Go Back   Pet forum for dogs cats and humans - Pets.ca > Discussion Groups - mainly cats and dogs > Dog training - dog behavior

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old October 3rd, 2009, 01:53 PM
nifty nifty is offline
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2009
Posts: 5
Housetraining issues

I adopted a rescue dog who is a 1 year old chihuahua mix a few months ago. She is "partially house-trained" and I'm doing crate training with her.

There are some things I've noticed that I'm trying to get corrected, and I've searched and read as many articles and forum posts on, and I'd love to hear your feedback/tips for things I can do the make things better.

- She has a pee pad that we keep by the door that she was used to using at her former family and foster mom's house and that we used before I got her the crate. Steadily over time, she has used it less. Before, she used to literally finish going on a walk or going into the backyard just to go on the pee pad. I'm considering removing it now but this leads me to...

- She likes to poop secretly, when no one is watching for a FEW MINUTES, in various carpeted areas in the house. Even though there's a pee pad available and she used to use it to do #2 on as well. Problem is, I am at work all day and my parents take care of my dog during the day so there are moments where my dog will do something naughty unsupervised for a mere minute (which is what happened the other day). My parents are not able to always catch her in the act and if she's crated when they are home, she barks and loudly whines, or at least I'm told (she's usually whiny when I first put her in and then quiets down when I am home). I've now gated off the upstairs (where my dog LOVES to go to poop and the other day, also peed on a bath mat, which is a strange since she's usually been good with the pee pad for that) so now she has resorted to quietly pooping on the main floor when no one is looking. She's not going on the pad anymore nor outside when she is let out into the yard fairly consistently.

She also poops 2-3 times a day, once early in the morning and usually once per meal - which seems to be quite a lot compared to other dog owners I have talked to. But it's always a regular sized poop and then a teeny weeny poop when she does eliminate outside with someone, whereas it can be more of a "hefty load" when it's "secret inside popping". I don't know if it's a thing about privacy LOL. I give her ACANA (from the Orijen folks) for small breeds and the amount specified for her size on the package. She never poops "right after she eats" as per the articles I've read. It can take an hour, it can take numerous hours and sometimes the 3rd poop never comes, so it's hard to keep a schedule of letting her out based on wanting her to eliminate.

- When she DOES go into the backyard, which is fenced in, she eats random things out there. There's a tree in a neighbor's yard that drops acorns on the ground, which she eats, and she eats leaves, eats grass, attempts to eat snails, and, one of the more problematic things, is that she goes into the corners and sides of the yard that have things I do not want her to get into (there's also a compost box back there and I'd really like to keep her away from that area). She just keeps burrowing into the dirt and ickiness and won't come out. When I tried "the pinch/claw" method from Cesar Millan, she just growls and tries to bite me. I've been teaching her the "leave it" command but it's not taking and when she has some sort of thing she wants to eat, it's like she becomes a whole different, aggressive dog that will swipe at you and ignore you if you stop her. Again, because, I am at work and my parents are taking care of her during the day, they cannot always put on her harness and leash to go to the backyard each time she has to eliminate and stay outside with her - preferably, due to them helping me out, I'd like to make it as easy as possible for them. And even when she is on a leash, she pretty much still eats like it's a buffet out there and bites/pulls the leash.

I tried some of the deterrents for getting dogs out of areas: i.e. lemon juice and a spray bottle of water when I catch her in those areas but she is not at all deterred. What else can I do to 1) get her out of those areas and 2) stop eating everything and just go out to the backyard to do her business and then come back in like most other dogs? There's a product called Shoo that I saw at PJ's that supposedly uses pheromones to make your dog avoid certain areas but I can't find any reviews on it and I'm iffy with using it.

Lastly, she had her vet check in June and was declared healthy.

Anyway sorry for the lengthiness! Any input would be appreciated!
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old October 3rd, 2009, 04:11 PM
Bailey_'s Avatar
Bailey_ Bailey_ is offline
Senior Contributor
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Edmonton, Alberta
Posts: 1,722
Housetraining can be tricky. Some dogs pick up on it quickly, while others take longer.

I am a firm believer that puppy pads tend to make this process LONGER. You're essentially training your pup to go to the washroom inside the house, and so of course there is going to be confusion because of this; which is not surprising why she used your bath mat. Any area rug becomes fair game to a pup that has been 'puppy pad' trained unfortuantley.

My suggestion: remove the pads altogether. Because your puppy is crate-trained, put her in the crate whenever you are going to be distracted. It's as simple as that. Prevention is key for house-training, as is consistancy and patience. If you're unsure that you want to put her in her crate, stick her on her leash and keep her physically with you so she can't 'sneak' away.

You need to make this whole process as simple for her as you can. Taking her out to use the washroom and keeping the scenario very basic - (when I housetrain, we take our dogs outside literally every half hour - alone, without the other dogs in the house - kneel down beside the dog on the grass, tap the ground and continue giving our 'washroom command', avoiding eye contact and touch so as to keep the dog from encouraging play). We're currently house-training a five year old papillionX, who has the same issue - he loves to sniff and chase leaves and attempt to eat as much as he can.
We keep him on a leash when we take him outside to use the washroom as at this point he can't be trusted to go outside by himself and not distract himself.

