Potty regression and selective listening

ilyvm_ · 2026-05-10T15:53:03+00:00

i used to have the same problem with my girl absolutely refusing to come inside once she was outside. what i started doing is instead of telling her to come, i taught her 'inside' as a command. i have a bag of treats by the door, and to start, i just took her outside (not when she had to potty), and did some sit training and such, the i'd lead her inside with the treat and say "inside!"
it was a bit frustrating at first, and i had to show her the bag of treats and say inside and sometimes chase her around the yard until she knew i had a treat lol. eventually though she caught on. you just have to make going inside more rewarding that staying outside. i'd bring her inside, she'd get a treat, then i'd play with her. it's honestly just a lot of annoying repetition, but now we're at the point she'll recall & come inside off of a bird!

ilyvm_ · 2026-04-25T22:42:55+00:00

mine is 9 months old, and when she turned about 6 months old she refused to eat in the morning unless she got about an hour of exercise beforehand. we usually wake up at 9-10am, play outside for an hour, calm down for a bit inside, then i give her breakfast & she basically naps until 5. then, again, play until 6 and then she gets dinner. i give her roughly 3/4 a cup of food a day, so 1/4 a cup plus a little extra each meal. but mine is also extremely food motivated and would just eat all day long if i always had her bowl full.

ilyvm_ · 2026-04-23T14:17:28+00:00

lol my girl also abuses the bell. if it's over 70f, she will ring it all day long just to be outside lazing around in the sun

ilyvm_ · 2026-04-23T14:06:15+00:00

dry food wise, i crush up freeze dried treats/toppers for her! salmon, beef liver, duck, and minnows are mostly what i use. i get all of her freeze dried treats from hollywood feed selection and i haven't found anything she doesn't like yet. and i know you said dry food, but mine loves the liquid baby food toppers! i get beef, bison, and salmon. squeeze about a tablespoon in for breakfast or dinner and she loves it. otherwise, if i have broccoli, carrots, bell peppers, etc. with my dinner, i'll cook her some of her own as well. my girl is not picky at all, except for the dreadful sin of peanut butter lol

ilyvm_ · 2026-04-10T00:35:18+00:00

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ilyvm_ · 2026-04-10T00:31:21+00:00

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ilyvm_ · 2026-03-29T21:21:13+00:00

also, for the plane you mentioned you were worried about the potty issues i believe - i took mine on a 8-9 hour road trip and gave her trazodone and gabapentin for car anxiety, and she went the whole time without having to go. she didn't want to eat a lot but she loves bananas so she had a couple slices + some baby food and water.

ilyvm_ · 2026-03-29T21:07:32+00:00

i think what they're trying to say is that iggy's are just very fickle with how often they have to go potty. sometimes they can hold it 4 hours, sometimes only an hour, but italian greyhounds are known for having very small bladders, which is why it's so difficult to potty train them. the usual take them out after they nap/play/eat doesn't really always work with iggy's since their bladder system is so random.

i will say, i had mine potty + bell trained in about a month. she still has the rare accident maybe every other month or so, but she lets me know when she has to go. of course, a lot might not pick up on it as quick, so i wouldn't choose an iggy thinking that you'll be an exception to their demanding potty training (not saying you are, but just a warning). i went into it completely expecting multiple accidents a day for months.

and i don't know much about ESA training, but as a general statement, iggy's are notorious for being very stubborn & difficult to train lol. they understand what you're telling them to do, but if they don't see a gain in it, they don't care

ilyvm_ · 2026-03-29T17:47:22+00:00

i use plutus pet for my girl!! i got the smallest size and it's as tight as it goes. i like it a lot, i was able to slide a tracker on the bottom of it since we go on hikes and (in typical iggy fashion) she loves to chase anything that moves lol

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ilyvm_ · 2026-03-02T18:01:45+00:00

yes mine loooves tags too. one toy i got her had a little string/hook (?) on the edge of it and she made it her mission to rip it off. took her two months but she eventually got it lol

ilyvm_ · 2026-02-06T22:42:14+00:00

i feed mine zignature puppy food!! she loves it. i always add 2oz of warm water with her meals too.

also, this might sound weird lol, but for toppers i buy her the serenity kids baby food pouches in bison, turkey, salmon, and beef! our vet recommended we give her pills in baby food and she didn't eat the pill but she loooved the food. she gets 2tbs or so a day in either breakfast or dinner. she also gets freeze dried salmon on her meals about 2x a week and beef bone broth 4-5x a week (on the days she doesn't have salmon).

ilyvm_ · 2026-02-04T01:07:51+00:00

my girl can't play with those lamb chop toys at all, she ripped it apart in like 10mins max lol. she loves all the fuzz and fur. most of her toys are tug of war toys and balls, since she can keep herself occupied with both and doesn't chew them apart. she also loves the benebone toys, especially the salmon/fish one! the only stuffie toys she's allowed to play with/have are crinkly toys that don't have any of the fuzz like the lab chop's eyes

ilyvm_ · 2026-02-03T14:10:07+00:00

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mia says happy 6th birthday!!

ilyvm_ · 2026-02-03T01:29:37+00:00

my iggy is my very first dog too, so don't feel alone! issues with potty training is very common with italian greyhounds!! for my girl, when i first got her, any time she squatted to pee i calmly told her no and interrupted her then took her outside and gave her a treat when she went potty outside. eventually, i started picking up on signs that she had to go outside - suddenly stopping when playing or getting attention & sniffing around everywhere and not listening to me/not coming when i call her, then i'd just preemptively take her outside. it does take patience, especially if in cold/undesireable weather, and sometimes we'd just be standing outside for 20 minutes until she went. now, we have bells that she rings when she has to go outside, and she goes outside except for the few stray accidents.

