Re: Bad Habits

In Reply to: Bad Habits
Category:   House Breaking
Posted by:  Alexis
Posted on:  May 14, 2003 at 14:59:07

: We have a JR pup that will be a year old in July. She is normally very well behaved, very playful, and very good about going to the bathroom when taken outside.
: We recently had a new addition in the household. We have a 10 week old kitten that we gradually introduced to Tana (our JR). They are excellent together for the most part, and we find that the only problem is that sometimes Tana plays too rough...which she stops doing once we say "easy".
: Since we got the new addition though, Tana has been going to the bathroom all over the house, even on top of going when we take her outside.
: Is this purely a matter of jealousy? How can we go about fixing this problem?

Response:

Dear Alexis,

As often happens when there is a change in the household, the daily routine gets altered sufficiently to throw off even the most well trained pet. In addition, when the "change" is a new pet, our attention is naturally divided between the two pets I suspect this is what is going in your situation.

Dogs don't go to the bathroom all over the house because they are "jealous" of another pet -- they go to the bathroom because they have to. I suggest you need to re-establish a daily routine so both you and Tana know what to expect from each other. And please don't be upset with her...she's only doing what she needs to do when she needs to it. :-)

As for the relationship between Tana and the kitty -- I appreciate that you gradually introduced the two and hope that you'll read more about JRTs and cats; link below.