my partners friend went on holiday and asked my partner to look after his dog... my partner said yes for the extra cash. yesterday he dropped off the dog and his cage, food, bowls, blanket, toy then left, the dog was scared but the man assured me hes nervous of vising people but will be ok in an hour. the dog seamed really scared..... running around, shaking, peeing all over. i held him and calmed him down and he seamed better. its been a day and he still pees and poops all over!!! like a new puppy would. hes 1yr old so i asked my partner what is the cage for? if we go out? does he chew things? he said no he lives in the cage... let out ocasioanlly for the toilet but usually pees and poops in the cage. im shocked and disgusted. the dog is so skinny you can see his ribs. hes a cross breed of a jack russell and perhaps a fox terrier... hes very small, very skinny, long muzzle, very big sticky up ears. smooth coat. we own 3dogs... my chi bitch and her pup we kept from the litter who is now 5months old. and my partners dog, these are well trained dogs so perhaps i see this lodger dog as very poorly trained when he isnt all that bad? i feel so sorry for him. iv tried to comfort him, lots of cuddles but hes still so nervous. hes eating and drinking fine, then peeing and pooping all over reguardless of how often i put him in the garden and for how long... or if i lock the baby gate on the kitchen door then leave the back door open (expecting he would go out the back door when he needs to pee or poop) but he doesnt he just does it on the floor. iv looked after many dogs for friends before while they have been on holiday or had some family emergency and i know dogs can be nervous at first but my dogs are all very friendly and go about their own business  and any dog who comes over settles quickly and well. but this time it isnt happening. what can i do?

Sounds like you need to treat him as a new puppy and start house training him.

Yes, treat like a new puppy and go out to supervise, massive praise when he does wee or poo outside. Also try to persuade this friend to rehome the dog, poor little scrap, skinny and lives in a cage, obviously isn't being cared for properly!!! :-(

Also, let him go in the cage as often as he wants with the door open, and let him come out in his own time. Try not to look at him when he's in or out of the cage, sit on the floor with tasty treats and see if you can encourage him to you at his own pace. I wouldn't pick him up, I would let him sit on your knee when he gets on it.
Let us know how you go and best of luck !

I bought a dog like this. She didn't even know what collar and lead or even grass was. Took about 2 years to get her house trained. She's never got over all her hang ups but abut 95 % of them (have had her 7 years now). And she never, ever gets caged, not even for 30 seconds. After the first 24 hours here she refused to go in a cage again and we've never made her as it upsets her so much. And yes, she had to be treated like an 8 week old pup, but with extra issues.

Poor dog. :( If you have to return him I would seriously call the RSPCA on the owner.

All I can say is sometimes I wish crates had never been invented!!!    How you deal with this would, I'd suggest, depend on how long he's going to be with you.   Clearly there's a limit to how much housetraining you'll be able to achieve if he's only with you for a few weeks.   But if this was a situation I came across, for sure I'd be calling the authorities on him - the RSPCA should come out, but whether they will (without a film crew around!!) I'm not sure.

If he's used to his crate, I think while you have him, I'd set it up somewhere he can be with the door open and newspapers on the floor so at least you don't have to be washing bedding all the time.   He may take quite some time to respond to a new routine, time you may not necessarily have.  

Again how I wish people would use crates are they should be used - as an aid to help with a puppy (to keep him safe and out of mischief when not supervised).  That's ALL.

You are going to have to stay with him while he's outside.  If he goes outside and just happens to toilet it will be because he wanted to go, not because he knew it's what you want.

Sorry, but this dog would not be returned to it's current owner.  Under the Animal Welfare Act he is breaking the law.  Friend or not I would be reporting him immediately.  You can't cage dogs like a rabbit.  This is appalling treatment.

>he said no he lives in the cage... let out ocasioanlly for the toilet but usually pees and poops in the cage.

If he has been raised living in his own filth he will have lost the instinct to keep clean so he will see nothing wrong in going where and when he feels the need. He will not know to ask to go out as almost certainly any time he has asked in the past he has just been ignored. This poor chap will need teaching from scratch and will be harder work than a new puppy as they usually have the instinct not to soil the nest.

