What is this all about??????????

[Duece's mom]

O.K. my 5 month old boxer boy has been potty trained since he has been 2-3 months old. Just last week in a two day period, he proceeded to WALK AND PEE around my house!!! Pee next to his bed and while I was cooking pee next to my feet! So on the third day he was set up to be neutered.

Four days went by and he opened his incision...thus calling for 4 staples. I had the vet see if he had a UTI before surgery and all was good, but since he opened his incision he needed antibiotics. Now he has been on them for 2 days.

My husband put the pup in his crate last night and he looked at us and went to the bathroom all over???? What is this all about???? HELP

At first I was told that he could be starting to mark his territory, but now he is neutered shouldn't this stop?

We have not change anything we do in or out of the house. Why now? And I am home with him all day!

Please Help!!!

 

[gmacleod]

IMO no puppy is actually capable of fully understanding toilet training (as in "all-pottying-takes-place-outdoors-and-never-ever-indoors") until they are 6-7 months old. And a large part of why I think that is because a very large percentage of puppies go through what appears to be a potty regression phase around the 5-6 month mark. Just like your boy

In reality, I don't think it is really regression at all. Puppies can be accident-free from a pretty early age. And because we've been accident-free with our pups, we assume they understand and are "potty trained" when in reality they are not. They get to around 5 months, we humans relax a bit too much and aren't so vigilent about taking them out every hour or two. In many cases we've stopped taking them out and are just opening the door to let them go out on their own... so there's no positive reinforcement every single time they pee indoors. LOL - and the wake-up we get that tells us that the pup didn't fully understand the potty thing is when they "regress" on us and try out pottying indoors.

Fortunately, it is actually quite easy to fix. This is the age where a pup seems to be starting to think about the things he has "learned" and to try different things. So all he needs is a refresher course - straight back to potty training 101 for babies which tells him that no, he had it right before, and pottying is an outdoor-only activity.

So start taking him out again on an hourly basis, on a leash if you like, and praise/treat him lavishly for every outdoor potty. Remove the opportunities for him to potty indoors by keeping an eagle eye on him when he's loose inside (you may need to restrict his freedom of the house too - keep him where you can always see him). If he does potty indoors - then just like you would for a baby, startle him into stopping and race him outdoors. He should catch on pretty quickly - this is a refresher course, after all.

Anyway - what you're describing sounds pretty normal to me. Happens with many, if not most, pups. Keep the vigilence up for a couple of months and that should cement the potty-training in his mind.

Incidentally, if he appears to have difficulty holding his bladder for a while post-neuter, that would be fairly normal too. A teaspoon or two of chopped fresh parsley added to his food every day or so would probably help

 

[Stephj]

gmacleod-
I have never heard of using parsley. What does that do? Is it strictly a post-neuter thing? I learn so much from these posts. I love this site!

 

[courtney323]

Duece's mom -

You need to make sure you post your Introduction. All accounts without a valid introduction will be automatically deleted.

www.boxerworld.com/rules

 

[carebear8322]

If he does potty indoors - then just like you would for a baby, startle him into stopping and race him outdoors.

I might be the only one that has done this, but...a word of advise...make sure when you startle your puppy, make sure he stops peeing before you scoop him up and run for the door. It just makes a bigger mess. I made the mistake once and never again. its funny now, not at the time.

 

[apollosdad]

gmacleod's post is right on the money. i had a similar situation with apollo when he was about 4-5 months old. gmacleod described it just as it happened. i went back and refreshed the potty training and had no problems. i can see where people can fall into the rut of assuming that their dog was potty trained after a short time.
follow what gmacleod posted, they always have great advice.

 

[gmacleod]

gmacleod-
I have never heard of using parsley. What does that do? Is it strictly a post-neuter thing?

Parsely (chopped up fresh) is a natural remedy for incontinence. Not just the post-spay/neuter kind, but incontinence related to old age and other issues too. I don't have any idea why it works, but in about 75% of cases, it certainly seems to Sooo - if you ever have incontinence problems with a dog, of either gender, give the parsley a try before resorting to steroids or other meds. So far as I'm aware, there are no unwanted side effects to parsley

 

[Duece's mom]

courtney323- I thought I did what was needed maybe you can give me the details on what you mean. Thanks

gmacleod- Thank you SO MUCH you really helped us out.....THANK YOU!

 

[Natasmama]

Natas too at 5 months!

Natas is also trying to "regress" and untrain himself, so we have taken your advice and sectioned off the house again, and it is back to basics for us!
Thanks!