[Dailydrool] To Melissa and her fearful beagle

[Pamela McQuade via Dailydrool]

Melissa:
I'm not the best at getting dogs to go potty outside. All I can say is 
be persistent and consistent. Eventually this seems to work.


I am more concerned about the general fearfulness of your dog. I 
recognize that a feral dog may not respond as well as a dog who had a 
lot of human contact. He may never be the life of the party, but are you 
working with him to make him feel secure? In my experience, security and 
potty training often go hand in hand. An insecure dog will hold out as 
long as possible, watch everything in your yard, look at anyone who goes 
by, eye the squirrels and birds, and generally ignore the need to potty. 
Trying to get a dog to settle down can be a real challenge. 


Right now I have a rather nervous foster, Cleo, who is struggling with 
potty training. I know that a large part of it is that she is ten and 
just lost her home for the second time in her life. No fault of her 
human, just a life situation. Cleo was parted from the other dogs in her 
home and is not feeling the love here yet. I know it will be a long road 
to get her to understand that she needs to let me know before she has an 
accident, not wait until afterwards. I wish there were shortcuts in 
getting this into a dog's head, but I have never found them. (If someone 
on the Drool knows these, I'm open to learning them.)


It took my Horton several years to understand that pottying inside was 
not good. It was not helped by the fact that our senior, Holly, had 
Cushing's disease and could not get outdoors fast enough. If you have 
one dog who is not trained, another will not pick up on it. Once we lost 
Holly, it did not take long for Horton to start getting the picture. But 
it still took time and patience.


If you need help with your dog's nervousness, I just found an article 
that might help you: 
http://eileenanddogs.com/2014/12/22/helping-fearful-dog-feel-safe/


There are also many good books out there that will help you understand a 
fearful dog and train him. I have used some of their ideas with my very 
fearful Horton, who is afraid of people. The ones I recommend are:


HELP FOR YOU SHY DOG, by Deborah Wood (also good for fearful dogs)
A GUIDE TO LIVING WITH AND TRAINING A FEARFUL DOG, by Debbie Jacobs
THE CAUTIOUS CANINE, by Patricia B. McConnell


But there are other good books out there, too.


My Horton was probably abused and is very fearful of people. We have had 
him four years, but he still has not learned that the people he comes in 
contact with are safe or I will protect him. Yet he has made some slow 
headway. Fearful dogs must go at their own speed. You cannot push or 
rush them.


Have you tried using a belly band on your beagle? Some dogs will stop 
the pottying inside because they do not like it. But even if it does not 
work that way, you can save your floors at least some of the pain. Our 
first foster and adoptee, Belvedere, had pottying issues. I bought some 
of the cheaper versions of Depends and put one in a belly band. It was 
the best way to keep things under control. Just remember to take the 
band off when you go outside (really, you will get so used to it, you 
may forget sometimes). You can buy a belly band online, I'm sure, or if 
you are crafty enough, I can send you a pattern I used. E-mail me at 
plmcquade at optimum.net.


I hope this helps.
Pam, food slave to the Dashing Bassets