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2nd Trimester
Linny0316
member
what am I going to do about my dog??
Linny0316
member
Does anyone have any advise for this? I have a mutt dog (see profile) that we got at the pound, we let him out regularly but the last 5 months or so he pees and immediately runs back to the door like 'ok, can i eat now??' and then poops on our basement carpet.
We keep sending him out and telling him to poop before we let him in but it becomes a 15 min proecess and he doesn't always have to go. We've been keeping him blocked from the basement but we left it open for 10 min last night and he did it AGAIN!
I now have to have the carpet shampooed cuz he's ruined it and I don't know how to get him to stop. He's never been real bright and when you yell at him he looks at you like he has no idea what he possibly did. I'm at the end of my rope and don't want to get rid of him but I don't know if I can deal with this and the new baby and always having the carpet cleaned. What do I do??
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Re: what am I going to do about my dog??
This is my siggy. Love it.
DD - Juliana Joan - Born October 27, 2010 - My Little Princess
BFP 1/14/13 - M/C 1/22/13 @ 5 weeks
BFP 3/20/13 - EDD 11/11/13
I am sorry your having troubles with your dog. How many times a day do you let him eat. Some people do not like this theory but sometimes when dogs eat all day long, it makes them harder to house break. I'm all for letting them do their own eating and drinking when they want but if he is using the restroom on your carpet I would suggest eating once a day, until this habit is broken. It doesn't seem like he is peeing so I would only do it with his food especially since its summer time and its hot, they need water.
My suggestion, out in the morning until he goes, in to eat and then out in the morning again and then nothing but water the rest of the day. It may seem harsh but it might save the rest of your carpets.
Just a side note, he was trained for 2 years, this is a new habbit he has picked up within the last few months. Both dogs eat 3 times a day and they go out several times. He never has had a specific time that he poops during the day so it's hard to anticipate this. He has also been peeing on the carpet as well but it's harder to tell when that happens.
oh geez, it's not like I'm beating him to death, I'm letting him know we are unhappy with that behavior. I'm not going to pet him and kiss him after he's crapped on our carpet. Our other dog has no issue with understanding when we are upset with something she's done. This dog has never done well understanding what we are asking him so even when we are happy he just looks at us like he has no idea what is going on.
We're having a similar problem and get so frustrated because how do you housebreak an adult dog who's technically housebroken? She will poop outside in the morning after she eats, then we come home to poop in the dining room. She knows she's done something wrong (tail between the legs, etc). I will even come home at lunch to let her out and she'll still do it!
We actually found that reducing the amount of food we give her will help. Maybe he's over eating? 3 times a day is a lot. Most big dogs only need fed twice a day. Good luck. I completely feel for you...
Oh, and I completely agree here, too. Our dog is not very smart at all. But she knows when she's done something to make us mad. You're not some sort of animal abuser because you yell at your dog.
Ugg, isn't it the most frustrating thing ever? And they don't do it when you are standing there so you can't hardly catch them in the act to make them put 2 and 2 together. We divide up what it suggests to feed them on the bag but he still acts hungry all the time. In fact if he gets upstairs he immediately goes into the trash can and digs through untill he gets every single panty liner. I feel like I spend all day watching this annoying dog and he's giving us more grief then happiness. I just really hope we can deal with this before the baby is here.
I agree with a lot of what has been said. I would try to reduce the amount of times the dogs eat. My Brittany (45 lbs) only eats once a day (his choice) and my lab (90 lbs) eats twice a day. this helps with BM's. I don't really believe in the multiple feeding times and I think reducing it down, while not necessarily reducing the amount of food, will help to better regulate your dog.
Seeking the help of a behaviorist wold be very helpful. Did something major change on the past few months that could have sparked this behavior? I know when we moved, my lab was out of whack for a few days but when she adjusted to the new house, she was fine.Also, raising your voice to get their attention while they are in the act is helpful to break their concentration and help to stop the unapproved activity. However, finding poop five minutes later and yelling isnt effective.
I'm not saying that you should "pet him and kiss him," I'm saying not to "yell" at him. Dogs don't understand yelling. And every dog is different, so therefore that is why one understands, but this one doesn't. You need to work with him. Some dogs can be trained once and remember it, while others need constant triaing.
DD - Juliana Joan - Born October 27, 2010 - My Little Princess
BFP 1/14/13 - M/C 1/22/13 @ 5 weeks
BFP 3/20/13 - EDD 11/11/13
In your case, there might be something medically wrong with your dog.
for the OP: try reducing to only twice a day and afterward, actually walk him a leash and not just let him out on his own and make him keep walking.
