I am about to lose it! I have a 2.5 yr old female (fixed) Cav. King Charles Spaniel that keeps peeing all…?
over my house. I have tried everything!! I have tried positive reinforcement, crate training, wee-pads (she eats them!). I am living in a house of gates because I cannot trust her to roam the house. Its not fair to my other dog (9 yr old Male Lab) because he doesn’t get any freedom because of her (if I separate them she cries the entire time). If I put her out in our yard to roam freely she runs away (we just recently got the invisible fence and it works half the time). Whenever we give her just a little bit of freedom, she just pees right in the middle of the room! She doesn’t care if we are watching or not. We put her outside often enough, but still does it. And with 3 kids (6,3,1) I can’t always stay on top of her and then BAM I find a stain a week later. I was at the point where I just wanted to keep her in her crate 24/7… but of course I could not do that so I penned both the dogs up in my dining room and she has continued to run around the back (hidden side) of the table and piss on the rug. I have considered the fact that she is continuing to pee there because of the smell but I clean it obsessively and she just continues to piss in the room – everywhere! She just finds a new spot. It is so bad at this point that it smells and looks horrible and I have to host Xmas dinner in a month and cannot afford a new rug. (Which I can’t imagine that she would stop anyway – she’ll just piss on a brand new rug.) This of course forces me to clean my carpets very often but it just seems so seeped in at this point – its driving me crazy. I live in a 9 year old home that I take very much pride in. I feel like I am living in squalor with this issue – its so smelly! What can I do about this dog??? I have had dogs most of my life and NEVER had this problem with a dog (after puppyhood) – male or female. I have never considered giving away a pet – member of my family before but she is really pushing it. I have 3 kids to take care of and most of the responsibilities of my home – my patience is wearing so thin. My kids are witnessing me get upset and who needs this? They love her. But I am not sure I do anymore. Please help me find a solution to this….
Also, she is absolutely fantastic with my kids and listens to most commands. She does have anxiety when separated from us. Besides the peeing, the only other problems I have is the anxiety and running away. As far as running away, I think she goes "looking" for us. We put her in our backyard and she crawls under the fence. SO we put wood under the fence and she digs under. Then we installed a scalloped vinyl fence in the front yard (4ft) and she jumps over it. Now we bought the invisible fence and she sometimes still ‘grins and bares it’ and will run over the line ignoring the shock knowing that if she runs far enough – that I guess it stops. My husband has just Up-ed the voltage so we shall see what happens with that. Again, if you have any solutions to the pee-ing problem, please help!!!!!
4 Comments on “I am about to lose it! I have a 2.5 yr old female (fixed) Cav. King Charles Spaniel that keeps peeing all…?”
first of all no matter what u do dont give up on her ,im sure she loves every member of ur family but she has issues that u need to solve .
u need to get her checked if she has a bladder infection,that causes the dog to not be able to hold it and would pee all over the place,then comes teaching manners .u must make a specifc spot for her where she would know that she would spend sometime there when shes behaving badly . whenever u catch her in the act gasp a loud gasp ,then make her smell it and take her to the spot and keep her there for 10 minutes (do not allow ur other dog to go there with her ,this wont be called a punishment) ,close the door on her for 10 mins then let her out ,u must train her whichever way u like it ,pads or doing her business outside it doesnt matter ,but what matters is that she would know right from wrong (dont ever hit her ,the gasp and the time out would be enough to make her feel that what she did was wrong) .
tldr
I don’t blame you for being frustrated and at your wit’s end. But this may not be a behavioral problem. Your first step is always to rule out a medical problem. Have your vet run a urinalysis to make sure your dog doesn’t have a urinary tract or bladder infection. You’d be surprised how common this is. You can treat these problems with a simple round of antibiotics, and problem solved! Please Please go to the vet before you punish the dog anymore and certainly before you give her away.
What does it mean when you say you take her out "often enough?"
Here is what you do. Buy a crate, and put it in a quiet room, away from the other dog, so she can’t see him. Then every time you can’t constantly WATCH the dog, you put her in the crate with a yummy bone, a frozen kong stuffed with peanut butter, or anything else she will chew at. Will she cry? You bet, she will at first, but you must close the door and ignore her. Set your timer for 2 hours, and take her out accordingly. If she doesn’t use the bathroom (and you MUST watch her, you have to witness the squat!) then immediately come inside and put her away for another 1/2 hour to an hour. Then go back out.
Cavaliers aren’t exactly smart dogs, the problem is that she hasn’t actually been housetrained yet, and the fact that you are finding stains WEEKS after they happen is disconcerting. If the dog is out, you must watch her constantly. She can and WILL become reliable, but it is all up to you.