Training Question for Dog-Minded People :D

Now normally I would go to an actual dog training website, but a few I went to were requiring me to create a couple threads in their "Meet & Greet" type sections, before I'm allowed to go to their training forums and ask questions. ATS has a wide variety of people on it, so I'm posting here in hopes there's some dog-minded people that can help me train my dog out of a bad habit she's formed over the last year, which I want nipped in the bud. I'll start by explaining where my dog came from, so those who respond have an idea of what may be wrong, and/or what may help.

Our dog is a cairne terrier/dachshund mix. She's about 4 1/2 years old. She is a very smart dog, and very well trained. My g/f's mom loves dogs, she used to train racing huskies up north. I only mention this, to give you an idea of the training she went through initially. She lived in a house, whose backdoor was always open so the dogs could just run outside whenever they had to. They also went on long walks every single day. My g/f and her mom would go to parks, trails, lakes, rivers.....pretty much any outdoor place where they could safely let the dogs off lead and run around. So, for approximately 3 years, this is what she had.

To give you an idea into her personality, she is a VERY picky dog. I noticed this on all our walks. She will hold in her poop until she finds the absolute, most perfect spot to go. I've seen her almost go, some starting to come out, then when she decides it's not right, she sucks it back in, and keeps sniffing. It's funny at times, and annoying at others. Like, when it's freezing outside, and she won't go to the bathroom immediately, because she has to be picky. Ugh!

Now, here's what's happened over the last year. My g/f and I moved to another town. We're no longer near her parents, so the doggie no longer has access to the house that always has the backdoor open. We also live in an apartment, so she doesn't have the luxury of a backyard anymore. Now, my g/f and I don't have the most money, so both of us work. Most of the time, we work very similar hours, 9-5, sometimes she'll work days, I work nights. Now just because we're in an apartment, doesn't mean she doesn't get out much. She gets an average of 3-4 outside trips a day. On days off, it's once in the morning, walk in the afternoon, another outside around 4-5pm, and once more around 7-8pm. On days we work, once in the morning, walk either before or after work(depending on time), then usual night-time outings. When we walk her, she gets an average of an hour walk, but never less than 30 minutes. How far we walk depends on her. If she's too busy sniffing every single thing, we won't make it as far. But other days, she doesn't want to sniff at all, and just keep walking.

Now, knowing all of that, here's the problem. She goes pee/poop in the house. Not always, but enough to cause us to make this thread. It's not consistent, either. It's like, we go weeks without a problem, then out of nowhere, she'll do it for a couple days, then back to normal. It's been like this for the entire year we've been in this apartment. She's well-trained, everyone we meet tells us how much of a good girl she is. She's potty-trained. She knows how to let us know when she has to go out. We've tried everything we know to get her to stop doing it, but nothing is working. We even went as far as to barricade our room shut, so she can't leave in the middle of the night to go potty. That's been working, she won't go in our room, but last night my g/f decided not to barricade it. Lo and behold, she went pee in the living room.

Now I have reason to believe this has to do with her pickiness. Because she refuses to go anywhere unless it's perfect to her, she holds in her stuff for as long as she can, to the point where she can't hold it anymore. We take her out quite often, she gets walked, she gets played with, and we go through training drills for treats. A bit over 2 months ago, we got a 2 year old chihuahua so she could have a friend besides us. This dog is smart, and goes potty IMMEDIATELY outside. Even our little one is getting tired of the big dogs pickiness. Once when outside, after the little one finished, I kept telling her we have to wait until our other dog went. After so long, she ran over and started attacking the other dog(playfully) like she was telling her to hurry the damn hell up because it's cold outside. lol

So, any suggestions on how to correct this behavior? Is it possible, or is the pickiness just going to be her personality trait that's annoying, but makes her lovable? I don't want to make every single outside trip a 30 minute to hour walk, because that's just telling her that it's ok for her to be picky, because it gets her constant walks. For their dog sizes, they get what they need on a daily basis, even if we're tired as hell from work.

So, sorry for the long ass post, but for those who know and understand dogs, any tips would be GREATLY appreciated. Getting tired of getting mad at my dog because she's being a picky hag.

LOL, so you have just displayed that you have a doxy. Welcome to our club!

Doxy's do what they want. If they feel like peeing/pooping outside, they will. If you piss them off, they'll do it in the house.

People will swing by and give you pointers. And you may be desperate enough to try them. When they don't work, just remember: you have a doxy. It comes with the territory.

Your best bet is to just not piss her off.

Now...lets talk about who owns who in the relationship.........

reply to post by Necrobile


Whats her diet consist of?

bigfatfurrytexan
LOL, so you have just displayed that you have a doxy.

Welcome to our club!

:

lol So many of her personality traits scream terrier, but this one is a doxy thing, eh?? Aaaaarrrggghhh!!!! lol

As for what we feed her, we've kept her on the food she grew up on. Rachel Ray's Nutrish. We've tried other foods at times, but she really likes this one. She doesn't get treats constantly, only during training exercises, but she does get treats. Lots of bones, occasional rawhide. We can always tell when she's had too many treats, but she's never had accidents related to that. That's why I'm pretty sure it's her personality being a butt. lol

reply to post by bigfatfurrytexan


Thank you for your quick reply, too. I honestly had a feeling it was going to be something like that. I've had a lot of terriers in my life, and never really known them to be like that. But never once owned a dachshund before, so I don't really know their personality types.