HTH
All the dog gets from you raising your voice is not to poop in front of you. They really do not get why you are yelling.
The best thing that helped with my three is schedule feeding, like a previous poster suggested. They eat at the same time in the morning and at night. They get about 20min to eat (really it only takes them like 30 seconds to eat because they know the system). After about 20min pull the food (whether he ate or not) and give him nothing else till dinner time and repeat the same thing. This will put them on more of a regular potty schedule. My dogs do not have pooping accidents in the house anymore (unless they are sick and have loose stool but that isnt their fault)
Other then that I would also agree to take him for a walk instead of just letting him outside. It might not fit in with your morning routine but you might need to make adjustments.
Connor - 12/15/10 Abby - EDD 11/29/13
This.
Start with potty training 101 again.
Take him out on a leash and walk him(even if it's around your yard). If he doesn't poop back inside on the leash with you and keep him with you. REPEAT every 15-20 min until he goes. When he DOES go throw the biggest damn party in your yard ever. Cheer, hollar, dance around and treat him. Make him think he did the greatest thing ever. Repeat this for a while. R STILL goes crazy with zoomies after he poops. We've had him for 3 years.
and seriously get rid of because of a potty problem? WTH will you do when you kid has a diaper expolsion?
Unless you catch him IN the act he does not understand.
Yes, just as I did with my daughter, I will absolutely get rid of the baby when he has an accident.
Ha ha.... I was also thinking this.
DD - Juliana Joan - Born October 27, 2010 - My Little Princess
BFP 1/14/13 - M/C 1/22/13 @ 5 weeks
BFP 3/20/13 - EDD 11/11/13
Hey bmq, since your profile says your hobby is training your dogs maybe you could offer a little more helpful advice then 'you need to work with him more'. Otherwise, can I offer you a dog that will eat everything they can get their mouth on and then pee and poop all over your carpet?
What I was looking for is ideas I haven't thought of to break a behavior that I can't catch, not the 3rd degree about what a bad dog owner I am. All other ladies, thank you so much for the ideas. I will definitely be trying some of these out!
When we moved into our new house, Tucker had trouble adjusting to the new place+ our new work schedules-- he started going upstairs to the office and pooping there.
He "knew" that he was supposed to go outside-- aside from what pp's said about regulating feeding times, exercise, etc. I would also recommend restricting his access to parts of the house. I know you closed the basement off, but what has really worked for us is crate training and/or leaving Tucker in our bedroom while we're at work (I come home during lunch). Dogs will not go to the bathroom in "their space" and that's probably why your pup has chosen the basement for the poop escapades
Crate training has also really helped us feel comfortable about leaving Tucker at other people's houses because he could have "his" space, and not act out and poop in someone else's house!
GL!
Not the person you're referring to, but you can "catch" the behavior. Keep the dog on a leash with you, or if you're in a room and triyng to do dishes/clean, keep the dog there with you. If you're yelling at the dog after the fact and not catching him, the dog will not understand. The only way to change the behavior is to catch the dog doing an unwanted behavior. Even the smartest of dogs would have no idea since they're intelligent but not that intelligent to understand why you're yelling at them for something they did 20 minutes ago.
Also, ditto the PP that this warrants a vet visit to rule out any medical problems if the dog had been previously housetrained.
Clearly the dog isn't seeing you as the pack leader. You definitely need to work with a trainer if all this behavior is going on.
Work on Nothing in Life Is Free as well. NILIF We've been bumping that up in our house.
I forgot to also say a vet apt to make sure everything is ok.
Well... for starters, remember that puppy/dog training starts with the owner first not the dog.
With that said, I believe that these ladies have given a lot of good advice already. You need to work with your dog by trying the following:
1. Instead of just putting your dog outside by himself, why don't you also go outside with your dog and walk around with him. When he pee's praise him and tell him that he needs to also go poop. This way instead of your dog running right back up to the door he should be distracted by you being out their with him.
2. Try taking your dog for walks like the other ladies said. This gets their system moving. If and when he goes to the bathroom make sure you stop and praise him. And this does not have to be done with treats. Some people like to use treats to praise, but you don't have to. Being excited and showing your dog through your voice that your excited is enough, they will understand, but they do not understand yelling...
