My Adopted Greyhound Is Peeing On The Carpet–help!?
Filed under Care & Training Q&As
My 7 year old female greyhound has decided to start peeing by my baby grand piano. I’ve had the carpet cleaned, I’ve told her “no pee!” and she seems to know, but somehow she goes back to that area. I can’t seem to catch her in the act. She gets lazy about going outside when it’s cold. I really like the dog, but am concerned about this. I wonder if I should get her a crate (which I’m sure she will not like) to go in while I am out. I would like to hear from others who have adopted Greyhounds and how they have trained them.
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1—Take her to the vet and make sure no urinary problems
2–go to Pets Mart and get you some No Pee spray, it is safe for carpets and spray where she has been peeing, it is odorless and really helps in the aid of house training,….it is safe for dogs…..
good luck
And the crating ideal, I hate to see ANY Greyhound re-crated, they spend enough time in their life in a crate between races, she needs the freedom to be herself.
However, get a really huge crate and when you are not home, then crate her, but not for long periods of time….
You need to take the dog outside and stay with it until she obliges. Is this a newly adopted dog? If so she doesn’t know the rules until you teach her. If you are leaving the house, take the dog outside to pee just before you leave.
If you have had the dog for a while and she has recently started peeing in the house then I suspect a urinary tract infection, in which case she needs to see a vet for antibiotics. If she does have a UTI, take a specimen of her urine in a clean container so the vet can identify the bacteria
Does she have free access to outside or does someone need to be there to open the door for her?
Are you sure she is deliberately peeing or could she be voiding her bladder when she sleeps / awakes? It is a common problem with older females. If it really is that she prefers not to be outside in the cold, then you should crate her when you’re away. If you’re gone more than five hours have someone come by to let her potty.
Hi, I hope you still have your dog. FIrst thing, take her to your vet to rule out a UTI. An infection can ruin housebreaking! If she is clear, them make sure you clean the area really well with a neutralizing cleaner (available at your local pet supply store).
If she pees when you’ve been gone a long time, it may be too long for her to wait. Pee pads or papers might help. If she gets out a lot, it might be habit and it’s easy for her. You might want to block her from that area! Get that UTI checked out!! also, contacting some of the grehyound rescues might help, too.
Was she a racing greyhound? Because if so the crate will be fine because that is what their homes consisted of while racing. My cousin has one and he loves his crate. Is there a way for you to block off that room unless you are in it? That might fix things when she realizes that she can only go in there when you are there and you are always watching her. I know it took my cousin’s greyhound a bit of time to adapt and get over old habits, so that may be it.
Well, if she was a racing greyhound, she should be ok with a crate. They are crated a lot and most of them take to crating quite well. Just make it really squishy and comfy for her.
And … well, either she figures it out from stepping back and being crated or you put up with cleaning up after her.
Maybe she is incontinent or maybe she has an infection. Have you ruled out a medical condition causing her to do this?
I’ve had 3 greyhounds of my own and fostered plenty of them and have never had a problem with any greyhound peeing in the house because they are all CRATE trained. What do you mean she gets lazy about going outside when it’s cold? You’re the one who has to let her out. Open the door and put her outside, she’ll go. I live in Canada, it gets really, really cold here and my greys go outside to pee.
If she keeps going back the same spot, then she can still smell it.
Given that she’s a spayed, middle-aged female, has she been checked for incontinence problems? Or infection? Physical problems need to be ruled out first, if that’s not the problem, clean the area with a good enzyme cleaner so she can’t smell it, let her out more often, and if that doesn’t work, put her in a crate if need be.
I work with a greyhound rescue group and have three greyhounds of my own. One of my greyhounds has had the same issue and she has been peeing on my bed and even on her own. She seems “lazy” because she doesn’t even move when she does it, she just lays there. But greyhounds are notorious for hiding underlying health issues which many attribute to the abuse they receive at the breeding farms and race tracks which makes them stoic to the point that they almost try to act tough even when they are not well. With my dog, I am still waiting on the test results but the vet is pretty certain it is either a UTI or a kidney issue, both of which have to be dealt with as quickly as possible because UTI’s can lead to kidney failure which can lead to death. So you need to take her to the vet IMMEDIATELY if you have not already done so.
As for the idea of crating her, I strongly encourage you not to resort to that option. Even though the majority of greyhounds are crated for the first couple of years of their life (and when I say crated I mean they spend about 23 hours out of their day in a crate), to start crating her again would be akin to punishing her at this point and whether her issue is medical or behavioral, any good dog trainer will tell you that punishment is not the answer. As there really are no bad dogs, only bad owners. So figure out what is going on with her and get her the appropriate help. Further, if she has a medical issue I can assure you that she will also pee in her crate just like mine has started peeing on her own bed which is always a huge sign that there is a medical problem.
One option to avoid crating her is to use a type of doggie diaper. There are various types out there and if you need a suggestion on where to find them if you respond to this post I will be happy to let you know where you can find them. You will also need to get a cleaning product with enzymes to get the smell out of the carpet as she will most likely continue to go there when she gets the chance because she has already marked the area with her scent and now associates it as being a good place to pee. This frequently happens with an animal with a UTI because these can painful and they will associate the place that they normally pee with pain so they start to avoid that place and find another place to pee.
Finally, besides the health issue my main concern is that you said you really like your dog but you are concerned about the peeing issue. Adopting any animal is a lifelong commitment and it would be unfair to get rid of her because of this. You wouldn’t want someone you love to give up on you if you had a health problem, etc, so the same applies to her. Many greyhounds have been subjected to a lot of abuse and other mistreatment before they are adopted out and the last thing she needs is an owner who gets rid of her because she is peeing on the carpet. Getting help for her, whether medical or behavioral, should be your main priority as she should be more important to you than the status of your carpet. I don’t mean to sound mean, but it would be mean to her to do anything other than everything you can to help her with her problem instead of surrendering her when this will most likely devastate her as I am sure she is very attached to you by now.