HOUSE BREAKING - Support Thread (Mind your pee's and poo's!)

Mutter_2

Bumblebeee, in the time it took me to post, you've been given great help from others.
I think your case is simpler in a way from catchambers in that your Boxer appears to be suffering from separation anxiety. Not trying to be an amateur dog behaviourist here, but the fact that as you say, her loved ones keep disappearing. You've identified the cause yourself really when you say she sleeps all night in your bedroom without incident. She feels safe then.

I'm still for the paper method. This is going back to the dog's puppyhood and so feels secure for them.
Not instead of being taken out, but knowing you won't be annoyed at yet more mess. Pick the paper up, bin and swill. Dog relaxed and so is Mum. It's a stage, no one expects their baby to use a potty right away, well actually I did know someone who trained their baby at six months, but the outcome of that can wait until another time.

Bumble, don't even think of giving up on your dog. When you're past this little hic-up and long forgotten, when she dies aged 14 say, this and the four days solid crying at her death, it will be worth it for all the years of laughter and fun you'll enjoy together in between.

elsien

May or may not be relevant, but when I got mutt from a rescue centre she was 1-2ish, and totally untrained. I found I could guarantee that if I fed her before I let her out, she'd eat then mess instantly, so I got into a routine of walking then feeding.
The other thing that helped was a really strict routine with regard to feeding times and walks etc (which I still stick to 10 years later, otherwise the midnight parcels reappear.)
All I can say to you both is please persevere - 11 months old is still very young. At the time, I really thought that I'd be getting up at 6am and taking mutt out every hour for the rest of our lives, I couldn't believe that she'd ever get much better. It took months to get her basically dry, especially at night - that bit took the longest.
But she got there in the end, and it was worth it. It is stressful, (I was in tears any number of times) especially when you have other difficult behaviours as well. Have you tried training classes - I found one that did the canine good citizen award - I had to phone and warn them she was a pain before we went, and she's still a pain, but even though we were never going to get to the next level it was worth it to socialise her around other people and dogs. (nervous aggression, still there but much more manageable.
Good luck to you both.

supersavershal

My puppy is only 8 weeks old (chocolate labrador) so I cant expect much yet.But I would like to join this thread for advice as she is my first puppy.She is caged at night and is clean in her cage, she poos outside (door is left open) so it is just the weeing that needs sorting.She wanders out most of the time and today I left her in the kitchen for 3 hours and she didnt do anything but this evening she peed in the kitchen even though the door was open.She was very tired and I think she couldnt be bothered.I never tell her off, I just clean up, usually with dettol but I will try the bio detergent thing.

Mutter_2

elsien wrote: »

May or may not be relevant, but when I got mutt from a rescue centre she was 1-2ish, and totally untrained. I found I could guarantee that if I fed her before I let her out, she'd eat then mess instantly, so I got into a routine of walking then feeding.
The other thing that helped was a really strict routine with regard to feeding times and walks etc (which I still stick to 10 years later, otherwise the midnight parcels reappear.)
All I can say to you both is please persevere - 11 months old is still very young. At the time, I really thought that I'd be getting up at 6am and taking mutt out every hour for the rest of our lives, I couldn't believe that she'd ever get much better. It took months to get her basically dry, especially at night - that bit took the longest.
But she got there in the end, and it was worth it. It is stressful, (I was in tears any number of times) especially when you have other difficult behaviours as well. Have you tried training classes - I found one that did the canine good citizen award - I had to phone and warn them she was a pain before we went, and she's still a pain, but even though we were never going to get to the next level it was worth it to socialise her around other people and dogs. (nervous aggression, still there but much more manageable.
Good luck to you both.

To elsien. :A

katchambers

Thanks everyone for you advice.

I will stop telling her off when she does her business in the house, and maybe get some tastier treats as she LOVES food.

Do you think I ought to be getting up early to let her out, basically our night time routine is I put her to bed about 12-12:30am and my husband gets up at about 7am and lets her out, sometimes she does a mess overnight, but if she doesn't by the time I come down at 9:30am she has usually done a mess then, but not every time. I then feed her breakfast. My husband just lets her in the garden at 7am tho, he doesn't go out with her, do you think if he made her poo then she might not do it whilst waiting for me to wake up?

