OH just doesn't understand!

cheeswright

yes - we've all done the knees together twostep at somepoint
the dog just couldnt get to his toilet

he did the best he could - but cleaning this sort of thing up is no fun either
and a bit of a moan is quite acceptable before putting on the marigolds and sorting it out
well I hope it is - because I certainly do

Caroline_a

Ok a couple of questions -

How old is the dog, how long have you had him? I ask because he should be housetrained by now if (as I guess) you have had him for a while, and he's an adult dog. If this is the case then unfortunately any dog making a mess is your fault! When you get a dog, the first training he needs to have is house training. That involves getting up in the middle of the night a couple of times so that the dog understands where he needs to be when he needs to go! It also involves early mornings and then, as he gets what he needs to do, making the time stretch bit by bit. I can now leave my 5.5 month old pup all night until around 7.30 and he is clean and dry (and has been for a long time), but the early few weeks were pretty sparse on the sleep front for me!

Bad behaviour needs to be corrected at the time it happens - no dog will purposefully go after bird food - the handbag incident sounds like a bored dog to me. How often do you walk him, play with him, train him and socialise him? Does he have toys such as Kongs that he can use to chew and investigate?

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but badly behaved dogs for the most part come from owners who are not fulfilling their canine needs... If your OH doesnt want to be part of your dog's life then so be it, but if your dog behaves badly, then it is your responsibility to ensure that the poor dog is sufficiently trained and entertained so that he won't do anything that will merit being shouted at!

tizerbelle

Caroline_a wrote: »

Ok a couple of questions -

How old is the dog, how long have you had him? I ask because he should be housetrained by now if (as I guess) you have had him for a while, and he's an adult dog. If this is the case then unfortunately any dog making a mess is your fault! When you get a dog, the first training he needs to have is house training. That involves getting up in the middle of the night a couple of times so that the dog understands where he needs to be when he needs to go! It also involves early mornings and then, as he gets what he needs to do, making the time stretch bit by bit. I can now leave my 5.5 month old pup all night until around 7.30 and he is clean and dry (and has been for a long time), but the early few weeks were pretty sparse on the sleep front for me!

Bad behaviour needs to be corrected at the time it happens - no dog will purposefully go after bird food - the handbag incident sounds like a bored dog to me. How often do you walk him, play with him, train him and socialise him? Does he have toys such as Kongs that he can use to chew and investigate?

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but badly behaved dogs for the most part come from owners who are not fulfilling their canine needs... If your OH doesnt want to be part of your dog's life then so be it, but if your dog behaves badly, then it is your responsibility to ensure that the poor dog is sufficiently trained and entertained so that he won't do anything that will merit being shouted at!

Blimey, a little bit sanctimonious today.

bagginslover has said she does go to training, based on this thread alone the dog gets to go out at lunch and evening and I expect there's a morning walk as well.

The issue here isn't the dog per-se but the OH's OTT reaction to an unfortunate accident. A dog that soils inside the house does not automatically mean a badly-behaved dog. Dogs who are house-trained can have accidents if they are ill / stressed / eaten something that disagrees with them.

It may well happen with yours and I hope your response to your dog when this happens (and it likely will at some point) will be rather more understanding and compassionate.

The dog didn't do anything that warranted being shouted at. He had an accident that was all. The OH reacted in an extreme manner and IMO needs some anger management training.

Caroline_a

I agree that a dog can have a reason for an accident, so illness, etc as you say. However, if it's a regular thing then either the dog has not been housetrained correctly, needs more work with house training, or it needs to see a vet. The OP's OH should not have shouted at the dog, but then perhaps he should not be expected to clean up after a dog that belongs to the OP?

Maybe the question that should be asked is whether this is a regular occasion (dog not being clean in the house). If it is not then the reason needs to be investigated, maybe by a vet, and if it is then it's back to the housetraining. Dogs that have been kept outside are sometimes very difficult to housetrain.

bagginslover

Caroline_a wrote: »

Ok a couple of questions -

How old is the dog, how long have you had him? I ask because he should be housetrained by now if (as I guess) you have had him for a while, and he's an adult dog. If this is the case then unfortunately any dog making a mess is your fault! When you get a dog, the first training he needs to have is house training. That involves getting up in the middle of the night a couple of times so that the dog understands where he needs to be when he needs to go! It also involves early mornings and then, as he gets what he needs to do, making the time stretch bit by bit. I can now leave my 5.5 month old pup all night until around 7.30 and he is clean and dry (and has been for a long time), but the early few weeks were pretty sparse on the sleep front for me!

Bad behaviour needs to be corrected at the time it happens - no dog will purposefully go after bird food - the handbag incident sounds like a bored dog to me. How often do you walk him, play with him, train him and socialise him? Does he have toys such as Kongs that he can use to chew and investigate?

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but badly behaved dogs for the most part come from owners who are not fulfilling their canine needs... If your OH doesnt want to be part of your dog's life then so be it, but if your dog behaves badly, then it is your responsibility to ensure that the poor dog is sufficiently trained and entertained so that he won't do anything that will merit being shouted at!

He's 4/5 years old (not 100% sure as a rescue) and we have had him since february this year He goes for 4 walks a day, isn't interested in playing at all (never has been) and sleeps the rest of the time when he isn't eating (VERY normal for his breed). When we are out he is left with a stuffed kong, which is more often than not ignored.

If you read my other posts, you wouldalso have noticed that I'd said he is recovering from an illness, and this is a side effect of his medication. He is on strong steroids causing increased thirst and appetite, thisis why he went after the bird seed-he is contantly hungry (yet he looks starved as the steriod also a muscle and fat waster). We are getting up in the night to let him out, and come home from work for an extra toileting session on top of his normal lunch time walk. (luckily we work togther and our bosses are understanding).

