# Seizure dog potty training



## bigblue97mustang (Dec 31, 2015)

My dog, Nitro, is 3 1/2 years old, and has had seizures for approx 2 and a half of those years. Before he started having them, we had just gotten him potty trained, to where he was only having an accident once a week, but sense he has had the seizures, he may go outside twice a week. Me and my fiance both work third shift and the same 9 hour schedule, so we do our best to watch him, and give him as many chances to go outside as we can. We take him outside plenty, but even after waiting outside for 10-15 min, he still wont do anything, and will come inside and potty within 5 min. Our previous training methods didn't work well at all, as we used both verbal and physical discipline. When that didn't work, we researched methods to try, and between crate training and positive reinforcement with treats, we had much better success. 

Now with our current issues.

He is on phenobarbital. 97mg tablets, 1 and 1/2 in morning, and 1 at night. He is on potassium bormide as well. He is on special WD food, because he developed Colitis. Between the phenobarbital making him very thirsty, and the WD being a high fiber diet, he has a lot of accidents in the house. ALOT.... A normal day will bring 6 timed peeing in the house, and 4 times pooping. We have asked the vet if we could change his medicine or food, and the other medications have very similar common side effects, and he claimed he will have to remain on the food for the rest of his life. 

Now that i have explained everything in as much detail as i can, can anyone give us advise on training? Petting and 'good boy's aren't doing anything, and we can't give him normal treats, as they effect his colitis. As it stands now, we have been doing verbal discipline for the frequent accidents, putting him in the crate when he won't do anything outside, and we have been giving him ice cubes as a reward for going potty outside. And when he's not in the crate, he will start pacing (rapidly) around the house and looking at the door. We usually let him do a few laps around the house, then take him potty. We have tried waiting 10, to as long as 30 min outside, to take him inside and him happily go before we even have a chance to sit down. We have not been putting him in the crate as discipline after an accident.

If anyone who is experienced with seizure dogs could help us, that would be amazing. A few more concerns i have are as follows:
Is brain damage an issue? I've read seizures don't generally cause brain damage.
Is he too old to potty train?
Given his medicines he's on, are frequent accidents ALWAYS going to be an ongoing issue, no matter the amount of training?


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## TSTrainer (Aug 6, 2015)

My best advice is to say stop disciplining accidents, dogs don't understand punishment and you're making the process harder for yourself. Don't react to accidents, just clean up and move on. Treat your dog as if you just got a new puppy. Limit his freedom to one room or cordoned off section of your home, and utelize your crate when you can't watch him. Take him out on a schedule, since he's older instead of every half hour take him out every two hours. If he doesn't go, back in the crate as you've been doing and try again in a half hour. Is there any fruit/veggie that he likes that he can eat that won't hurt him? What about a favorite toy? You can use play as a reward in lieu of treats. 

I think you can do this as long as he has control over his bladder and bowels in the first place. If not, potty training will pretty much be impossible because its based on teaching your dog to control bowels and bladder and wait until he can go outside.


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## jaijai (Dec 16, 2015)

As above ,disciplining accidents is a huge mistake .As a new puppy owner ts the first thing ive read on every website on potty training 
I think you need advice from your vet on what the medicines do and affect the dog .Someone may know on here but i would have thought you would be better asking the vet treating him
Though it seems by your description it sounds like hes been trained to go indoors 
I would talk to the vet to see if theres any reason for the problems with the medicine if not ,start again with it from scratch 
Good luck with him


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## sarahstartups (Feb 29, 2020)

I'm a little late to the party here, but we are struggling with very similar things with our dog, who just developed epilepsy 2 months ago. She was originally having dozens of accidents on phenobarbital, because of the increased thirst & frequent urination side effects. We have since weaned her off pheno and swapped in zonisamide, so she is now on keppra + zonisamide. She can now hold it 9-10 hours overnight, which is a huge improvement. BUT, she is still showing some behavioral issues related to pee/poop. When left alone at home, she is still often going in the house or on the bed, even if she's just gone outside (both pee & poop). It's incredibly frustrating and we're struggling with training. Any additional advice would be very appreciated!


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