My oldest dog needs an extremly long walk in the morning. (1 mile to be exact). If we do anything less, she will literally go to the washroom right in front of you.

Many times, it's not neccessarily a matter of putting your dog on the grass to teach them where to go. For a dog to go #2, the process can take some time. They may need more stimulation in their bowels and for their body to be 'ready', which means you may have to get up an hour earlier in the morning and go for a walk - get her system moving - and THEN stand outside with her and wait, just like I have to do with our lab.

What are you feeding your dog?

Is it possible for you to get a little dog run, and set it up outside? That way you could put her in it whenever she goes out to the washroom and she'll be forced to keep away from the other areas. My husband built a simple dog run out of garden fencing in our yard to keep the dogs out of the flowers. It's nothing amazing, but it certainly gets the point across and they don't get into anything they shouldn't.
__________________
~B~
"If you are a dog and your owner suggests that you wear a sweater. . . suggest that he wear a tail."

Bailey (Labradoodle)
Tippy (Collie/ShepX)
Vali (American Bulldog)
Artiro (Cane Corso)
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old October 4th, 2009, 05:50 PM
t.pettet t.pettet is offline
Senior Contributor
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: lanark, Ont.
Posts: 1,255
Housetraining issues

Can you put a 2ft. high fence around the compost? something she couldn't get over? Some of the compost material can be potentially dangerous for your dog. As you're not present for the majority of the housetraining perhaps your parents could keep her isolated in 1 room like the kitchen along with her kennel, blanket, toys etc with a baby gate and get them to follow a schedule of taking her for a couple of walks a day as well as letting her out in the yard after waking and eating. You might also make the transition off peepads smoother by placing a used pad in a designated area of the yard where she seems to urinate more.
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old October 4th, 2009, 09:23 PM
katb's Avatar
katb katb is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Quincy,Il.
Posts: 44
Nifty, Until you get some control over this little hard head darling, I would only let her out on a leash. I agree with what t.pettet said about the fence. I would block off any areas you don't want your baby to get into. I have pugs and they love to eat what ever they find. So be responsible and make a trip to the home store. Also, get the rake out and rake up unwanted things in the yard. You have to dog proof it for her. Taking her out everytime on a leash will give you control of what she is doing when she is out there. Carry a water squirt bottle set on stream with you. When you see her getting into something, squirt her and say leave it! In a mean voice. Then give her a pleasing, Good Girl and a treat when she stop the behavor. Get rid of the potty pads. Take her out every 1/2 hour, until she starts giving up the goods outside. Then move to every hour. See how she does. She is a very little doggie so don't expect her to hold it really long. I also think maybe when she is at your parents house try to get them to take her out for a walk even if it is in the yard to get things going. Use command Go Potty. When she has done a good thing reward with a good thing. If you continue to let her go inside the house she is going to be confused. Also, make sure you get all pee spots cleaned with a good neutrolizer so she doesn't keep going back to that spot. When your at home with her. Don't let her have the run of the house until she starts showing some improvements. I foster alot and so I use what is called potty pants. You can get them at pet stores or online. They are made of blue jean material. I put the cheapest kotex inside of them and they work really well for peeing dogs. It will just save the carpet, until she gets trained. It's just a little tool I use. It won't help with the #2 though.
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old October 5th, 2009, 10:02 AM
Bailey_'s Avatar
Bailey_ Bailey_ is offline
Senior Contributor
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Edmonton, Alberta
Posts: 1,722
Quote:
You can get them at pet stores or online. They are made of blue jean material. I put the cheapest kotex inside of them and they work really well for peeing dogs.
I just have to add that often times 'diapers' for a dog being house-trained can make the situation worse or cause it to continue. The reason is because with some dogs, it can actually make them accustomed to feeling 'wet', therefore can cause further issues with peeing in crates, etc.

I don't reccomend using diapers unless it is a last resort OR the dog is actually marking vs simply confusion in regards to potting training.
__________________
~B~
"If you are a dog and your owner suggests that you wear a sweater. . . suggest that he wear a tail."

Bailey (Labradoodle)
Tippy (Collie/ShepX)
Vali (American Bulldog)
Artiro (Cane Corso)
Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off


Forum Terms of Use

  • All Bulletin Board Posts are for personal/non-commercial use only.
  • Self-promotion and/or promotion in general is prohibited.
  • Debate is healthy but profane and deliberately rude posts will be deleted.
  • Posters not following the rules will be banned at the Admins' discretion.
  • Read the Full Forum Rules

Forum Details

  • Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8
    Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
    vBulletin Optimisation by vB Optimise (Reduced on this page: MySQL 0%).
  • All times are GMT -5. The time now is 06:27 PM.