Dog owners - what should we do?

[Queen Prawn]

Pooka is the first dog I have ever had so I am not familiar with dog behaviours other than what I have learned from my best friend's mom (she's had dogs her whole life). This is the third dog Brian has had.

 

For the first month Pooka was great. He had no accidents in the house but had to be trained on being near the hamsters. After the first month we have been able to have him in our room with the hamsters and he doesn't so much as look at them any longer.

 

Fast forward to two weeks ago. He had an accident in the upstairs hallway. We did the tell him no and then showed him so he knows what he did wrong. Well, it happened a few more times. We were told by his brother and aunt (who have also had dogs their whole lives) that after cleaning it, we should sprinkle cayene pepper where he piddled. We did that and it seemed fine. Well, last weekend we shampooed the upstairs carpet and then he did it again (we didn't get too upset since it had been t-storming most of the day and he was too afraid to go out). Well, Brian left the house for an hr yesterday and he came home to a stinky little "treat" again. He was furious and banished the dog to the basement when he left for work - yes, the dog had his blanket, food and water. My SIL came over and let him out for a little while around 6. No messes and Pookster was being a really good dog.

 

Then there was this morning. We let him out for a half an hour and then left to go to the junk yard. We were gone for less than 2 hrs after that and came home to find another stinky treat in the hallway as well as that he peed all over the stairwell. Brian had him in the basement while we were gone. It was a test to see if he learned from yesterday. I guess Pooka didn't.

 

We are at a loss as to what to do. He obviously has some separation anxiety, but why can we leave him for 6 hrs by himself (between the time Brain leaves for work and I return) with no issues, but if we are gone for an hr or two, issues? How can he tell how long we are going to be gone or is it just coincidence? If we cannot get him to stop it, we might have to take him to the no-kill shelter he was originally headed for when we got him.

[Soxy]

Do you have a crate for him? I would really suggest crate training him--my dog is crate trained and has only had 2 or 3 accidents (mostly my fault for not letting her out when she asked) since she was around 4 months. She has need made a number two in the house. You could put the crate in your room so that he is near you at night which should help the separation anxiety. Caton (my little, 80 pound, monster dog) is in the crate when I go to bed and when I am at work. I will sometimes let her be out if I just have a fast 20 minute errand to run, but otherwise if I am not home she cannot be out. (My problem with her is much more destructive chewing than potty issues, but this works for both.)

 

A lot of dog owners I know think that crate training is cruel, but my dog actually seems to like it. She knows that when she goes into the crate she gets a snausage (which she loves) and I keep her food and water in there. And since dogs don't, usually, mess their bed you will have a lot less messes to clean up. She also likes to go into her crate and just chill when she's really tired. She'll just walk in and lie down in her crate. Pookah might have some mild to moderate crying when you first start crate training (it was very difficult to ignore her crying at first because she sounded so sad). But it is very important NOT NOT NOT to reinforce the crying and to ignore it. Caton probably cried the first night or two in her crate, but after that it was smooth sailing. She now knows the command "Bed" and will go to bed with just the command. When I was thinking about crate training her I did some research and some people have suggested that dogs actually like being in a smaller enclosed space that it makes them feel safer (because wolves sleep in caves or something). So, I would try that.

 

If Pookah has some behavioral anxiety issues it might be worth a trip to the vet to see if you can get him some doggy downers for his first solo day in the crate or when there are bad storms (or fireworks), we had one dog that had a very severe aversion to loud noises and the occassional doggy downer really stopped her anxious messes.

 

I also would suggest (and this will only work for when your home, which does not seem to be the main problem) tying jingle bells to your doors that go outside. As you leave the house with the dog to go potty jingle the bells. Eventually the dog will jingle the bells when it needs to go out (this really helped me avoid accidents because I could always hear the jingle bells).

 

Is pookah fixed? Because that can also make a HUGE difference.

 

Finally, I read that dogs like to see you cleaning up their messes and it's almost like a game for them once they see you do that, so I guess you are never ever supposed to let them see you cleaning it up.

 

But seriously, I would recommend a crate. They can be pricey (for a dog his size I would say you should expect about $70), but it will really stop his accidents when you can't be around to let him out. I hope that helps, it really helped me housebreak my little monster dog in record time.

[Queen Prawn]

Yup, he is fixed and he is somewhere around 5 (he was found as a stray and originally adopted in March 2003).

 

I think we will have to look into the crating. Our Aunt Maureen does that with her dog and she said that she hasn't had much of any going issues.

 

Brian just called me when he got to work and was getting really upset at the idea of having to get rid of Pooka.

[Soxy]

Yup, he is fixed and he is somewhere around 5 (he was found as a stray and originally adopted in March 2003).

