Pet Adoption & Rescue

Hi there, 4 weeks ago I adopted the sweetest little Pom-Chi. She is almost 2 yrs old. She had been given up to a high kill shelter in May as her family said they didn't have time for her due to their jobs. In June, she was moved to a rescue organization who placed her in a foster home. They were going to transport her to me from about 10 hrs away the beginning of July when they discovered she was pregnant thanks to the shelter. So the transfer was delayed until the pups were 5 wks old. The rescue team thought she should stay with the pups until they were 6 to 8 wks & so they moved them to another foster family close to me. 3 days later, they asked me to pick her up as she had rejected the pups and the foster family was now busy caring for the pups.

Lee was extremely frighten when I brought her home. So many different places in such a short period of time. However, she had obviously been loved as she is very well trained & loving and expected to sleep in our bed. Now she is settling down with us and after 4 wks has peed & pooped in the house 5 times in the last week with not an accident before. No difference in what we are doing with her. She never asks to go out but we take her out regularly. 2 wks ago when we decided to see how long she could handle waiting & she had no problem when we didn't take her out for 12 hrs overnight. But normally, she goes out between 7 & 8 am, between noon & 3, around 6 then between 9 & 10. She gets a 20 mins walk early in the morning & last thing at night with shorter walks the rest of the time.

Any idea what to do about this problem? Our sheltie was very jealous of our  Chow & peed/pooped every day in the house while the Chow was alive. Stopped as soon as our chow died. Just got new carpeting after our Sheltie died, don't want to ruin this one. I haven't been able to catch Lee & she has peed or pooped after her walk.

Other than this problem, Lee is the nicest dog I have ever had. She loves to cuddle which is great as my last child just moved out & I need this! She is wonderful with my 2 1/2 yr old grandson. They love to nap together.

Any suggestions would be appreciated, thanks.

Hi Dee and Welcome to the Board.  I'm Laura and I'm the furmom to a 14YO dalmatian, Samantha and 3YO lab/mix, Cleo.

Bless you for taking in this little furkid....she is just adorable!!!  When I volunteered at a German Shepherd rescue we would always advise potential adopters to crate the rescue dogs for the short term.  Even though Lee was OK for a while, obviously she is having some sort of problem right now.  She has been through so much in her short life.  If she was only urinating then I would suspect a UTI....but if she is doing both in the house then something else is going on.

What are you feeding her?  A high quality dog food should allow her to eliminate less.  Also, when she cannot be watched you may want to tether her to you so that you can more readily read her "signals".

She should be going out first thing in the morning, about 20 minutes after eating, after playing/exercising and last thing at night. 

Also, is she has eliminated on your rug make sure you have cleaned it with vinegar/water or Nature's Miracle to be sure that you have gotten the smell out completely....even if you can't smell anything, Lee can, and will continue to go back to the same spot over and over again.

Good luck with your little girl, and please let us help in any way that we can.

 

Hi Laura, thanks for your reply.

Not really sure why we had the problems last week but so far so good this week. Lee doesn't give signals. I was sick with the cold on Fri/Sat & spent my entire day either in bed or on the couch. She was right beside me the entire time & never made any move that showed she needed to go out. So guess I will just continue to take her out on a regular basis. She is on a high quality food. She came to us on IAMs but I haven't liked them the last few years so checked out the food at the local animal speciality shop. My last dog had many accidents & so I have a spray bottle ready to use with vinegar for every little accident.

Lee is such a great dog & as she is the first small dog I have owned I have no idea if it's normal for them to be cat like. She sits on my lap for hours (found this out when I was sick), she washes her face like a cat & plays with her toys like a cat. It's so cute. She is very relaxed with us at home but we are still having problems in the car. She shakes constantly from the time I put on her seat belt until I remove it. I have started taking her out for short trips with me now that the weather is cool & I can leave her for 10 mins in the car. But nothing seems to be helping her relax. I have a doggie bed & use a seat belt. I moved her from the back seat to the front seat beside me & talk to her constantly. I feel so sorry for her as we travel 90 mins each way to our other home on the weekends & it's torture for her. She never makes a peep though.

Dee

Some dogs just hate going in the car....poor Lee.....it's sad that she is so frightened.

I would recommend getting in the car with her and just sitting in the driveway for about 10 minutes.  If she is frightened, once she settles down praise her or give her a treat.

After a few days of doing this then drive up and down the driveway with her in the car.  Progress to driving around the block....and then drive longer distances.  Try to take her someplace "fun" like the park....this way she won't associate the car with places that she doesn't like, like the vet.

Also, be careful about leaving her in the car alone.  If possible, leave her at home if you have to run errands.  I'm not sure where you live but, especially if Lee does not like the car, she will become frightened in there alone.  In addition, as you know, a car can heat up very quickly, even on cool days, and Lee may become sick from the heat.

Good luck with your little girl, and please continue to keep us updated.