Sorry, I know there has been a lot of discussion on this topic, but I'd be really grateful for some advice. I am a Brit living in Tokyo, Japan with an 8 and a half month old saluki who is a disaster when it comes to house training. I must admit I don't think I trained him very well initially - I started with papers and it took an awfully long time to switch from inside to outside, but by about 6 months of age he'd pretty much got it. I had about 2 months of relative toilet bliss, but suddenly he has completely unlearned everything he was taught. He eats his poo, he scrapes his poo up, and he has found a nice little routine where he wees in the kitchen or in his cage in the kitchen and poos on the carpet near the patio door every day when he's left alone. He is only left alone for 3 hours 4 days a week, the same three hours every day, so I think he could probably hold himself. He gets lots of opportunities to go outside during his 2 daily walks and on the patio when somebody's home. I've tried ignoring it and greeting him as usual, cleaning it up with an angry look on my face, smacking him, sending him outside, showing what's left of his poo and saying 'NO' very sternly, pretty much everything... Yesterday I left the patio door open for him (not very wise for security, although burglary is rare here) and it worked, so I came home and praised him to the skies. Today I did the same and he'd done it inside again. I bought a new carpet at the weekend to get rid of the smell, and also because the old one was disgusting, and that didn't work either. I don't think these are just puppy accidents because of the regularity of them, and I've no idea how to break this routine. He hasn't even started cocking his leg yet, so I imagine worse is yet to come with marking and so on.

He also poos a LOT - once or twice on each walk, once after breakfast, and his routine poo. Is this more than normal? He also has diarrhoea quite often. I feed him Eukanuba large breed puppy food with half a small can of dog meat twice a day, and I'm wondering if he's getting too much nutrition, but is it too early to put him on adult food?

I guess a saluki is a difficult breed for a novice like myself, but he's here to stay and I love him very much, despite his faults, so I'd really appreciate any help you could give.

Thanks,
Phil

Hi guest,
I can't really offer any firm knowledge here, just some thoughts and suggestions. Sorry.

1) Feeding large breed puppy food AND canned? I don't think that a Saluki is considered "large breed" but I could be wrong. I do know that it's not healthy to supplement a complete puppy food with canned. It could be too much richness for his tummy to handle.

2) have you had him checked for worms? That could be the problem with runny poo. It could also be his diet. see #1 :)

3) Even though 3 hours is not a long time to be left, it could be his daily "time" that his body tells him to relieve himself. Especially since it's every day. Also with the 'runs', his bowels won't be able to hold it. (my sympathies to the poor pup).

One of my 'girls' is clockwork every day at 10am. She can't hold it past then. Either I leave her with the ability to go outside, or I try to get her to "take a break" earlier. She will too :Rolleyes:

You can try changing his eating time to earlier or later. It might help on the timing.

As for admonishing him (after you return home) when he is "bad" and goes inside or praising him when he is "good" to go outside --- abandon it. Dogs basically have two ways of thinking:
"Now" and "Not now".

You trying to enforce training by rubbing, getting upset, or even saying how good he is, only affects your dog's thinking and behavior in the moment. You're only going to have him react to YOUR behavior, not your intentions. Dogs hear your moods and not your meaning -- "Blah, blah, blah, Fido". You act angry -- he'll react to that and not understand why.

By making outside available, he's choosing to go out. Praise him when you catch him at it, or not at all.
As for his diet, look through some of the threads on here. If you have a vet nearby, have him checked out. Just ease up on the mixing. :)
hth.
good luck,
toodles
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Phil

Your boy has become confused and you need to go right back to square one. I guess what has happened is what oftne happens when people think their pup is trained - they forget the praise and encourgaement and the puppy forgets.

As Sara has already said - after the event it is nog ood either praising or reprimanding your puppy - it's too late. He's taken to eating it and trying to hide it becasue he knows you don't like it - not that he shouldn't do it in the house. At 8 1/2 months he is very much a baby - and is very liekly to have accidents if left alone - it's the gamble you take when you have a dog that is left for regular periods.

Start again - thouroughly clean the area he has used with a biological cleaner - not one based on ammonia - and alter the routine so that you have a new pattern to work from. Most dogs are triggered to empty their bowels by taking in food. So after his breakfast - take him out and wait until he performs. Don't leave him food down when you are out, just water.

Don't get cross unless you catch him doing it as you will just add to his confusion. He is still a baby and needs to be treated as such.

hth

pam n the boys

It also sounds as if you may be feeding him a bit too much and the excess is going straight though him. Try halving it for a week and seeing if this helps in addition, as the others say, to going right back to the beginning of your housetraining (also see thread - Advice for New Puppy owners) If reducing his feed does help then get him weighed and feed him enough so that you can easily feel his ribs though his skin - not as toast racks but clearly

Christine

Hi phil
I also have a saluki, he is 11 months old now, i didnt have a problem with toilet training him, so i would go right back to the beginning again, as the rest of the people have suggested.
As far a feeding goes, i think you are feeding him far to much, malki get fed twice a day, but it is a daily amount split into 2 meals, i put other things in with his complete, but i have a problem keeping weight on him, and he is fine, poo wise that is. He poos only once to twice a day, so i think your dog is getting far to much to eat, if you cut it down by half, like the the poster suggested, you Will see a difference in a few days.
As for him still being on puupy food, it could well be to much for him. My breeder told me to change malki when he was 7 months old onto the adult complete, and he has been much better on it, as he had a bit of the runs also, but once i had changed him he was ok.To much protein or something like that. Still have probs in him eating but will get there in the end with him, trying to find a complete that he realy likes is the prob. I hope this helps as still a novic myself, as had a saluki 16 years ago, but i didnt realy train him as i was to young and my father did it. So it is all new to me also.

kelly and the nutty malki x