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Comment by Erica on April 30, 2008 at 4:38pm

Wyatt has potty issues too, I thought we were doing better but this week he has been peeing and pooped in the house. I have been taking him out as much as possible and use key phrases when we go out, he does know these phrases and he does know that he is not supposed to go in the house, but he just does it still. I am in the same boat as you. Hopefully he will get better.

Comment by Sam Tsang on April 30, 2008 at 1:11pm

Hey Court, my Mocha is hydrophobic, so when it rains, he hates to go pee or poop, so what i do is getting in the rain with him and that seems to solve it. Vienna is afraid of thunder, so she hides under a car when it happens, I just continue to walk with her and it seems to solve the problem, she may still get a little scared, but now she only sticks closer to my heels (good thing). Like you I also did the pssst thing, I have found alternative sound that worked better for me, I used the Canadian "eh" and Australia "oy" and that seems to get my dogs to react better, try it, you may just find your "magical command sound" :)

Comment by Court on April 30, 2008 at 12:21pm

While it has happened only 3 times, once diarrhea and 2 times rainy weather related
not going while we were out then goes early in the morning before I get up, Court has, how do you say, had bowel movements on the carpet. Poor guy, he puts his ears back
and backs off from me. Perhaps this is from the months with whomever he was with before
i adopted him...yesterday a dog therapist said it might be good to have a place
(a throw rug with plastic under or like a plastic backed pad (disposable) for him to
have just in case. I'm not sure about this. diarrhea the first week i had him is understandable,
so is weather (getting up earlier and watching his intake and considering how much he has to go (as it has varied a fair amount with a few weeks of off/on thunderstorms/rain and taking him out more often or earlier might be better. on another note: Court stopped barking after I tried the Cesar Milan method of getting his attention with a light touch, then making a psst sound. Now he barks for me to touch him and make the psst sound! Sam?!
I hope to meet someone from the SPCA about this. They offer 3 free consultations anything pet related, one on one, at their facility.

Comment by Lincoln is Corgilicious on April 30, 2008 at 12:17pm

thanks for the advice ...

we did the whole outside for 10 mins and nothing then crate for 5 minutes then back out ... after the 4th time he actually went. now he is running around the apt about 100mph ( we call it a poop high ).

Comment by Sam Tsang on April 30, 2008 at 11:53am

yes, it is okay to crate him for a few minutes, remember to give a command for going potty and praise him when he's doing it. When he sniffs, that is a sign, walk him to the door and make him ring the bell immediately, don't wait.

Have you ever seen little kids who needs to go the bathroom and you know they do because they stand there crossing their legs, but totally ignoring it because they're distracted by something else? yes, it's kinda like that :)

Comment by Lincoln is Corgilicious on April 30, 2008 at 10:17am

Lincoln is hitting 7mos old next week.

So crating him is ok? I shouldn't say it that way ... I mean crating him if he doesn't go? I obviously don't want him to think his crate is a bad thing since it is his bed area.

If he starts sniffing the carpet as if he is going to potty we tell him to ring the bell (which has worked in the past) but lately he just squats.

Comment by Charlie on April 30, 2008 at 10:05am

"Ding, ding!" Cleanup on aisle three!

I agree with Sam. Anytime a dog relapses on housetraining, you have to go back to step 1 and treat them like a little puppy with no training.

He has likely entered adolesence which can cause relapses, or marking instead of peeing. The good news is that he should learn faster the "second time around".

Comment by Sam Tsang on April 30, 2008 at 9:38am

How old is Lincoln now? Keep an eye on him until he's 9 month - 1 year and no accidents. When you can't watch him, put him in his crate. When you take him out, put him on a leash and make potty the first thing, if he doesn't want to go, put him back in the crate for a few minutes then take him out again. You're on the right track, all corgis WILL relaspe until around 9 months - 1 year old. Keep it up!