Cold weather!

[Pico_Banana]

I adopted a 9 year old dog last December. She’d never lived in a house before. It was a long road getting her house trained and to stop chewing on furniture but we finally were completely successful about 7 months in. (All other dogs it’s taken a week at most!) Yay for us!

And then — it got cold a couple days ago. She’s had three “accidents” in the house. I put that in quotes because she goes into a little used room and used it as her bathroom. I’ve been bundling her up before going outside but she just stands on the step waiting to come back in. This morning I walked her until she peed and pooped as opposed to just putting her out with my other two dogs. I’m back to monitoring where she is at all times while inside.

If anyone has advice, I’m all ears, but am mostly just writing this because I’m feeling sorry for myself. It’s a good thing she’s a love bug.

[chestnutmarebeware]

Poor thing! She lucked out to find you!

If I’d had to spend my whole life outdoors I would be worried too that one day I might not be allowed back in to the nice warm happy place and decide to just stay by the door to get in as quickly as possible.

That being said, I adopted an adult Peke from our local shelter that also had been made to live outside his whole life (you should have seen his coat—the shelter had to just shave him down to the skin to get rid of the mats, dirt and leaves). He also can’t be trusted to actually go potty by himself in the fenced yard because he’s mostly thinking about coming back inside, so I have have been walking him for years to ensure he actually goes. (And I’ve cleaned up puddles when I’ve had migraines and tried to make it easier on myself by chucking him in the yard with his brothers. )

I think her past experiences may require you to continue to walk her (at least in the winter) for a while. Hopefully she can move past her fear of being abandoned outside again (if that’s indeed what’s happening) and eventually become reliable on her own, but she may not.

[Pico_Banana]

Ahh, well. It helps to know I’m not alone.

The funny thing is we lived for years without a fenced yard. I’ve only had one for about 4 years now. But I’ve gotten so spoiled at just being able to open the door and not have to go for a potty break walk first thing in the morning!

[Impractical_Horsewoman]

What breed (or mix) of dog? Some are genuinely more sensitive to the cold. I know it’s an extra pain, but might a little coat help?

[Pico_Banana]

She’s a greyhound. Def more sensitive to cold. But I’ve been sending her out in fleece jammies with a heavy winter coat on top already. While my other two greyhounds go out naked and freely frolic in the cold.

She is a delicate flower.

I think I might need to buy these:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/683943164/greyhound-pyjamas-greyhound-clothing?gpla=1&gao=1&&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=shopping_us_-pet_supplies&utm_custom1=k_EAIaIQobChMI-P2qwq_4iQMVRtMWBR09-SvSEAQYASABEgIvy_D_BwE_k&utm_content=go_12665398257_121762925993_511610210343_aud-2079782229334:pla-314535281500_c__683943164_566164216&utm_custom2=12665398257&gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI-P2qwq_4iQMVRtMWBR09-SvSEAQYASABEgIvy_D_BwE

[jvanrens]

Have you tried going out and spending some time outside with them? Maybe if you are physically out there with her, maybe she’ll stop standing at the door and do what needs doing?

It’s only November, it’s only going to get colder. It’d be great if you didn’t have to go for walks for toilet time.

[blue_heron]

Just want to say I’ve had greys and whippets and they do this from time to time when it gets cold. In the summer they are completely housebroken and agree they feel bad about it because they usually hide away to pee where I can’t see it. Usually takes a few weeks for them to get used to it. A coat can definitely help. So does a schedule and crate training.

[DiamondJubilee]

I don’t have the greatest story, but someone I know adopted an Italian greyhound/jack cross that was a breeding dog for 5 years and lived in a crate most of her life. She adopted and was put into a foster home and she adopted her from them. She was such a sweet dog but once it got cold out, she would just not pee outside. She took her for long, long walks (which she hated in the winter, even with her coat on) and she would come inside and pee right away. Some times on her bed even.

She would crate her when she would go out, and she would happily pee in there as well and just sleep in it. She had a dog walker come in around lunch time to walk her for a few months, she still would pee in her crate no matter what. She just couldn’t break her of the habit in the winter so she sadly returned her to the foster person a few months later. It broke her heart as she loved the dog. This was a few years ago and she has never got a dog since (she has had several dogs all of her life but she couldn’t go through this again).

