Hey y'alls. Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I'll post some pics of Terra after this thread to make up for it. 
I'm not sure if this is training, health, or whatever. I'm just looking for workable ideas.
Cimba (my dad's dog) is a 12- or maybe 13-year-old Tibetan Spaniel. Doesn't see well anymore, mostly large movement (like a person walking through a room he can see, but food hitting the floor or blades of grass he cannot). Not sure if the semi-blindness is part of the problem, but I figured it may be a factor so who knows. As far as we know, he is as healthy as can be expected for an old guy. He had some hair loss a while back which went away with better diet and pest control, and he had a few teeth pulled. Gets lots of eye boogers. But in the big picture, no major health problems.
Dog has always had a companion, a Sheltie which died probably 2-3 years ago. They grew up together, were always crated together, and so on. It was understood when my dad got this guy that the breed doesn't do well being left alone. As long as he always had another dog or a human, he seemed to be fine.
Fast forward to the present, Cimba shares a domicile with my dad, me, and my two dogs (Loki and Terra). We were working on having him hang out with my girls alternately (since they can't stand each other), but it hasn't always worked out well. Twice, Cimba has (accidentally?) jumped up on the couch and landed on Loki while she was asleep, and she startled awake and went after him. Those two are usually good, but since the 2nd incident my dad has preferred that they be separate. Terra was doing well enough learning not to bother Cimba, but then came a time when she jumped up on the couch, not knowing he was there, and when he started yelping from being trampled, she went into a very scary predatory response which is not worth risking a repeat.
So in essence, all 3 dogs get separate time loose in the house. This is totally fine with my two, because they've had some measure of confinement ever since they were puppies, and have been fully separated for about 4 years now. But it is not okay with Cimba. I'm not sure the root cause of his problems, but I think having to be confined without another dog right in his vicinity is a big part of it. We used to crate him next to Terra, but since the incident, my dad moved him out to the kitchen (Terra is crated in the extra bedroom). We don't have a fence to work with, only an outdoor pen that I built for Terra and which she stays in during the day when the weather is nice.
I'm kind of jumping around here, and I apologize. I'm trying to make this make sense. Getting to the meat of the problems with little Cimba, I can only describe it as one gigantic anxiety broohah. It breaks down kinda like this:
So basically, if Cimba gets left alone, he stresses and poops. Left loose in the house alone, he'd be eating the blinds. Left crated alone, he eats his bed. If he gets stressed, he gets diarrhea. If he is normal, he gets diarrhea. If the wind blows, he gets diarrhea. If the planets align cosmically, he gets stressed and whines and paces. And poops.
Here is an example. This is how today went:
What we've tried:
On the immediate list of things to try:
Things which are out-of-the-question:
Anyway, I will hear all suggestions and maybe we can generate some that will be useable with this situation. Dad and I both take care of the other's dogs if one person is home while the other is at work. Since my shifts are usually early and his shifts are usually late, the dogs rarely have to spend more than a few hours alone. But when Cimba's having a bad day, sometimes I'd rather go back to work than deal with him. Its like having a 12-pound unpredictable Golgothan Sh*t Demon for a master. Dare I say, taking care of my two Pit Bulls is far easier than this one little sh*tpickle?
Ideas, please.
I'm not sure if this is training, health, or whatever. I'm just looking for workable ideas.Cimba (my dad's dog) is a 12- or maybe 13-year-old Tibetan Spaniel. Doesn't see well anymore, mostly large movement (like a person walking through a room he can see, but food hitting the floor or blades of grass he cannot). Not sure if the semi-blindness is part of the problem, but I figured it may be a factor so who knows. As far as we know, he is as healthy as can be expected for an old guy. He had some hair loss a while back which went away with better diet and pest control, and he had a few teeth pulled. Gets lots of eye boogers. But in the big picture, no major health problems.
Dog has always had a companion, a Sheltie which died probably 2-3 years ago. They grew up together, were always crated together, and so on. It was understood when my dad got this guy that the breed doesn't do well being left alone. As long as he always had another dog or a human, he seemed to be fine.
Fast forward to the present, Cimba shares a domicile with my dad, me, and my two dogs (Loki and Terra). We were working on having him hang out with my girls alternately (since they can't stand each other), but it hasn't always worked out well. Twice, Cimba has (accidentally?) jumped up on the couch and landed on Loki while she was asleep, and she startled awake and went after him. Those two are usually good, but since the 2nd incident my dad has preferred that they be separate. Terra was doing well enough learning not to bother Cimba, but then came a time when she jumped up on the couch, not knowing he was there, and when he started yelping from being trampled, she went into a very scary predatory response which is not worth risking a repeat.