I am with the others DO NOT let this scumbag have his dog back. I would take it straight to a rescue centre myself. Actually no I wouldnt. I would keep it but thats because I am a sucker. :)

thanks everyone, last night he came to me and climbed on my knee and fell asleep there. he would not come upstairs to sleep so i made him a bed downstairs which he stayed in but when he got up there was pee and poop in 5 different places. he seams so nervous but is lying with the other dogs atm and was playing with my pup this morning. i did not want to set up the cage although i know he may feel safe in there because thats all he knows but what i have done is set up a bed under the dining room table, its quiet and shaded under there and its where he slept last night, but like i said this morning has been playing with my pup and now lying with the other dogs. hes only supposed to be with me until saturday morning. there is no way i can send him back there to live in a cage again

I wonder if it wouldn't be prudent to get in touch with the RSPCA now, before the owner comes back, and make them aware of the situation ?.
I'm just thinking that when he returns, and comes for his dog, legally, you can't deny him his " property ", he would be entitled to contact the police to reclaim the dog.
It would possibly be easier to improve the poor dogs chance of a better life, if the RSPCA were already aware before he returns ?.

Offer to buy him if you can. Somebody who cares so little for their dog no doubt cares more about money.

I would guess it is more ignorance than anything else, this person has no idea how to look after a dog.... but in saying that there is no way I could look after a dog, do my best for it in helping to toilet train, give it freedom and show love and feed it properly, then give it back to that life in a crate..........

Sorry, but no way! Nikki2014 you can't just sit on this it will make you as guilty as the owner. Your partner seems to have already known how the dog lived, which is confusing that he has not put his friend right as your dogs are well cared for.

As he is a friend, you can absolutely talk to him seriously when he gets back from holiday about how to properly care for this dog, if he is going to continue, sorry, but I would be calling the RSPCA, could not watch a dog suffer ever!

If this dog does go back to the owner, as it is his property, it will be unfair for the dog to be put back in the cage to live when it has been given it's freedom with you.
I  really would consider putting the cage back up and leaving it open so the dog can go in if it wants

As others have said this dog is this filth's property, so you cannot simply refuse to hand him back: I have done that, but the dog in question was registered to me at the vet and had been for years, I'd looked after her for years, I'd been paying vet and food bills and so on so legally, every bit of information pointed to me as the owner.  This is not the case with this dog, you would not have a leg to stand on if you tried to keep him unless the owner willingly gave him up (if that were actually to happen, have him sign something stating that the dog is now yours).

Get the RSPCA involved now, make them aware of the situation then if the dog does go back (assuming the owner doesn't just abandon him now he doesn't have to bother with him at all), you are a step ahead.

the man is due back tomorrow, my partner has spoken to him on the phone and told him how well the dog settled in at our house playing with my pup and the man has agreed to let us keep the dog as he didnt really want it, it was a gift from his friend who bred his dog and couldnt sell the pups as they were cross breeds and what not, so was given this dog for free and at the time seamed like a good idea to have a dog as he was lonely but has now found friends who hes off on holiday with and has more of a life now than he did 1yr ago and simply cant be bothered with dog.
so im glad the dog is not going back there... but im unsure if i want the dog, he has settled better the last couple of days, him and my pup play all the time, hes not as scared as he was but i feel re-homing him may put him back at square 1. i feel like im in a bit of a tricky situation. if we were not expecting a new baby soon it may seam easier to keep the dog. the house training is not happening at all. he just squats down in the middle of my expensive rug and pees all along the carpet in the passage. i dont mind so much on the kitchen floor as its easily wiped up but i do feel thats not a reason to re-home this poor dog who seams to be settling in here

Oh well done -the dog is not going back and that is major hurdle number one over and done with!! Now to find him a home -I can see your problem with keeping him, of course.

Is it worth a trip to the vets to check he doesn't have an infection or a physical problem ?

If you did rehome, don't worry too much - dogs are amazingly adaptable.  He'd be unsettled for a little bit I expect but he would find his feet again, as he has done with you (and probably faster as you're introducing him to life :-)).

Brilliant news that he's not going back though, that's brightened my day up!

Brilliant result :)
Going from previous posts on here, I would suggest you get something in writing that he's giving the dog to you, it wouldn't be the first time someone's changed their mind, or decided they want money for the dog.

Brilliant news well done. I agree it's a good idea just to get something in writing, particularly as if you do need to rehome (and don't worry I am sure he will settle in fine, and you need to have the time for your coming baby) the ex-owner may make trouble.

Nikki

You get a pat on the back from me girl.  :-)  :-)  :-)