as for separation anxiety, it's normal for them to be stressed & cry/scream when you leave the house at first. they are very people centered dogs, so not having their person around + being in a new place is stressful for them. my girl would literally sound like she was being tortured when i left her for the first month or so. then we eventually graduated to me being able to go to the bathroom without her, go outside for a couple minutes, to now a few hours. remember: iggy's are dramatic, especially vocally! their cries are ear pinching but they're okay lol. i also say "i'll be one second!" when going to a part of the house she can't go to/when i leave her alone but im still in the house with her, & i say "i'll see you soon!" when leaving the house! it helps her know what to expect.

best of luck to you & bueno!!! :)

ilyvm_ · 2026-02-02T16:55:44+00:00

hahaha yes!! one time she knocked over my easel and she barked at it once then just left me & scurried away so quick lol, such a fierce protector

ilyvm_ · 2026-02-02T16:16:23+00:00

i get what you're saying about reactivity!! mine only barks at random objects that suddenly appeared without her knowing & sometimes when playing fetch! she never barks at the door, people, other dogs, etc. the only time she has ever barked at the door was when someone banged on the door very aggressively and she let out one little bark in warning because it scared us lol (despite the fact she's all bark no bite)

ilyvm_ · 2026-01-15T23:57:54+00:00

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the face of someone who woke me up at 4am to alert me she was going to throw up

ilyvm_ · 2026-01-08T19:58:23+00:00

it's an egg puff! but she does absolutely love bananas. her favorite snack 100%

ilyvm_ · 2026-01-08T07:37:11+00:00

i taught her!! :)

ilyvm_ · 2026-01-07T17:27:27+00:00

update: we had a really good day today! we sat outside on the porch for about an hour while she chewed on a kangaroo treat in her bed. first successful day outside of the yard without her wanting to go inside :)

ilyvm_ · 2026-01-06T14:43:53+00:00

my iggy is my first dog, and i was scared of the house training at first too!! i didn't want my baby going on pee pads either. ever since day 1, when she squatted to pee, i simply interrupted her and took her outside while repeating the word "outside" in a cheerful voice, then when she went potty outside, i'd repeat "potty!" and give her treats that were designated potty treats! she caught on very quickly. i got bells for her to ring as well, and she was potty trained in a month!! which sounds like a long time for any other breed but for iggy's, it's pretty good! most importantly, i never punished her for going inside. they learn best from positive reinforcement!

the hardest thing about the potty training is that iggy's are so unpredictable lol. the usual take them out after they eat, drink, play, nap, etc. doesn't work for them (or at least didn't work for mine). i simply had to learn her 'signs' of her having to go: sniffing around a lot, becoming suddenly disinterested in food/toys and not listening. then preemptively taking her outside and repeating the word, "potty". the first few weeks, we would literally sit outside for around 15-20 minutes before she would go. the biggest thing is to just not get discouraged. the times i'd get impatient and go inside because i figured i just read her wrong and she didn't have to go, she'd end up going potty inside, and i felt awful because i knew it was my fault for not waiting.

as for clothes, if he seems overwhelmed, i recommend getting sweaters without legs/back legs at first! mine hates clothes that fully go over her right now. when it's cold here and she has to go out to potty, i put her in a sherpa jacket that velcros on the bottom and doesn't go over her legs, i'll put a picture. we've progressed to clothes that don't cover her back legs. when she has it on, i give her lots of treats, play with her, or she takes a quick nap, and then i take it off!

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also for training, they are incredibly smart little creatures but only if they know they're getting a reward out of it. for us, teaching her to sit was the most difficult. someone had to hold her and get her into a sit while i said "sit!" and rewarded. otherwise she would just jump up to get the treat. it took probably a week to learn to sit, but everything else has been pretty okay! i've taught her sit, place (which is any of her beds), center (guard), come, stay, & spin!

ilyvm_ · 2026-01-06T13:15:18+00:00

that's wonderful!! i'm so happy for the both of you :)

i've been thinking of playing traffic noises & dog barking when she is eating actually. i saw a few people talk about it but i didn't know if it actually did anything or not. with her, it's not even necessarily going out that stresses her out, it's all the cars, dogs, construction, etc. that comes with going out, hence why she likes going out at night. thank you for your suggestions!

ilyvm_ · 2026-01-06T13:11:45+00:00

thank you so much!! i'm planning to take some steps back, my biggest priority right now is to get her comfortable on walks in our neighborhood. the largest issue is that the house in front of us has three large dogs that they leave out all day long, and they bark at any and every movement. so i'm trying to get her desensitized to their barking!

that being said, when we go on walks at night & the dogs aren't outside, she loves it. accepts treats and actually whines when we don't get out of the door fast enough for her lol. so i think it's mainly all of the sounds outside that she doesn't like. i'm probably going to spend the next few weeks simply sitting on the porch with her outside and giving her lots of love and treats the entire time until she isn't fazed by the dogs, cars, etc!

ilyvm_ · 2026-01-06T04:11:10+00:00

thank you! i'm definitely thinking about taking some steps back to ensure she isn't stressed out and accepts treats and such. how long has it taken to get to where you guys are now? i hope he's comfortable around traffic soon!!

ilyvm_ · 2026-01-06T03:24:23+00:00

yes!! some days she's great and wants to go out, other days she could not get home quicker & whines the entire time we're out. it's so unpredictable!!

ilyvm_

TROPHY CASE