Dog & nice house

[jenny82]

Where we are atm, our dog has free rein of the house most of the time. He can get out to the yard anytime he wants to pee/poop as well.

We might be moving in the next few weeks and the new place is a lot nicer. I want to restrict his access to the kitchen/utility room only and he will sleep in the utility room. Its a huge kitchen though with a living room attached so we'll be spending about 80% of our time there. Do you think its cruel to not even let him out to the hall or am I doing the right thing?

I'll also need to work on his toilet habits a bit as he'll not be able to get outside as he wants like he does here. And obviously I def don't want him peeing in the garden AT ALL. There is a small bit of garden I was going to section off and only let him go there, but I'm not entirely sure how to go about encouraging him to go here only. Or do I try to encourage him to hold it all on and only go twice a day when we walk him? Sorry, I'm a bit clueless! :/

 

[KayBea]

you can get pee posts in most pet shops that encourage dogs to pee on it or near it if they arnt a 'leg cocker'.. this would probably be the best thing, and you can get a spray they usually gets sprayed on puppy pads to encourage puppies to pee on them - u can spray this on the post.

personally i dont think its mean to confine him to the kitchen aslong as it isnt a 2foot square one like ours where he cant even turn around!!
Aslong as he gets good walks & attention i think he will get used to it pretty quick..
he may need to some toys to entertain him if he is no longer able to entertain himself by running up & down stairs etc.. xx

 

[jenny82]

Oh cool I didn't realise such things existed. Might be great for us!

I am glad it isn't seen as cruel. I really want to enforce this to keep the house clean and maintain my sanity! He is also getting a bit of a big head on him and thinks he is further up the pack than he is so he needs to be moved back down :s

 

[MummyGooch]

It's perfectly fine to confine him to a certain area if it's of a suitable size and you'll be spending alot of time there yourself. As it'll be a new house, it's easier to start as you mean to go on - so if you do want to keep him 'going' in a particular spot then you could try getting him into a routine of you taking him to that spot on lead every time your about to let him out in the garden. Wait for him to do both, and then he can play in the rest of the garden off lead. Eventually he should just get used to using that area even off lead.
He won't have learned to go elsewhere at that house so it should be relatively simple depending on how easily he learns new things.

 

[TFSGirl]

Uh, I really wouldn't make my dog "hold it" until you walk him twice... THAT part sounds very cruel to me. Poor dog. If you don't want him peeing in an outside garden as often as he wants/needs, then you need to make the choice to walk him more than twice a day.

 

[jenny82]

I was only asking as I wasn't sure how it all worked!

 

[jenny82]

It's perfectly fine to confine him to a certain area if it's of a suitable size and you'll be spending alot of time there yourself. As it'll be a new house, it's easier to start as you mean to go on - so if you do want to keep him 'going' in a particular spot then you could try getting him into a routine of you taking him to that spot on lead every time your about to let him out in the garden. Wait for him to do both, and then he can play in the rest of the garden off lead. Eventually he should just get used to using that area even off lead.
He won't have learned to go elsewhere at that house so it should be relatively simple depending on how easily he learns new things.

That's what I was thinking. Because it was a 'new' place, he'd find it easier to get used to the new rules rather than me doing it here. Thanks, feel a bit more confident now

 

[Jemma_x]

We have two dogs and in our house they are only allowed downstairs. We have a dog gate between kitchen and living room and when we are out they stay in there and conservatory. I would not make the dog hold his wee, if you don't want him peeing on garden id walk him more. Our dogs get two 1 hour walks a day so they never poo in the garden but they are always outside peeing still

 

[jenny82]

Ok grand, thats why I was asking if I could encourage him to pee in one area instead of all over the garden. I don't want the grass getting destroyed and I also want to be able to let the kids play out there without fear of all his pee germs :/

Going to view and hopefully sign for the house tomorrow so I'll get another look at the garden and see if there is a good spot for him.

 

[Tegans Mama]

Like the others said all your ideas except peeing twice a day sound fine. Hope you manage to find him a pee spot

 

[Midnight_Fairy]

My dog has free roam downstairs and garden but lucky garden is 100% secure. If someone comes round I let her in kitchen/conservatory but we have wood floor throughout so its easy to clean. Dog will be fine plenty of walks. x

 

[Becci_Boo86]

to me a dog is a member of the family like a child. so my dog has full roam of the house and the garden. he never does mess anywhere even if we are running late from work. i wouldnt dream of saying he can only go in the kitchen/utility room or have abit of the garden.

x