I realise that this is our fault, I have said so many times in this thread,and so I don't appreciate being preached to. My dog is happy, and (nearly, after £4500 worth of treatment) healthy, this was an unfortuate acident that was handled badly by my OH, NOT by me!

He isn't badly behaved at all, and as you say this was an accident,and I have given you no other info to go on, I don't know why you would think that he is, he is the best behaved dog I know, and thats not just owners pride talking. he walks on a slack lead, sits to have his lead put on/off and be given food with out being asked, comes on command (almost a miracle with sighthounds), and understands more commands than many dogs. He has barked 3 times since we have owned him, doesn't whine or howl, he is as perfect as he could be, despite his less than perfect background, what more do you want? None of that however was the topic of this thread, have I answered your questions?

tankgirl1

Dogs DO understand consequences, BUT ONLY if they happen within seconds of the undesired behaviour.

Take the electric fence example - Dog sniffs fence, immediatley gets shocked - this only needs to happen once or twice for thr dog to get the idea

Dog pooing inside - you find it 30 seconds later - the dog will have NO idea why you are ranting and shouting, and is more likely to think that whatever it was doing at the time - eg sniffing at the bedroom door is the Bad Thing.

Positive Reinforcement works because you praise the good behaviour, and ignore the bad.

So Dog poos inside, you just ignore Dog whilst you clean it up, (but make sure not to display angry body language either). Dog is a bit sad - Dog likes attention (of any kind!) but especially the high pitched happy noises his people make which usually accompany strokes and cuddles....

Then make an effort to take Dog into the garden every hour or two for the next few days. When Dog poos, make the happy noises that Dog likes, stroke him, maybe evan a treat. Continue to ignore indoor pooing. Repeat as neccesary.

Dog will soon get the idea.

Caroline_a

bagginslover wrote: »

He's 4/5 years old (not 100% sure as a rescue) and we have had him since february this year He goes for 4 walks a day, isn't interested in playing at all (never has been) and sleeps the rest of the time when he isn't eating (VERY normal for his breed). When we are out he is left with a stuffed kong, which is more often than not ignored.

If you read my other posts, you wouldalso have noticed that I'd said he is recovering from an illness, and this is a side effect of his medication. He is on strong steroids causing increased thirst and appetite, thisis why he went after the bird seed-he is contantly hungry (yet he looks starved as the steriod also a muscle and fat waster). We are getting up in the night to let him out, and come home from work for an extra toileting session on top of his normal lunch time walk. (luckily we work togther and our bosses are understanding).

I realise that this is our fault, I have said so many times in this thread,and so I don't appreciate being preached to. My dog is happy, and (nearly, after £4500 worth of treatment) healthy, this was an unfortuate acident that was handled badly by my OH, NOT by me!

He isn't badly behaved at all, and as you say this was an accident,and I have given you no other info to go on, I don't know why you would think that he is, he is the best behaved dog I know, and thats not just owners pride talking. he walks on a slack lead, sits to have his lead put on/off and be given food with out being asked, comes on command (almost a miracle with sighthounds), and understands more commands than many dogs. He has barked 3 times since we have owned him, doesn't whine or howl, he is as perfect as he could be, despite his less than perfect background, what more do you want? None of that however was the topic of this thread, have I answered your questions?

So you have a perfect dog, only he has some medical issues. Don't assume that everyone has time to read all your threads before they make comments based on what you have put on one particular thread!

Probably in that case something you should work out with your OH then, because it really isn't about your dog, it's more about your relationship perhaps?

bagginslover

Caroline_a wrote: »

So you have a perfect dog, only he has some medical issues. Don't assume that everyone has time to read all your threads before they make comments based on what you have put on one particular thread!

Probably in that case something you should work out with your OH then, because it really isn't about your dog, it's more about your relationship perhaps?

All the pertinent info is in THIS thread, of course I wouldn't expect others to go fishing around in all the other multitude of threads here for snippets of info, I do however expect people to fully read THIS thread before judging me and how I keep my dog.

There is nothing wrong with my relationship thank you, and again, not what this thread was about at all, it is about how to get across to my OH that shouting at the dog for displaying unwanted behaviour doesn't work well as in the heat of the moment he just doesn't remember and/or chooses to ignore everything I've explained to him in the past. Nothing to do with my relationship, OH and dogs perhaps, not mine and OH's.

amibovvered

bagginslover wrote: »

All the pertinent info is in THIS thread, of course I wouldn't expect others to go fishing around in all the other multitude of threads here for snippets of info, I do however expect people to fully read THIS thread before judging me and how I keep my dog.

Quite! I was just about to post this myself then saw you'd already responded. Why don't people read things before getting judgemental? I've lost count of the threads where someone launches an attack on the OP simply because they haven't bothered to read their posts properly.

Not so sure the problem is just a gender thing either, I couldn't get my mum to follow the same training schedule as I was trying with our dog, even though she did come to training classes with me. She was inclined to withhold regular treats if the dog misbehaved eg if the dog peed on the carpet in the afternoon mum wouldn't want to give her the bedtime biscuit - as if the dog was going to understand that!

tankgirl1

Ummm - Sorry!

I didn't read the whole thread before posting - a bad habit of mine:o

Twas probably glaringly obvious that I got about as far as the bit about dogs don't understand consequences and went off on my own little rant...

Hope I didn't offend you OP - I'm not sure if I can help with the OH 'getting it'

Could you show him the thread? Can you mention it in front of a VN next time you are at the vets?

TBH its usually a case of training the humans - not you of course, but helping your OH to understand how a dogs brain works