 

I think we will have to look into the crating. Our Aunt Maureen does that with her dog and she said that she hasn't had much of any going issues.

 

Brian just called me when he got to work and was getting really upset at the idea of having to get rid of Pooka.

I really honestly believe that crating will stop the problem. Good luck with it!

[Kyyle23]

I was just going to suggest a crate before reading the thread. Before you leave, let him out and then straight into the crate. When you come home, straight outside. It reinforces proper behavior, especially if the dog doesnt like to lay where he pees, which most dogs (MOST) refuse to do.

 

Having a boy, you might want to look into a solid crate instead of a wire crate, boys can lift their legs and shoot for outside of the wire crates

[EvilMonkey]

I'll second, or third, or whatever, on the crate thing. My wife and son volunteer at the Plainfield Humane Society (which is a no-kill place), and it was only a matter of time until they came home with a new pooch. It was only about a year old, but almost mirrored the actions of your dog. We did the carte thing, and it worked well. Only problem we had is that we had to get a crate for our older dog, too, as she got jealous that the newby had a place of her own and she didn't! It took about 2 weeks for her to get used to the crate, and then she was fine. We don't even use it much anymore, unless we know we are going to be gone for a bit.

[kapkomet]

Our dog is crate trained and does really well with it.

 

That seems like the best course of action.

[Queen Prawn]

We started that last night. He seems to be warming up to it a little.

[Brian]

Is crate training exactly what it sounds like? I had a dog when I was a kid but would probably get one as soon as I get my own place. Curious what it is.

[SoxAce]

I have one now (puppy) and when he s***s, we pick him up, make him look at it hit him on the backside (not hard but firm) say NO! BAD DOG! and put him in his cage. When he goes outside and does his buisness, we say good dog give him a dog treat makes him very happy so he'll know he did good. He hasn't had an accident in like 2 months so now when he has to go he'll eigher bark or sniff around alot pacing so we'll know its time. Mind you he is still a 4 month old puppy.

[Soxy]

Is crate training exactly what it sounds like? I had a dog when I was a kid but would probably get one as soon as I get my own place. Curious what it is.

Yep, exactly what it sounds like. You get a big crate, and the dog sleeps in it and stays in it while you're at work. Best way to potty train a dog.

[SoxFan562004]

I'll join the crate bandwagon. My parents used it for their dog and it was the easiest training I could ever imagine.

[Texsox]

Another vote for the crate. Something that was never mentioned, I don't believe you should ever discipline the dog while he is in the crate. Make it a safe place for him to be. Soxy, I had never heard about the cleaning up thing, interesting.

[vandy125]

The crate worked for my dog as well. One other thing to mention, I have always heard to never rub a puppy's nose in his mess. By that time, they will have moved on, and will have no association in their head with what the bad act actually was. You need to catch them in the act of doing it in order to punish them so that they can make that immediate association. Otherwise, they get confused and have no idea why you are upset at them.

[southsider2k5]

I was crate trained, I don't mess in the house anymore.

[Kyyle23]

Is crate training exactly what it sounds like? I had a dog when I was a kid but would probably get one as soon as I get my own place. Curious what it is.

 

A crate is just another word for cage. The basic idea is that most dogs refuse to urinate where they sleep, so you make them sleep in the cage/crate, and when they wake up you take them out immediately to go to the bathroom. Because they have to go so bad, they begin to socialize going to the bathroom with outside because thats where you take them everytime they have to go.

 

If you dont crate train, you really have to know your dogs habits(which is hard because puppies will go wherever and whenever) when he/she is ready to use the bathroom, because you have to take him/her out when you see them starting to sniff around or demonstrate that they have to go to the bathroom. My parents had their Malamute trained before she turned 12 weeks old, it was amazing. Eventually she would paw the door. And the crate became where she preferred to sleep as well. It was tough for the first few weeks though, she did NOT like being locked up all night, and she made noises that sounded like we were murdering her.

 

One thing you have to remember when crate training a puppy is to only give them enough room to sleep comfortably. If you give them extra room to walk around(ie. buying an oversized crate for your puppy) they will go to the bathroom in the crate because they have the room to do it, and set you back on the training. Certain types of crates have an optional divider.

 

Queen Prawn has a little different situation though because she is retraining a dog rather than training. It might last a little longer, or it might click immediately. You never know.

[kapkomet]

Our dog is really good at "knocking" on the door or barking (more like yelping really quick) to let us know he needs out.

[BobDylan]

When we trained our dogs, we put a bell on the door. Every time we opened it, it rang. Anytime we brought them out, we'd get them to ring the bell and give them a treat after they went. Now every time they need to go, they just ring the bell. Don't give them a treat just for ringing it though. Then they'll just ring it, go outside, get the treat and ask to come back in.

Edited March 28, 2007 by BobDylan