspaper, strike yourself on the head and say, "I forgot to watch my dog!"
Remind your girlfriend that with a puppy, you'd be having accidents in the houes for at least 6 months, if not closer to a year. A couple of months of helping Dreyfus out will be a cakewalk comparitively. Get some Nature's Miracle to treat the spots where he has accidents. This will help him by removing the smell and tempation to go there again, and it will help your noses too. If he's not neutered, please do that right away; it will help too.
Good luck!
Heather
