I just moved from the area and have to go to the internet to hear you. I don't know if you are on the local NPR stations here yet; hardly had time to find a radio station yet. I am in north Jersey; Long Valley to be specific, but receive at least 2 NPR stations.

I have many animals; but my dogs are the concern. I have a 6 year old black lab/bloodhound mix who is a mush.....he's adjusting to the change (no fenced in yard yet so leash walking which they both have never had; new surroundings and the absence of the rest of the family; our kids, grandkids, etc.) and a 2 yr. old mix ( a rescue from Kent; his litter was left to die in the woods; 8 of them and all were adopted out) who is not doing well. He is so attached to the older dog that he can't even function when he is not around him. I can't take him to the vet without the other one or he will not be cooperative and act in fear. Since the move he has been leaving the area he is confined to, taking a dump and going back to the area and acting as if nothing has happened. They are staying in the kitchen area and he has found a way to leave it, take a crap on the rug area either in the new sun room or upstairs or the living room and go back to the kitchen. This has happened 4 times and yesterday he couldn't escape (I put chairs in the way so he couldn't jump) and he chose to take a dump on the rug in the half bath that connects to the kitchen.

I have been home with them most of the time for the last 10 months; this started since the move and within the last week plus I have started a new position and have been away from the house more ..... it doesn't seem to effect them differently.... they have access to water, chew toys, chew bones, a bucket of toys to amuse and can see/hear the bird, cats and the radio is left on as if always was for them.

Help, please . . . . My dogs and I need this behavior to change.

Cindy

Cindy --

You have a bunch of problems all stemming from the overwhelming changes your dog has to cope with – I’ll answer some of them, and have turned to Allison Denlea, the official trainer of Dog Talk, to jump in with some ideas, too.

1) The vet: this is something I talk about in The Dog Bible, so I really recommend you get a copy. There are many problem-solving sections in the book and it sounds like you have multiple animals and surely many issues. The fix for vet fear is this: I always take all my dogs to every appointment. Jazzy, the Border Collie mix, was so terrified when I first got her from the shelter that she wouldn’t even go in the vet’s door. Now they all parade in together and it makes it much easier on the fearful one, and reinforces for the others that the vet’s is an interesting place full of good smells and probably a treat. You should do the same. There is more specific advice in the book on this issue.

2) You say that since the move he has been confined – why?? Allison asks: How has this arrangement changed from where they lived previously? How would he usually indicate that he had to go outside? Why are these dogs confined? Dog is two years of age, so why is he confined to the kitchen? Sounds like the dog is not given access to the remainder of the new house, and is trying to escape his "living area" to do his business. Over how many days did this happen 4x?

3) In order to get a dog’s digestion on your time schedule, feed in the AM with enough time for a 10 minutes walk right afterwards. It will take only a day or two for your dog to eliminate immediately after eating. I did this with the un-housebroken 7 month old Weimeraner I adopted and full house training happened in 36 hours. Of course I also have a dog door (he’s never had one before) and if you have any place or way to do that, please get a pet Safe door (best quality, easiest for dogs to use) and install it pronto. It solves so many problems.

4) Allison’s comments about all the changes in your schedule and what the dogs can expect each hour of each to be like are as follows:

So many changes in such a short period of time:

1. new location
2. new living arrangements (confinement not sure why?)
3. familiar people not available
4. owner not home
5. no fenced yard to access
6. entirely new way of eliminating (on walk on leash) after 2 years

Do the dogs have any formal obedience training? What is the breed(s) of the two year old? Sounds like this dog is also lacking in confidence.

My first impression is that there are too many changes for this dog to take in and adjust to. The owner is missing signals that dog has to go (did dogs have a doggie door at the old house)? Sounds like the dog could benefit from getting out to training classes with the owner (one-on-one time) plus, learn to COPE withOUT the OLDER dog, who.... will most likely not outlive this dog. What then?

This sounds like a huge change not only for the dogs but for the owner as well. How well is she taking the move (You know 1st hand how stressful moving is).... how much of her time/attention with the new job CAN be spent and USED to be spent on the dogs?

What times of day are the dogs fed? What food? How much? Since she's walking them, are they eliminating on the walk? If not, what's the plan if they don't? How do they indicate they need to go out?

Sorry - more questions than answers.

Let me know how things work out for you, but you certainly have some changes to make that will help your dog make those changes, too.

Good luck,
Tracie