Shelter dog housebreaking issues

Two days with no messes! I love my dogs. Yesterday we ran out of dirt road after a mile and a half, the dogs wanted to keep going. Have you ever seen a sled dog pout?
We skipped the run today as Inyan has a small cut between the toes on his left front paw. I just ordered booties for them. When they arrive the boys will be happy, running the back roads.

Sam

Great! Glad it worked out for ya.

I haven't seen a dog pout, but my dog sure can look guilty. And the dog we had growing up used to smile at us. Full toothed grin. It was something else.

Those dog grins are great. You should see the boys when I announce, "Road work!" It's all I can do to clip their leashes to their collars. As soon as we take care of some networking issues I'll setup a webpage so I can download pet and partner pix. Then you can see my furry family.

Sam

PLEASE HELP ME!

I adopted a 6 month old puppy from a shelter about 7 weeks ago. I have been very diligent about keeping her on a tight schedule as far as housebreaking. I was crating her all day while at work, and she would have no accidents. I started leaving her out all day and she was doing really well. No accidents at all while I'm at work. WHEN I GET HOME, however, it's a nightmare. She started a few weeks ago with peeing on my bed. Now she is pooping all the time. I keep her confined to one room. Today, I get home, take her out at 5:30, she pooped and peed. I took her back inside and fed her. I had my back turned for about 30 seconds, she **** on the floor. As I'm cleaning that, she **** again. As I'm cleaning THAT, she shits AGAIN! I can't take it anymore. This is going to ruin my marriage. I already have to give up Karate classes. My husband is frustrated to no end. I just do not know what to do. How can she go all day without an accident, and then poop and pee all night when I'm home???? I keep my eyes on her as much as possible. This morning, I walk her downstairs, she runs up to the couch, and PEES on my couch. Am I supposed to keep this dog tied to me? Well, I tried that. she just cries and cries. Someone please help...

hi, Frustrated. A couple of questions :

1. when does the puppy get fed; and
2. are all of those after work poops of the same consistency?

There might be a scheduling problem, or a health issue, or a dominance question (the peeing in the bed is often a sign of some kind of dominance concern).

I know that at least of us have been through similar problems with new dogs, and we can tell you that you'll make it through, but maybe with some more information, we can help you a bit more.



This won't make you feel a lot better, but when I adopted my second rescue dog, she arrived with a virus that had gone undetected. She passed it on to the dog already in residence. Less than a week after she arrived in the house (and there were already huuuuuuuge submission urination and excessive licking problems), I came home to find dog poop and vomit all over the place, and I mean ALL over the place. Dog poop, vomit, a stink you wouldn't believe, and two horrified, frightened dogs. We survived that, dealt with the submission urination and licking (there's still a tiny bit of kissing, but I can cope with that) and she's gone on to be a dog that is confident and loving, and much loved.

Thanks ehBeth,

I feed her in the morning right after her first walk. Then I take her out twice more before I leave for work. The poop is always the same consistency. I just had her to the vet (who said the accidents are my fault because I'm not watching her close enough), so it doesn't seem to be a health issue. I'm getting so many mixed messages. Some say to punish her, the obedience school says never yell or punish. I have no idea what to do at this point.

Frustrated, negative punishment usually makes things much worse. The puppy needs to learn that you are 1) the alpha dog, and 2) to be trusted, as well as respected.

Has the vet told you to feed her in the morning? Is all her food given to her in that one meal? Are you watching for the clues timberlandko printed in response to Sam above? Most dogs signal very very clearly that they're about to poop - in my family, we call it crabbing - the funny search and turn routine they do. You've got to grab the dog and get her where you want to poop the second she starts posturing. Even if you catch her in mid-poop, you've got to move her to the right place - calmly (no yelling, or anything loud or upset sounding) - and reward her when she finishes her poop in the right place.

Great info
Hi Frustrated,

welcome to a2k, you have joined a great group.
Timber knows dogs and gives great advise. Yamni, my problem dog, no longer poops on the bed or couch. In fact he barked to be let out for the first time tonight.
Just keep on trying and do not loose your temper with your pup. All will be well in the end.


All my best

Sam

Thanks everyone....
The vet told me to feed her once in the morning and once at night. I give her 3/4 of a cup each time. I have done all of the above. When she starts to poop, I scoop her up and take her out and then she won't finish. She holds it! I think this is a dominance issue. My husband took her for her final walk last night, stayed out with her about 7-8 minutes, and she did nothing. He brought her inside, and at bedtime she jumped on the bed and peed...

Problem dog links
Hi Frustrated,

Here are some useful links for dog behavior in general and housebreaking specifically. Every bit helps.
I don't recall if you mentioned your puppy's breed or dominant breed. Does she by any chance have any Terrier blood? Terriers are known for being stubborn, so are Husky types. Just keep on being patient and praise her lots when she does what you want her to do. You may need to use treats as a reward. I prefer to give lots of praise as a reward but she may be a material girl.
I wish you luck in you housebreaking trials.

All my best

Sam


PetEducation.com
wonderpuppy.net
home VET
National Animal Interest Alliance

One of the things you're going to need to do, Frustrated, is not bring her back in until she's peed and/pooped. One of my dogs won't pee on our property unless it's an emergency. The other one won't poop until he's at a distance he has set from the house.