[floppyammy]

@blue_heron

Just want to say I’ve had greys and whippets and they do this from time to time when it gets cold. In the summer they are completely housebroken and agree they feel bad about it because they usually hide away to pee where I can’t see it. Usually takes a few weeks for them to get used to it. A coat can definitely help. So does a schedule and crate training.

I second @blue_heron, as a greyhound and whippet owner myself. It sounds like you have to go back to on-leash or supervised outdoor potty breaks for a while to re-instill the “yes, we do our business outside, not inside, even when it’s cold” ethic. Both my sighthounds were extremely sensitive to the cold. My last greyhound wore fleece pajamas indoors from Oct - May. We had various layers of coats that went over the fleece pajamas anytime we stepped outdoors. If it was under 70 degrees, he was cold. Both my former greyhound and current whippet love their layers and will come over and offer their heads to put pajamas and coats on.

[blue_heron]

Iggys are notorious for being extremely difficult to housebreak. Their large counterparts and whippets are much much easier.

@floppyammy Where are you getting your Whippet pajamas? My girl has a coat but it tends to slide around and I would prefer the pajamas with the sleeves I think. She is a smaller whippet.

[floppyammy]

@blue_heron

@floppyammy Where are you getting your Whippet pajamas? My girl has a coat but it tends to slide around and I would prefer the pajamas with the sleeves I think. She is a smaller whippet.

I find it much harder to find good-fitting coats and pajamas for my whippet than I did for my greyhound. My whippet has a really deep chest relative to her waist and length. My best bets so far have been on Etsy. I had Duds4BudsToo custom make some pajamas (pink), and I bought pajamas from FreemakerHounds (polkadot).

Duds4BudsToo - Etsy
FreemakerHounds - Etsy

[Pep_n_Ann]

I have a pit mix that hates the rain and wet. I have to out with her and chase her off the porch to get her to pee if it’s wet. It’s a pain, but the only way she’ll go when its raining.

[Pico_Banana]

So, we’ve seen some improvement but we are not there yet. I’ve been keeping a close eye on her in the house and she has only one accident since my original post when I’m responsible for her. While on my other half’s watch, we’ve had less success.

I’ve been putting two HEAVY jackets on her in the morning and going out with the three of them. Sometimes I put her on leash and walk her until she goes and that helps. I’ve also noticed that she seems to not want to go when her siblings are out. This morning I took all three out together and then put the other two inside first. Then she went off leash to do her business on her own. So I’m going to keep trying that approach.

She also will ask to go out and then has no difficulty going. So it seems like it’s when I put her out on a schedule, i.e., not when she thinks she needs to go, that she doesn’t go. The problem with that approach, of course, is that I work from home and have to be on video calls so she needs to get over that.

I am considering getting her a pair of 4 legged jammies to wear all the time and put a jacket on her for outside. Although she actually doesn’t like having a jacket put on. I can’t tell if that’s the part of it going over her head or that she doesn’t want to wear a jacket.

But I think we are progressing. I’m continuing to work on it. It’s helpful to hear I’m not the only one dealing with this!

[snowblaze]

Sounds like some more basic house training to let her know there are no excuses for going inside, cold weather edition. All my dogs have had to learn to eliminate on command to be ready for various types of dog competition. If your dog is treat motivated, a dog cookie for producing can be an incentive.

With one of my young whippets I’d had to outstubborn him in the rain, seeing as it rarely rains here. He didn’t at least pee after letting him out first thing in the morning, because he was like, “I can’t pee, shockingly enough, water is falling from the sky!” We both stayed out there a long time until we were both quite wet and cold. When he finally peed, he got all kinds of praise as we went directly back into the house and he had a big treat and good boy party. He’s never forgotten and will dash out and pee in any kind of weather and then make a beeline for the door.

They have always been clean in crates, so putting a non-peeing animal back into a crate for a while and then bringing them back out to have another shot at it has worked well when one is reluctant to eliminate away from home.

Whippet or greyhound and other breeds. I got the “Tummy Warmers” for my whippets, which made good pajamas or light sweaters.

Custom Greyhound Coats | Voyagers K9 Apparel

Whippet Coats and Booties | Voyagers K9 Apparel

Here are some very nice whippet coats. The Wistwind Warm-Up I have has lasted through many whippets.
https://taylormadecoats.com/whippetcoats.html