How to Potty Train Foster Dog w/Special Needs?
We are fostering a rescued female bait dog (pit bull). She was seized by the city kennel in December, went into the rescue org in mid-January, and has been in our foster car for less than two weeks. We have a 1 y-o male pit bull and a 5 y-o female beagle, both rescued from the pound w/in the past 8 months. They already had a good established relationship prior to the foster coming in. All are fixed.
Although our foster dog is 2, she is mentally like a puppy due to her past, so pleas keep that in mind when reading and replying. The first sticking issue, after two weeks, is that the foster is not emptying her bladder completely when she urinates. It is delaying other areas in which we need to move forward. Overall, we are all happy—she has learned to sit, wait her turn then “release” before eating, she knows her name, is going on walks (hit and miss on the leash, some walks are better than others), plays great with our pit (he is very good with her), ignores the beagle for the most part (per the beagle’s directive), loves to run in our yard, is very people and dog friendly, is crate trained, etc. But we are in a rut when it comes to integrating her more into “family” time. She has a difficult time settling down when the rest of the household does, and I understand that is anxiety/nervous energy. She gets walks and is free to play with our pit until even HE has had enough (something we thought we’d never see). We are also getting ready to join a local dog park for her. The problem is, we can’t allow her to wander until she settles down on her own, because she will pee. She is also peeing in between the time we take her out of her crate first thing in the morning (6am-ish) and breakfast (7:30 or 8), or if she makes it that far and I take her out right after breakfast, she’ll still pee again after that. We are trying to take her out about 3 times in the morning between 5:30 and 9 when we get up and let her out of her crate, but she will still pee if we don’t stay on top of her---because she is not emptying her bladder. She is just relieving the pressure, pooping, and thinking, “Yay, I’m done!” Generally, advice is to take them outside often to teach them that they “go potty” outside, but with her, I wonder if we aren’t just enabling her desire to go out and go often. We keep hoping she will model the other two dogs, but she is just not picking up on the “big pee when we go outside” concept. Keeping her on a leash inside to watch her is an option, but again, with her amount of energy, she just doesn’t settle down unless she’s in her crate.
FWIW, the rescue org questioned it as well, because they commented when we picked her up that she had just finished a round of antibiotics for a possible bladder infection. Now I know why. Also, she CAN hold it. She can stay in her crate overnight w/out any problems. So it’s not a physical abnormality that is keeping her from being able to hold her urine, which had initially crossed my mind, given her abusive past.
Any advice would help. I feel as if we need to get her pee issue under control, because I admit that I am uptight over it when she is wandering around inside. It makes it more difficult for me to trust her, which I’m sure isn’t helping her to relax. She’s come a long way in a short time; I just want to be sure that we continue to move forward with our progress, for her sake. I feel as we are at a, “Now what?” point, and I don’t want to languish, so I am reaching out for input. Thanks!