Bad Behavior After Stay at Kennel - Page 1

Hi, I would really appreciate any advice you can offer... Just a little history on my dog first. We got him from a woman and all we really know about him is that she had him for a year but she had rheumatoid arthritis and could no longer play hard with him so she was giving him away. She had gotten him from a shelter. She told us his age was 2 1/2 (we've had him now for 2 years and he has been an angel, very well behaved). That's really all we know, so I don't know if he's had an abusive history or some memory from his days at the shelter that makes him upset when he has to stay at a kennel. Anyway...we recently went on vacation for 10 days. I looked everywhere to find a kennel that was out in the country and had large indoor/outdoor runs so he wouldn't be caged up all day. We had used a kennel like this in the last state we lived in and he always did great. Before his stay at this kennel, he'd had maybe 3 or 4 accidents in the house (urinated on floor) and this was only because our work day ran long and he just couldn't hold it any longer so it wasn't his fault. On one occasion, he defecated on the floor. However, after the stay at this kennel, he came home and the first day, he urinated and defecated in several spots even though we let him out to go. It's like he'd hold it until he got inside. I figured he was just reinstating his territory. But this has now gone on for three days! I don't know what to do. Has anyone experienced bad behavior like this with their dog after a stay at a kennel? What did you do? So far, my theory has been that he was just overly traumatized by us leaving him so I've been just trying to show him more and more love; to let him know that we never abandoned him and that he doesn't have to do bad things to get our attention. But my concern is something worse. Could it be medical? He doesn't act sick but I just don't know. Again, any advice will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

I had a similar problem with one of my females after our last vacation. She messed her crate, wouldn't let us know she needed out or anything. We took her to the vet for examination and she had a bladder infection along with bacteria found in her stool. He stated this is from being kenneled to long and not being able to eliminate. we found out later that one of the other dogs being boarded at the same time as ours had a dominance issue and had barked and growled constantly at our girl so she was very threatened. Our vet put her on a course of antibiotics, recommended we keep her on a leash in the house at all times attached to one of us, so we could immediately take her out and to put her crate in another part of the house that the other dogs would not have to walk by her, so she wouldn't feel threatened. This all worked for us and within a few days it all resolved itself. If the kennel area was concrete or pebbles and your dog was not use to this type of potty area, he may have felt he couldn't eliminate for feeling of being punished and held his waste longer than he should and then could not hold it any longer causing him to have mistakes, previous shelter life a possible rememberence. I would take him to the vet to rule out medical issue, but give him lots of one on one time and keep him with you as much as possible as he is showing signs of stress. Good luck and keep us posted on your angel. Kari

Hello, I own a nice, state of the art boarding kennel. Fortunately, I have never had a dog who went home and was ill or unruly. I also suggest that there are several plausible explanations to the dogs behavior. The first one is that it did not get outside enough and "forgot" housebreaking. However, in my opinion, it is MUCH more likely that this is a medical issue. The dog may have picked up an infection, or possibly worms or giardia or some other parasite. The first thing I would be doing is taking a fresh stool sample in for testing. The other suggestions above also make sense. In the future, do look for a kennel where the dogs are, at the very least, rotated out to a normal ground area several times a day. Also observe the kennel for cleanliness and the grounds for evidence of feces not being cleaned up. Ask what kind of medical requirements the kennel operator has. I require parasite treatment or a clear stool sample and up to date on vaccinations before I will accept any dog for boarding, or, for that matter, before ANY dog can be on the property. Good luck.

Just because a kennel has a beutiful exercise area does not mean they let them out. After a long stay at a kennel if a dog has constantly held it and asked to go out and no one ever let it out the dog was basically trained, don't bother asking to go out no one will let you out just do it where you are. I had a similar expierience with a kennel and had to re-housebreak a young dog. If you rule out medical, that is probably what it is unless your dog has seperation anxiety but you would have known that by now and they also usually don't eat and loose weight. But don't worry, re-housebreaking usualy takes very little time. Just make sure when he does go out he does something, usually helps if you go out with him and encourage him to do his buisness outside.