LouiesMomma
Boxer Pal
The title pretty much sums it up. We rescued Louie about 8 years ago, and he has always had his quirks and his problems, but we were always able to get through them.
Our boxer is about 10 years old, and since moving into our new house in July, he will not stop peeing in the house. He's had bouts of this before, but he was always able to overcome it, or simply suddenly stop. At first I thought it was old age and thought to hire a dog walker, but we're finding that he is peeing within hours of us leaving for work because he's mad or anxious, so we know it's not because he can't hold it. We've tried everything.
We've tried:
Crate training. He destroyed 2 crates, multiple beddings we bought for it, the floors, etc.
Baby gates. Being confined upsets him, and causes him to only cause more damage. We tried gating him to just the kitchen, so if he pees, it's on tile vs. wood, but then he started getting into the garbage, countertops and just rolled in the pee which called for daily baths.
Walks. Before and after work to tire him out with no change. Plus, we think he has hip dysplasia, so he really isn't able to walk too much.
Distractions. We've left the TV on, we've frozen his kongs filled with peanut butter to have them last longer, we've hidden treats, we've mixed melatonin and benadryl (at different times - okay per vet) in with with peanut butter to mellow him out.
Punishment. We don't hit our dog, but we've put his nose in it, we've yelled, we've put him outside. We've also done the opposite. I've read that NOT drawing attention to it, helps, so I've simply just cleaned the mess and not acknowledged it with him to see if THAT helps.
...and to no avail. It's truly just breaking my heart because I don't want to get rid of him or put him down; he's been a significant part of our lives for so long, but he's destroying our home. We also have a baby on the way, and I just know I can't go through this song and dance of cleaning up a gallon of pee every day, the minute I walk in the door with a newborn to worry about on top of it.
I'm just posting this to see if anyone has any last minute advice for us, whether they've gone through something similar, or know of something I haven't tried, because we're officially on our last leg. I've noticed that one of his hip bones have been protruding above his tail/lower back, so I'm assuming he's dealing with some hip dysplasia. Due to his age we won't be pursuing surgery, but I may ask the vet if there is a pain med/anti-anxiety we can put him on when we leave every day that will help with his hip issue, but also double as something that makes him sleep all day? But outside of that, we are desperate to find a solution that doesn't lead to having to give him up.
S.O.S.
Our boxer is about 10 years old, and since moving into our new house in July, he will not stop peeing in the house. He's had bouts of this before, but he was always able to overcome it, or simply suddenly stop. At first I thought it was old age and thought to hire a dog walker, but we're finding that he is peeing within hours of us leaving for work because he's mad or anxious, so we know it's not because he can't hold it. We've tried everything.
We've tried:
Crate training. He destroyed 2 crates, multiple beddings we bought for it, the floors, etc.
Baby gates. Being confined upsets him, and causes him to only cause more damage. We tried gating him to just the kitchen, so if he pees, it's on tile vs. wood, but then he started getting into the garbage, countertops and just rolled in the pee which called for daily baths.
Walks. Before and after work to tire him out with no change. Plus, we think he has hip dysplasia, so he really isn't able to walk too much.
Distractions. We've left the TV on, we've frozen his kongs filled with peanut butter to have them last longer, we've hidden treats, we've mixed melatonin and benadryl (at different times - okay per vet) in with with peanut butter to mellow him out.
Punishment. We don't hit our dog, but we've put his nose in it, we've yelled, we've put him outside. We've also done the opposite. I've read that NOT drawing attention to it, helps, so I've simply just cleaned the mess and not acknowledged it with him to see if THAT helps.
...and to no avail. It's truly just breaking my heart because I don't want to get rid of him or put him down; he's been a significant part of our lives for so long, but he's destroying our home. We also have a baby on the way, and I just know I can't go through this song and dance of cleaning up a gallon of pee every day, the minute I walk in the door with a newborn to worry about on top of it.
I'm just posting this to see if anyone has any last minute advice for us, whether they've gone through something similar, or know of something I haven't tried, because we're officially on our last leg. I've noticed that one of his hip bones have been protruding above his tail/lower back, so I'm assuming he's dealing with some hip dysplasia. Due to his age we won't be pursuing surgery, but I may ask the vet if there is a pain med/anti-anxiety we can put him on when we leave every day that will help with his hip issue, but also double as something that makes him sleep all day? But outside of that, we are desperate to find a solution that doesn't lead to having to give him up.
S.O.S.