So in essence, all 3 dogs get separate time loose in the house. This is totally fine with my two, because they've had some measure of confinement ever since they were puppies, and have been fully separated for about 4 years now. But it is not okay with Cimba. I'm not sure the root cause of his problems, but I think having to be confined without another dog right in his vicinity is a big part of it. We used to crate him next to Terra, but since the incident, my dad moved him out to the kitchen (Terra is crated in the extra bedroom). We don't have a fence to work with, only an outdoor pen that I built for Terra and which she stays in during the day when the weather is nice.
I'm kind of jumping around here, and I apologize. I'm trying to make this make sense. Getting to the meat of the problems with little Cimba, I can only describe it as one gigantic anxiety broohah. It breaks down kinda like this:
- He has forgotten to be housebroken, and is pooping on the floor several times a week, sometimes several times a day. No clear pattern as to pooping in certain locations; its wherever he wants.
- He seems to get diarrhea quite a bit -- irrespective of what he is fed -- and this contributes to the housebreaking issues. He was seen by a vet not too long ago, but I don't know if they ruled out internal parasites. I just know that the diarrhea doesn't have a clear trigger.
- If he gets diarrhea, he gets crated to prevent him crapping at random on the carpet. But when he is crated, he works himself into a stress ball -- barking, whining, climbing the sides, weaving, chewing the wire, digging at his bed -- and this doesn't help with the diarrhea at all. Sometimes he'll just poop in the crate and smear it all over.
- If it thunders or someone nearby fires a gun, he gets upset. Whines, shivers, growls, paces, wont settle down. If left alone, he will usually get so worked up he'll go poop on the floor somewhere (see a theme?) So normally when he is having one of these episodes, he gets crated, which means that his symptoms are confined to the crate, but they are also exacerbated.
So basically, if Cimba gets left alone, he stresses and poops. Left loose in the house alone, he'd be eating the blinds. Left crated alone, he eats his bed. If he gets stressed, he gets diarrhea. If he is normal, he gets diarrhea. If the wind blows, he gets diarrhea. If the planets align cosmically, he gets stressed and whines and paces. And poops.
Here is an example. This is how today went:
Dad was up before me, pottied Cimba (pee and poop). I put Cimba in dad's room while I run my dogs for morning potty. 5 mins later, went to feed everybody, he had pooped in dad's bedroom. Dad cleans it up and crates him in kitchen, leaves for work. Cimba has crate tantrum. I get tired of the noise and move the crate to the garage (its cool here, so no torture involved). A few hours pass, he gets quiet. I go to take him out, there's diarrhea all over the crate and he's in the middle of making more. I hose down crate and dog, let him potty again, return dog with clean bed to crate. He is quiet for a while, then resumes barking. After dinner, I move Cimba to the bathroom. I never know if he's all pooped out (no pun) or if he's saving up to paint the floor, so I leave him in the bathroom the rest of the evening (sans potty breaks). He's there right now.
What we've tried:
- Leaving a radio or TV on. No difference.
- Crating next to another dog. No difference, and once in a while his behavior pisses the other dog off.
- Natural "calming" supplements. Seem to help a smidge, but not appreciably.
- Gating him into a bathroom. That's a new attempt for today. So far, he prefers it to the crate. But gating may not be a long-term option because he has eaten through gates in the past, plus the issue of him likely tearing up whatever is in the room with him.
- Going back to puppy-style housebreaking basics. Cookie for pooping outside, increased supervision when loose in the house, no loose time if he doesn't poop outside, etc. We also take him out whenever he whines. But he does not seem to connect whining = have to go potty. He whines over noises or boredom or whatever, and then doesn't make a noise when he actually needs to go potty.
- Squirt bottles for the tantrums. Yeah, no.
On the immediate list of things to try:
- A pheromone collar
- He really needs an outdoor area to stay in when he's having his diarrhea issues, so we want to either put up a cable run or maybe gather up enough scrap fence to build him a little pen. Tether is the more affordable option, but he is not used to being tethered so we don't know how he will react. We can't afford to fence the whole property, even though the landlord has given us permission to do so.
Things which are out-of-the-question:
- Getting another dog. Dad doesn't want another dog, especially not another small dog, and our situation doesn't really need any more **** dogs. LOL! Cimba's age and anxiety issues are both factors in choosing against adding another dog.
- Anything terribly pricey. Key human players are retail associates of limited means.
- Pills and other drugs. I mean, they can maybe be done, but Cimba is very hard to pill. Anything he gets has to be mashed up into powder and mixed with some canned food. That's how he gets his glucosamine and the happy pills which don't work.
Anyway, I will hear all suggestions and maybe we can generate some that will be useable with this situation. Dad and I both take care of the other's dogs if one person is home while the other is at work. Since my shifts are usually early and his shifts are usually late, the dogs rarely have to spend more than a few hours alone. But when Cimba's having a bad day, sometimes I'd rather go back to work than deal with him. Its like having a 12-pound unpredictable Golgothan Sh*t Demon for a master. Dare I say, taking care of my two Pit Bulls is far easier than this one little sh*tpickle?
Ideas, please.
