“Is he housebroken?”

That is a question almost all animal shelter/rescue workers get when someone is inquiring about adopting a dog.  

It worries me when that is the first question people ask, because it may imply the person is not prepared for a dog that is not perfect right out of the box.

So, I am just going to say, the dog is probably not housebroken (which is weird word and makes it sound like we have to break the dog). And if this is your main worry about getting a new dog; then it may not be the right time for you to get a new dog.

Dogs are messy. Even “non shedding” dogs lose hair. Dogs vomit, they have gas, they lick themselves and others in places on their body we consider inappropriate, they eat poop, and yes, they may sometimes relieve themselves in your home.

I always wonder what dogs think about the entire “go to the bathroom outside” issue. After all, we don’t. We want the dog to always go out and do its business whether it is cold, wet, snowing, or blazing hot. Whereas we have a nice comfortable spot in the house. And no one is yelling at us to “hurry up, go potty.” (ok if you have multiple people in your home and only one bathroom, someone might be yelling at you to hurry up).

Certainly, we do not want dogs to eliminate in our homes (unless we have a special litterbox or pad and trained the dog to go there) as the health hazards are numerous. But we cannot expect the dog to instantly understand what we want.

Here is a journey I am now taking with my new dog Pippin and how I am dealing with the vexing issue of eliminating inside the house.

I adopted him five weeks ago from an animal shelter. He was originally brought in as a stray but later someone called and said the person who brought him in was actually his owner and that she had been keeping him in a crate in a yard. He smelled bad and his toenails were extremely long so it does seem likely he was kept in a crate for long periods of time. He is approximately 1 year old.

While I cannot ask Pippin about his life before I got him, I did make a few observations in those first weeks. First, he had no issues relieving himself in his crate. This is often the case with a dog that has learned there are no other options.

In the first week if he peed or pooped in the house, he would do it as far away from me as physically possible. This most likely means he was punished for peeing and pooping in front of or near a person. When we yell at a dog for peeing in front of us, we think we are telling the dog to pee outside, but what we are really telling him is not to pee where we can see it. This is why dogs go to hide when they eliminate in the house, they associate us yelling with not liking to watch them pee, so they accommodate us by hiding. We did not say “pee outside” only “don’t pee in front of me.”

When I would clean up a mess in the house, Pippin would start shaking and hide under something. Most likely this means he associated anyone cleaning up pee or poop with him getting in trouble. Again, the person most likely thought they were saying “bad dog go outside” but what they were saying is “when I clean up a mess, I will punish you right after that.”

The first thing I did was absolutely nothing other than calmly clean up any messes I found and avoid looking at Pippin. I wanted him to know I was not angry. He wasn’t eliminating in the house a lot, but it was at least once daily. It probably would have been more but I took him out almost every hour those first few days.

In a week he was peeing and pooping occasionally in the same room I was sitting in. I considered this progress. Now I could see what he was doing and what signals he might give saying he needed to pee or poop. By knowing his signals, I could more quickly allow him outside. This way he can learn to communicate if he wants to go out.

He also would pee if I left the house for a few minutes. I would come in and find pee right at the doorway where I had left the house. I am sure this was anxiety on his part. Likewise for the first few weeks I had him, he would pee and/or poop in his crate even if I only left for an hour. Again, this was anxiety related.

Knowing WHY the dog is eliminating in areas you don’t want is important. Because how you change the behavior depends on the why.

I also had a fecal done on Pippin in the first few days I had him. He tested positive for giardia, which is a tiny, single-celled parasite that infects a dog’s small intestine. Dogs get sick by swallowing the parasite from dirty water, soil, or poop. Just like with people, if the dog has an intestinal issue there may be more urgency to their need to eliminate. Being angry at a sick dog for not making it outside in time is certainly not fair to the dog.

Mainly what Pippin needed was time. He needed time to adjust to my home. He needed time to adjust to my schedule and to trust me.  He needed time to get rid of the giardia.

At about three weeks he no longer peed when I walked out the door. He also kept his crate clean for several hours at a time when I left him.

Most importantly now, in week 5, there have been zero eliminations inside the house even when he is loose at night. So far, we are four days in a row of no in-house elimination.

I didn’t do any huge elaborate protocols (although those can be necessary and beneficial); instead, I just gave him time to decompress and a LOT of opportunities to go outside. At first, I praised him profusely when he eliminated outside, but that seemed to make him nervous. So, now I just say, “good boy” calmly. Moving toward him to give him a food reward for outdoor elimination also didn’t work because he associated me moving toward him after he eliminated with punishment. (I think).

Do I think he is completely “housebroken?” Nope. I think we are on a good path and that he will keep getting better though.

When you get a new pet; don’t expect immediate perfection. The animal does not speak your language or know your customs. He may have had bad experiences in the past or he may be ill. Empathy and kindness can go a long way.