3. I'm not sure how old he is, but when they are puppies you can also use potty areas/pads inside. If they are going inside you teach them to go on that potty area/pad and you gradually move that mat closer and closer to the door as they use it. Eventually you should get to the point where you place it outside and place them on it often until they go on it outside and then you should be able to remove it because they know to go outside at the point.
And that's all I can give, because it is getting really hard to type this when I have to downsize it everytime some walks by (I'm at work). Make sure you do this with the dog by himself, do not have the other dog around, because the focus needs to be on him and you can't be distracted when he needs to be praised. But, wanting to get rid of your dog just because they need training does not solve anything... you need to work with him.
DD - Juliana Joan - Born October 27, 2010 - My Little Princess
BFP 1/14/13 - M/C 1/22/13 @ 5 weeks
BFP 3/20/13 - EDD 11/11/13
haha, I was trying to say that but I couldn't think of the acronym. Thanks for putting it out there.
We have been doing #1 because he just continues to run back to the door as he thinks we will feed him when he comes inside. Usually we can get him to go back and poop but I don't like to force him too much if I don't know if he really needs to go.
We will try # 2 but I don't think he will figure out that pooping in the basement is not ok, it's like he thinks the basement is the outside. If he can understand in my voice that I am happy, why would he not understand that I am upset....
He is 3 years old, he just gets into these habbits and then doesn't break them. Although he is sweet he is just not good at figuring out what we want him to do.
Finally, it's not like I WANT to get rid of my dogs, trust me if I was going to take the easy way out I would have done that a long time ago with both dogs. However, I can't have a dog in my house that is destroying all of my things and dirtying the carpet, especially with my kids crawling on it, their safety comes first, too bad for the dogs, they are dogs. I'm not talking about putting him to sleep but making the smart choice of finding a family that has more time to devote to him which he may need...I don't want to have to do that which is why I am exhausting all of my resourses to find a solution to this.
Yelling doesn't really work with a dog. It startles them, but they don't understand. Imagine knocking over a glass of water or picking up a fork, and a Chinese person started screaming at you in Chinese (presuming you don't know Chinese). That is what our yelling sounds like to a dog. You might know what you did (tip over the water) or not (picking up a fork) but in the end, the dog has no idea what you are saying, just that you are yelling at them.
I would re-housebreak. This means nonstop supervision, schedule, and praise.
Ditto on the exercise. My dog rarely just goes out to poop. She needs to walk to get her bowels moving.
When dogs start going in the house its because they're trying to mark their territory and dominate you guys. You cannot yell at your dog when you find pee or poop around the house because he wont make the connection. You can only correct him and tell him 'no!' when you SEE him doing it.
Your dog can probably sense some sort of change at home, being pregnant or whatever else is going on. Make sure you walk your dog regularly and praise your dog when he goes outside...feed him before you walk him as well and just make sure that they don't have any medical issue that is causing this. This is probably behavioral. If it gets worse, kennel the dog during the day and check out some training options. Make sure you're spending enough time with your dog and playing with him as well
That.is.hogwash.
R had an accident this morning. Pure liquid poo. I hardly think he was trying to show me who was boss by doing so. The boy just couldn't hold it in any longer.
Just throwing this out there, but could your dog have dominance issues? The deficating in the house could be his attempt to mark it as his territory. Also, stealing food and property (ie, your panty liners) could also be a sign that he feels dominant in the household.
I have friends with a malimute that is very dominant. He will steal food from your plate, tables, countertops, etc. His owners are so afraid of him that they just let him carry on with this behaviour. However, I have challenged him a few times, and shown him that I'm dominant, so now he won't even look at my plate. This dog also used to urinate in their house on their furniture and TV and still does it on occasion.
Just a thought, you may want to look into obedience training or ways to re-establish your pack and your position of dominance over the dogs. Taking structured walks with the dog where you enforce commands like heeling, sitting, laying down, etc should help establish your dominance.
Good Luck.
Uh uh. He was clearly trying to dominate you. You should pee on him to show him who is truly the boss.
For the love of god please don't challenge any dog. ESPECIALLY one that is not yours. It could not turn out pretty one day.
If for some reason this is pack order thing(which I don't think it is) work on that NILIF I spoke about earlier. It's a postive way of working with your dog.
Way to many people watch The Dog Whisperer.
Seriously. What is with people?
I do NILIF in my house as well. My dog has never "challenged" me and I certainly do not "challenge" her unless it's in a way to stimulate her during play (puzzles, hide and seek, etc).
Turn off Cesar. He is not a professional dog trainer with education behind his theories. His theories are dated and have proven to be both inefficient and dangerous.