They both know that I don't let them go into a communal dog play area until they've pooped. So if we're on the way to the park, they both make sure to do their business well in advance, since they don't like walking around the park without being allowed to go in to play.



hmmmmm, just looked at the food amounts. How big a dog is she?
In the morning, do you feed her first thing and then put the food away?
Is she fed before or after you take her out in the evening?

Yamni's little problem...
Hi All,

here's an update on the issue that started this thread. We have switched to feeding the dogs in the late evening, and giving small snacks during the day. Yamni spends the night in his crate and no more messes. There is an added bonus, Yamni wakes every morning at 07:30. A win, win situation!

All my best

Sam

Sam - that's great news! Feeding patterns can make so much difference in how these things work out.

Turns out you are in charge!

Frustrated, I don't wanna sound mean here, but the ticket is to train the pup, not to let the pup train you. If you want the pup to adopt behavior convenient to your lifestyle, you're gonna hafta find more room in your life for the pup. What I get from your recounting of your adventures is that the pup thinks it has the upper hand. I'm not real sure about this, but I gather the pup is alone much of the day. That simply isn't cool. Bein' a pack critter, dogs need lots more companionship than do critters like turtles or rocks. You mention

You got one thing right; its a dominance issue. Spending "7 - 8 minutes" ain't nearly gettin' the job done. Particularly for a pup, a good deal of exploring and sniffing and just being somewhere else than where it has been for hours might occupy half an hour or more. You want years of good behavior. Figure you're gonna hafta invest a few hours a day for a few weeks to make that a possibility. That evening, post-feeding/pre bedtime walk prolly oughtta be at least half an hour or longer. The pup hasta have time to sniff and snoop and check stuff out first ... on its schedule, not yours. Given sufficient time, it'll decide the next thing to do is to pee and/or poop ... its just that after all day in th4e house, the , there's more interesting stuff to look into first. Hang out outdoors with the pup longer ... even if at first it takes what seems an awfully long time, the pup eventually will relieve itself. When it does, let it know that's appreciated. If it means a few evenings of spending an hour or more outside with the pup, then that's what it means. If and when the pup pulls the pee-on-the-bed trick, interupt it, take it outside, and spend [MORE time out there with it. The whole idea is to form an association in the pup's head between "output" and "outside". Right now, I get the impression the pup has formed an association between "output on the bed" and "attention" ... that's what you've gotta change.

Good Job!
Timber

I do believe you are a dog psychologist.

Sam

Sam, timber is definitely one of the good guys when it comes to dogs. He loves his pack, knows what makes them feel safe and secure (consistency and kind discipline seem to be his stock in trade), and is wonderful about sharing his knowledge. He's saved a lot of pooches from sad endings.

He even put up with meeting my little mutts


Here are some pix of my 2 rescued pooches last weekend (a couple of A2K lunch pix from the week before, and a couple of straggly garden pix are in the same album)

http://www.ofoto.com/I.jsp?c=7iazv7i7.7tqep5gv&x=1&y=1qos3c

Look at that blonde dog on the balance beam - hard to believe he was a frightened, beat-up little hairball when he was brought to my house. The little red-headed girl dog spent two years alone in a basement before she joined us - she was the submission urinator - she's a laughing girl now.

Frustrated -- our first dog, when we first brought him home, refused to pee or poop outside for the first few days. I got the distinct impression that he wasn't comfortable out there -- we lived in a city and he'd spent his first three months at very rural shelters. The key thing, I think, was getting him used to his surroundings -- which meant lots of very long walks around the neighborhood. He was also alone for way too long during the day (now there are two dogs), though we didn't crate him.

Once he got his bearings and realized that it was a basically safe place to be, he did very well. Even had him bell trained (ring a bell on the door to go out) until the second dog came and figured out that ringing the bell was a good way to go outside whether you had to go or not.

I'm jumping into this discussion, so I might have missed something.
I don't think 7-8 minutes enough time for your dog. Living in the city, I try to walk my dog for at least 15 min about 5 times/day. Remember, it takes dogs time to find the "perfect spot". I can remember walking my dog for at least 20 min through the snow to find that "perfect spot".

Be patient and give your dog lots of love!

That last sentence is a great synthesis of the thread, Miller.

Oh no, not again.....
Aaarrruuuggghhh!

For three days running Wiyaka and I have had to change the sheets and blankets on our bed. I don't mind the fresh bedding every night, but I purely hate the reason; either Yamni or Witko is using our bed as a latrine, again.
I really don't want to make them (the dogs) live outside 24, 7. I like having them in the house, especially at night. It's a security thing, I feel safer when the dogs are in with us and I don't worry about the dogs having to confront some wild critter, like a bear, and not being able to maneuver freely. They are chained when outside, sled dog types love to run.
Ye gads, I feel like I'm back to square one. I have a few ideas, like a new mattress, and a door for the bedroom. He/they only do it when we are not in bed,thank heavens. No I can not think of any reason for one or both dogs to be pissed at either on of us.
Anyone got some other ideas?

Sam