Well I was at the vets today with Otis, and it was his last check up after his castration. I saw a lovely vet,(pdsa) who said he had healed up nicely, so that was good. I said , that he had got really naughty, and she said that it wasnt anything to worry about, and he would eventualy calm down. I asked about his toilet training, explaining that he was he still weein indoors, she said that I should keep putting him out as often as i could and lots of praise when he goes, but that she couldnt give me anymore advice, other than to move my furniture so he couldnt wee in the same place, however she suggested I contact a animal behaviourist. So when i got back I looked one up on the internet, who seemed to have good qualifications ( not from the cesar milan school of thought) , and rang her, she gave me some advice on the phone, which was to put him out regularly and lead him to the same spot to wee in, so he picks up the scent. Im going to put him out every hour, which is what i can manage, and he dosent seem to need to go more than this, and keep a tally of wees indoors and wees outside. She is coming for a visit, to see if I can try to stop Otis counter surfing quite so much, today he managed to spill a packet of sugar, and lick some of it up, also he knocked a jar of mayonnasie on it s side and had a good slurp of that I know he isnt really being naughty, he is just being a greedy labrador, but its a behaviour i wan to stop. Ive had good advice from the forum, but just wanted to add these couple of points, in case anyone else is having similar problems. Also, apperently the special cleaners that you can get dont do much good, they just get rid of the smell so that we cant smell it, but dogs still can ! Maggie X
Re: Otis toilet training continued Oh dear Maggie, sounds like you are having a bit of a time with Otis. Its hard work doing all to toileting stuff, but it will pay off in the long run. I guess there is no substitute for the persistent reminding. I can't recall whether its been mentioned before, but I guess you could use the clicker to reward the weeing too? Mostly its just using really good treats though. I think the moving furniture thing is a good idea though, dogs can pick up scents for soooo long, its difficult to disguise them. I wish you luck with your behaviorist - they often see things that we just don't appreciate. jac x
Re: Otis toilet training continued Ah Maggie ,you will crack this,you have persevered and I think when you have a home visit from a professional her eyes will see immediately what you can do to eliminate him toileting in doors.i shouldn't laugh but I can picture that gorgeous fella skimming along your work tops in search of something tasty,blummin sugar when it spills gets everywhere though doesn't it!ive been lucky,no counter surfing here,the odd jump up but Dexter is also only little ,he could get something if he wanted though so we try not to give him too many tempting opporunities Good luck and glad he is ok after his op...I've not noticed any difference in Dexter ...but his whole castration op has been so overshadowed by the tail situation and now this blood issue that we.might not be back to full normal yet. Lovely to see you posting again,I've missed your news x