# Cockapoo from rescue- advice wanted!



## JennyTommy (Dec 25, 2011)

Hi

We have just adopted a Cockapoo from a rescue centre after losing our rescue Staffie after 11 years. We have been told she is 2 years old and was found as a stray. When she was found she was pregnant and had four puppies whilst in the centre. After being at the rescue centre for 5 months we saw her and immediately knew she was the dog for us! She was spayed last week before she came home and is due to have her stitches out next week.

I'm looking for some advice as it seems there is a great deal of Cockapoo experience on this site!

Housetraining: she seems to go to the toilet in the garden and we go outside with her to make sure she goes but then she will come up to our bedroom then turns into a crazy dog and goes mental for a while which then ends up with her scratching at the quilt and weeing! She also sometimes does this in the lounge too on the sofa cushions and rug. It doesn't seem to make sense as she has just gone to the toilet in the garden. We tried leaving her in the kitchen and hallway last night but she broke through the chairs etc and made it upstairs and slept like a baby!

Eating: she has been used to having her food in the morning then late afternoon, so we have stuck with the same food and routine but she doesn't eat much of it at all. She's quite skinny already so I am worried that she isn't eating enough. Have tried taking her food up after 15 minutes but she doesn't seem to care and just eats a few bits.

I know she's been through a great deal what with being a stray, having puppies, being in kennels for five months, being spayed then coming home with us so I want to make sure we do all we can to help her settle as soon as possible. I also thought she may be weeing in the house as she can still smell our Staffie, not sure if this would be a reason? We have taken holiday to be with her for two and a half weeks so I hope that makes her feel secure that she has a loving home now and isn't going anywhere. She's very affectionate and a real character

Any advice would be greatly appreciated from fellow Cockapoo lovers!


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## suerandall (Aug 27, 2011)

Good for you for taking her on. Poor thing sounds like she has been to hell and back and I expect it will take her quite a while to realise she is now loved and isn't going anywhere. 

I think going to the toilet in the house could be because she is a little nervous and doesn't know her boundaries yet. If she has been a stray she has been used to going on the streets and the same in the kennel. She has not been used to a home environment for quite a while so will take time establishing her routine. As soon as she settles I think she will be fine.

You have had a dog so know what to do. Just keep enforcing your rules and eventually the penny will drop as to what she should be doing. Plus once she realises she is with you to stay I am sure the unwanted behaviour will disappear. As a drastic measure you could always get a one to one trainer round to offer some advice. Our neighbour had a dog which was very aggressive around other dogs and with a couple of sessions the dog is fine. 

Not sure if any of this helps. 

Good luck! Sue


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## Soo (Dec 16, 2011)

It does sound as is she is trying to settle in so is scent marking to make herself feel at home.

It may take her a few weeks to settle and get used to you and your house. I would use something like a babygate to prevent acess to areas like your bedroom unless you are present to prevent her urinating on them. Anywhere she does urinate on use a solution of biological washing powder diluted to clean it as it is one of the few things that takes the scent out for dogs.

Patience and consistancy of setting rules to make her feel secure should help it stop.

This has also been found useful to some folk http://www.buydaponline.co.uk/ and may be worth a try

My rescue collie did this on a few occasions so I know how frustrating it is to find your bed wrecked and peed on! With her it did settle fairly quickly as she calmed down and accepted her new home. It must be worse for your wee dog having had pups and being in kennels for quite a while.

Well done you for giving this needy wee dog a home. If you can have the patience to deal with all the teething problems you will be rewarded with years of love and a wonderful dog. Remember if you got a pup you would have all the house training, puppy biting and chewing to deal with too and very few dogs come to a home perfect. Time and love and it will all come together.

Merry Christmas!


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## 2ndhandgal (Aug 29, 2011)

It sounds like you have only had her a few days? It can take a new rescue dog a while to settle especially if they have been through a lot like this little one has. For housetraining treat her like a pup and take her out frequently and reward lots for going in the right place and I am sure she will soon get the idea.

For food don't worry too much right now - keep offering at the same times and as she settles more I am sure she will start to eat better.

DAP and restricting her access to bedrooms as Soo suggests are also excellent ideas.

I have always taken on older rescues and they soon settle down to become fantastic faithful dogs and I am sure this girl will soon be far more settled.


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## Laura(L)Izzie (Sep 9, 2011)

Well done for taking on this poor girl! She sounds like she's had a tough time 
I think there has been lots of good advice given already...
I just wanted to say welcome to the site & please keep us updated with how you get on with her 
Also, I would love to see a picture of her when you have the time? 
Good luck!


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## M&M's mummy (Jul 12, 2011)

Go back to basics with house training and treat her like a pup like 2ndhandgal suggested.

Take her outside every hour and praise her when she goes toilet- I find using one special word for toilet helps and keep re-emphasising this when she goes. Then increase to every 2 hours and so on. Being a stray she is not used to the house so will take a little time.


With food it can take them time to settle as the poor love has been through such a lot. 
Some "mums" do go very skinny when they have just had pups. Just stick to her routine and also has she been wormed recently? Hopefully she will pick up eating soon but if not you can always get her checked over with vet if she hasn't had that already before leaving the rescue.


I think it's time and reassurance and love this girl needs and sure you will see improvements as they are smashing dogs and make great family pets. It's early days so hang in there!!! and keep us all posted on her progress and pictures when you can


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## mum2bobs (Jun 23, 2010)

About the food, forgot to say that Bobby was really funny about eating and he hasn't been through the tough time your little one has.

I tried all the stuff about feeding at regular times, only leaving food down for short periods etc, and it just didnt suit him.

