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| I'll try to be good, just don't kill me |
Gizmo has gone from the perfect, good dog to urinating in our bedroom closet and, worse, defacating in the closet JUST AFTER WE WALKED HIM and WHILE WE ARE IN THE HOUSE and attentive to his signals.
What can we do?
I tried positive reinforcement (a treat when he urinated outside) but this hasn’t changed his behavior.
We have him in a cage when we are doing things around the house and can’t pay attention to him for a time: this works, until he gets out and sneaks into our closet.
We read someone’s advice about keeping him on a leash and close to us, which we are doing. That works, but how long on a leash indoors? And when do we know that he has again become a good dog??
We at our wits end (although our wits are fairly elastic these days). We love Gizmo and do not want to give him up, but those thoughts came to me last night after we discovered his dump )!!!!) in our closet.
This is apparently NOT a bladder infection, since he seems to control when and where he dumps (he even came running back to us, before we discovered what he had done, all happy, tail wagging, big smile.)
Help: before it is too late for Gizmo!!!!
1. Please rule out a medical issue with a trip to the vet. An underlying bladder infection can result in a change in housebreaking behavior, including inappropriate defecation in some circumstances.
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3. The concept of leashing the dog in the house is called tethering. There are good resources online for this technique. You could also keep the closet/bedroom off limits. But if Gizmo was really housebroken to begin with, and you've ruled out a medical problem, then you should look at what might have changed in the house/level of stress/change in routine.
I can understand that you are frustrated by this problem--but when something like this happens, the dog is usually trying to tell you something. Good luck, and get him checked out!
Thanks again. Following your suggestions: 2nd day, no mistakes!!
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