The second thing I wanted to say is to get her used to strangers, would training classes help or just constant socialisation? Has anyone ever had a dog that goes mad and barks agressively at strangers and then improves over time with simple socialisation? All I have ever seen is aggressive dogs staying that way, I haven't heard a good story there. I just need to know she will get better, and being a german shepherd when she goes up to strangers and barks like that it scares the hell out of them - of course!

Thanks
Kat x

katchambers

supersavershal wrote: »

My puppy is only 8 weeks old (chocolate labrador) so I cant expect much yet.But I would like to join this thread for advice as she is my first puppy.She is caged at night and is clean in her cage, she poos outside (door is left open) so it is just the weeing that needs sorting.She wanders out most of the time and today I left her in the kitchen for 3 hours and she didnt do anything but this evening she peed in the kitchen even though the door was open.She was very tired and I think she couldnt be bothered.I never tell her off, I just clean up, usually with dettol but I will try the bio detergent thing.

Good luck! What's her name?
Kat x

elsien

Yes, if she's messing most times by 9.30 am, you're leaving her too long.
Mine is a funny beggar and won't go in the back yard, so I had to take her out for a walk at 6am - on a cold wet winters morning I used to say some very bad words indeed. If you or your husband can manage it ( might be difficult if you have kids) I'd take her out earlier, and stay out till something happens. Plus exercise gets things moving a bit, as it were.

Her barking might not be her being nasty, it might be a sign of nerves - not being sure how people are going to react so getting in first. The thing about a good training class is that it's a controlled environment, whereas if you're just out and about and someone does something daft, it can make the dog worse. It doesn't make her a bad dog, just a scared one. If it's a real issue, you probably need professional help, as without seeing what's happening it's just guesswork. We might suggest something that could have the opposite effect to what you want.

As for the jumping up at people, I'm the last person to ask. If it makes you feel better to see how useless other people are at training, that's one behaviour we're still working on. She's now 12ish, and I'm ashamed to say I still have to lock her away when people visit. She's not a nasty aggressive dog, just a nervous wreck, and when she's scared or excited ( and she's usually one or the other) she has a very bad habit of saying hello with her teeth. Only a nip, not a real bite, but it hurts like hell and scares the !!!!! out of people

foreign_correspondent

yes, get hubby to go down the garden with her in the morning - she may not think this time is toilet time, she may think its just check the boundaries time, and have a look at the grass etc!

If she toilets, again, fuss and praise, maybe a good tasty treat, bit of cheese or sliver of ham or something else good.

I am sure she will get better with the barking - do not stress yet, get her settled at home first, and just keep on with walks in familiar places - try and distract her from barking, but don't shout or tell her off - she does not know you are not joining in - stay calm and happy and the dog will begin to think maybe the people are not a threat

remembered_nights

Our pup is 9 months now (colliexlab) and excellent during the day. But she gets taken out at about 6 a.m. (when dad goes to work) and then unfailingly messes betwen that and the next person getting up - any ideas why she's doing it despite having the chance to go outside?

manda1205

supersavershal wrote: »

My puppy is only 8 weeks old (chocolate labrador) so I cant expect much yet.But I would like to join this thread for advice as she is my first puppy.She is caged at night and is clean in her cage, she poos outside (door is left open) so it is just the weeing that needs sorting.She wanders out most of the time and today I left her in the kitchen for 3 hours and she didnt do anything but this evening she peed in the kitchen even though the door was open.She was very tired and I think she couldnt be bothered.I never tell her off, I just clean up, usually with dettol but I will try the bio detergent thing.

I've got a black lab pup who is nearly 13 weeks now. Shes pretty much dry night and day, altho we are still getting odd accident so shes getting there. The only advice I can give is instead of letting her wander freely in and out, you need to make a point of going to the door and saying something like "lets go outside" and then watching her wee/poo and giving her praise, then come back in and repeat every hour or when ever you notice sniffing/circling. Also since we've had Molly Ive always said "toillet" whilst shes doing her business then "hopefully" as they get older you can get them to go when you want them to. As they then associate the chosen word with going. HTH a bit, oh and also defo use the bio powder it does make a big difference.