Help this pooch pee inside.

July 1, 2009 7:27 PM

Dog filter: How do I get a dog to pee in the house?

I'm asking this question for my aunt. She has a great dog, Cookie, who unfortunately had to have ligament surgery. Aunt Habeas and Cookie live on the third floor of a three story walk-up, and usually takes Cookie downstairs to pee. However, post-op Cookie can't do stairs for a month, and is too heavy to carry up and down. Ideally, Cookie would just stay inside the apartment for the month and go to the bathroom there. My aunt had bought some "potty pads" for this occasion.

Cookie is also well-trained, and refuses to pee inside the apartment because she's been previously taught that it was a no-no. Cookie will whine and otherwise make it known that she has to pee, but won't seem to do her business in the apartment. It's been one day since surgery, and my aunt has thus far capitulated and taken her down the stairs with the help of her landlord, in order to pee. But we need to find a more sustainable solution.

How do we get Cookie to know "it's ok to pee inside"? Should we just let her hold it in and whine, until she can't hold it anymore, and just goes? Isn't this a little mean? Could Cookie do herself any damage by holding it in for too long? Any tips for normalizing the situation? Any advice would be much appreciated

posted by HabeasCorpus to pets & animals (12 comments total)

Don't have a suggestion. My only experience with dogs peeing inside are childhood dogs and the dogs my mom has now. They were/all paper trained from the time she got them. You could try something like this. Or google other doggie litter boxes. I saw some on amazon that had great reviews.
posted by necessitas at 7:36 PM on July 1

Some fake grass, or some real sod, and have another dog pee.
posted by now i'm piste at 7:37 PM on July 1

Yeah, have another dog pee, or.... have a person, and have Aunty praise the pee-er in front of aunty's dog.
posted by orthogonality at 7:46 PM on July 1 [1 favorite]

Given that you only want her to pee inside in the short term, you might have a problem re-training her once the recrovery is over. What about getting a wagon on which to take him outside?

If you really want to risk having him do this permanently, you could try this.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 7:51 PM on July 1

Going on now i'm piste's solution: Fill a sandbox with real dirt and grass and put it in the corner. When she whines, put her on her leash and lead her over to it, just like you would if she were going on a walk. Try to make it as much like what she's used to as possible. Reward her if she pees in the sandbox.
posted by Captain Cardanthian! at 7:55 PM on July 1 [4 favorites]

Can your aunt have the dog pee on the "potty pads" outside a couple times? Maybe she'll figure out that they're OK to pee on inside too. And once she goes on the pad inside (assuming your aunt is able to get the dog to do so), lots of treats and praise!
posted by Blue Jello Elf at 8:01 PM on July 1 [1 favorite]

You could try using one of these pheromone-treated yard stakes; they're meant to show the dog where in the yard it's supposed to go; might work in the house. Maybe laying down the potty pads with one of these on top, along with some verbal encouragement?
posted by TochterAusElysium at 10:20 PM on July 1

Get her to pee on some newspaper or a pad outside, then bring that item inside so it has the proper scent mark that lets her know she can pee there. Combine that with the sandbox solution as well. A cheap kiddie pool is another good container.
posted by TedW at 5:33 AM on July 2

I will vouch for the effectiveness of having a person pee where the dog is supposed to. It might not make you or your aunt comfortable, and that's totally cool, but FWIW it does work.
posted by nebulawindphone at 7:39 AM on July 2

Go out and dig some dirt where dogs have peed. Get a plastic kid's pool, or other plastic container, and add the dirt, plus plant grass. You may be able to start replacing dirt with catbox litter gradually.
posted by theora55 at 9:18 AM on July 2

Does your aunt have a patio or a big enough outside area by the front door to put the pee pad -- somewhere that's outside the apartment but still above the stairs? That way Cookie can still pee outside, and your aunt doesn't have to carry her downstairs. Plus, you wouldn't have to worry about having trained her to pee inside...
posted by natabat at 12:47 PM on July 2

My puppy and I came across this product at last month's Woofstock in Toronto. It's similar to the product necessitas mentioned, but with a pheromone enhanced artificial grass surface.
posted by Cody's Keeper at 6:24 AM on July 9