I realised after a while that he would only eat when he felt like, not when food was put down. If he felt like eating and no food was there for him then he would just go hungry, and if he didnt feel like eating when food was there he would just go hungry!.

Often he would go for days not eating anything at all, and would end up vomiting bile because his tummy was empty, it was crazy and went on for over a year with me trying all sorts to get him into some sort of routine that suited him and his tummy.

Now, I put a bowl of kibble out in the morning, and add a few small pieces of cooked chicken in to tempt him to make sure he has some breakfast. The food then stays out for him to eat as and when he fancies, but I add a few more bits of chicken before he goes to bed at night so he doesn't have an empty tummy overnight.

Success!!! He eats enough to keep him happy and I couldn't tell you when he last vomited.

With your little dog going through so much maybe she just needs to have a bit of leeway regarding mealtimes?


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## JennyTommy (Dec 25, 2011)

Wow, thanks for all the advice! 

She slept in the kitchen last night for 8 hours with no accidents, even barked this morning to tell us she wanted to go out in the garden 

We have gone back to basics as suggested and keep taking her out into the garden regularly to make sure we give her all opportunities to do her business.

I must say she seems a lot more settled at home now, we took her to the beach yesterday and I think by going out then bringing her home again she might of realised that she is here to stay now! It also made her very sleepy and she laid on the sofa all night snoozing, only waking up to bark at dogs on the TV!

We are taking her to our vets on Friday to have her stitches out, I don't want to take her back to the rescue to have them out in case she thinks we're taking her back. Then we will be able to take her out for longer walks and more play which should then make her calmer if she is a little worn out. 

She is eating a little more, has a funny habit of using here paw to flip her food bowl so all the bits empty onto the floor then she eats them one at a time very slowly, think she thinks it's a game bless her.

Will post some photos later and keep you all updated. Thanks again for all the helpful advice!


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## Soo (Dec 16, 2011)

Thats really great!

Looking forward to seeing the pics


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## mum2bobs (Jun 23, 2010)

Lovely to hear that she is settling into her new home


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## Pepster (Jul 22, 2011)

Ah, so nice to hear that she's settling in and feeling at home


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## Lilies (Sep 14, 2011)

Lovely to hear she's settling, she's lucky to have been adopted by you


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## JennyTommy (Dec 25, 2011)

Hi there

Happy New Year all. Thought I'd post a little update on Jenny, no pictures as for some reason I can't upload currently but will do asap. 

The good news is that she is eating more. We solved the bowl flipping by having her bowls in one of those raised platforms that hold the water and food bowls off the ground. She takes her time eating her breakfast and normally makes this last until 5pm however she can't wait for her dinner at around 6.15pm and eats this within 29 minutes. Our vet said she's not underweight so carry on feeding her as we are.

The not so good news is that we thought the weeing in the house was sorted. She's been sleeping in the kitchen and this has been working well as she doesn't cry when we leave her, I think she likes her own space . 

On new years eve she had a little accident as the fireworks were going off which is understandable and then she decided to go on a blanket on the sofa the next day (I put is down to scenting as our old dog laid on it) but apart for that all fine. Until yesterday, I was at home for most of the day and she had an excursion with her new dog walker, which she loved (running around with a Lurcher and Westie) and had a little snooze. Then all of a sudden she goes into the hallway and looks at me in the kitchen and then wee's on the floor! OK I thought, no problem and cleaned it up. However tonight wasn't what I expected. Had a lovely evening, lots of cuddles and a play then I was about to jump in the shower when I heard her snuffling on our bed, she laid down as if she was about to snooze, did another rearranging of the pillows and quilt then laid down again. After a minute or so though she wee'd!!! Why???

Put her in the garden while we cleaned up and now she's fast asleep on the sofa next to me looking like a little angel . Now I think she may of wanted the toilet but just didn't tell me, or maybe I didn't pick up on what she was trying to tell me!? We have now decided to get a baby gate so even when we are in the house she can't come upstairs and we'll keep the lounge door closed unless she's with us. I feel really bad doing this but hope this will help her learn?

Will do as you guys have said, back to basics until it clicks!

Will keep you updated.

Thanks again.


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## Laura(L)Izzie (Sep 9, 2011)

Hi Jenny 

Thanks for updating everyone! Glad things are improving  Sounds like you're doing well toilet training, defintiely go back to basics, we also realised that Poppy wasn't as brilliant with letting us know she needed to go out everytime. but ti started getting ridiculous, even to the point that one time I was in the kitchen saying to her 'do you need a wee wee Poppy?' & generally if she does she will walk to the back door in the kitchen so I let her out, but no... Instead she looked straight at me, waited til I looked at the kettle & wee'd right in the hall doorway! Anyway needless to say dad got angry with her because she knew she had to go outside & just plain blank chose not to (I think because she knew it was raining) so this time he shouted at her & put her outside for a few minutes & I have to say she's been brilliant since! lets us know when she wants to go out & goes out to do her business, barely any 'accidents' inside for ages  Also we started giving treats after we'd said 'wee wee' & she'd gone outside just to reinforce the good behaviour because when we thought about it we gave Izzie ltos mroe treats when she was a pup for it than Poppy, & it's worked 

You'll get there! It just takes time & consistency that's all  Good luck! & I hope things keep improving


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## mum2bobs (Jun 23, 2010)

Good to hear that she is settling down so well.

As for the toilet training - as you say, it's back to basics. Put her out every couple of hours, say pee-pee or whatever word you use, and then give loads of praise.

It's not the most exciting thing you can be doing with her, but it will save soggy beds


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## wellerfeller (Jul 12, 2011)

So glad she is settling down 

Just a thought but most dogs after playing will need a wee. So perhaps she did need to go after her play and cuddles and just followed you upstairs to go.


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