But you are right, it's probably something that's pissing her off. Because like I said earlier, it's not constant. So I just need to pay attention to when it happens, and see what's changed around that time.

reply to post by Necrobile


It could be a territorial thing,which may be tricky to change-Maybe give the dog a treat every time it goes outdoors,but never when it goes indoors.
For a month or two.
Hard work though.


I had probs recently with one dog who would pee inside because he was ill,then my other dog would go and pee on top to mark his territory...aaargh twas a nightmare-had to seperate the poor chaps into other rooms.
Cost a fortune in doggie wet pads.

reply to post by Necrobile


Does the doggy get enough water is one maybe. Heres a good read on constipation…

difficult poop...

reply to post by Necrobile


I used to leave my Jack Russell/Beagle mix alone in the house for 8 to 9 hours when she was 3 to 5 years old due to work.

The vast majority of the time there was no problem. But sometimes she would leave me a gift by the back door (or toilet if the Bathroom door had been left open!).

I think they are just like us, sometimes, when you've got to go, you've got to go.

Dear Necrobile - what a little brat you have! The only thing I can think of is to only give her a treat, the kind she goes nuts over, when she does her business outside. The treat doesn't have to be big, it's all about the smell for the most part, so our dog trainer explained. She's smart and if she's treat minded then perhaps she'll start working for her treat by getting the bathroom stuff done with pronto. I have a feeling she's more stubborn than I think but as I say it's all I can think of. Good luck. You are both awesome parents from what you wrote.

Well, I can definitely admit she(Sweet Pea) doesn't drink enough water. We have a 2 bedroom apt., but with no kids or room-mates, we pretty much call the other room her room. We leave the blinds open in such a way as to let the sun shine in just right, so she can lay in it to sunbath. Then, after 30 minutes, she'll run in our room, hop in the bed, and stare at us panting like she's hotter than hot, and she wants us to do something about it. We keep telling her to drink some water, and she just stares at us. I think it's because in mid-summer, we'd give her a bath after the walks to cool her down. Man, she's spoiled. lol But yeah, she won't drink as much water as we think she should. We even give her filtered water. lol

As for territorial marking, we did run into that when we first got little Pearl. Sometimes when Pea goes inside, Pearl will see it, and go right ontop of it. But that's not too often. But we've only had Pearl for a bit over 2 months, whereas Pea's been doing this since before we even had another dog. So I don't believe it's territorial(at least most of it).

I think I'm going to try the treat method, get the treats she really loves, and only give them to her when she goes potty. Maybe that'll help her realize we want her to go faster, and stop being so picky(though I don't believe that'll ever go away lol).

Dogs react to smell.

You must build an area where this smell is overpowering outside.

Blot up her pee and put it in this area. Throw #2out as well.

Take her to this area every time. Make sure she knows where you want it.

This will soon be her spot. Remove all smells in the house.

Remember, it's a smell thing. You will soon all be on the same page.

reply to post by Necrobile


Hmm, I wonder if you got one of those fountain type water bowls - the kind where the water bubbles and runs fresh. My dog and I share ice water at night and when he runs out of his he comes begging for more of mine. Sometimes if I notice he isn't drinking enough I'll take an extra bowl and talk in an excited voice and then fill it up with fresh water and he devours it. Seems like a special treat to him. Again, just ideas but you never know what will work for them. He also has his regular water bowl in the kitchen and an extra one upstairs in our bedroom for night time. When I put fresh water in his nighttime bowl before bed he loves it.

ccseagull
reply to post by Necrobile

 

Hmm, I wonder if you got one of those fountain type water bowls - the kind where the water bubbles and runs fresh. My dog and I share ice water at night and when he runs out of his he comes begging for more of mine. Sometimes if I notice he isn't drinking enough I'll take an extra bowl and talk in an excited voice and then fill it up with fresh water and he devours it. Seems like a special treat to him. Again, just ideas but you never know what will work for them. He also has his regular water bowl in the kitchen and an extra one upstairs in our bedroom for night time. When I put fresh water in his nighttime bowl before bed he loves it.

Nope, just a regular bowl. We have a pitcher with a filter on it that we use, so we give her water from there. We do fill the bowl twice a day, so maybe she's drinking more than I realize, I just rarely actually see her drinking from it.

As for the smell thing, whyiamhere, you do have a very good point. I just don't think we'll be allowed to do that. Though the apt. complex is very dog friendly, they'll fine you $50 for not picking up after your pet, and oddly enough, we have a lot of dog haters in this complex. So if I took her #2's outside, to show her where I want her to go, I'd have somebody complaining that I did that and get fined. I'll try something like it, though, take it outside, show her what I want her to do, then toss it in the trash. Hope that'll work.

When I first got my dog at six weeks old, I had to give him a bath because we got him from a breeder who lives on a farm and he smelled like an old fart or manure.
A few weeks later I gave him another but noticed his skin was starting to flake and was itchy as he kept scratching all the time. So I took him to our local beach and he loves it and skin is ok but he hates even the mention of a bath and won't go near the room at all!
As he had a habit of digging holes when he pooped I divided the back garden into two and put slabs down and a fence so now it just needs a hose and brush up when he goes. That was over nine years ago and he actually comes up to me and gives me a paw when he want to go outside.
Very rarely will he do it in the car, last time was last year sometime when I was in Glasgow and I went into a side street to clean the mess out.
I have rubber mats in the back where he is so it was no problem to lift them out and clear the mess up.
Once I had finished my other half said look to your right which I did.
There was one of those extra posh restaurants with snobs eating their dinner and large glass windows and I was clearing dog mess out while they were eating!

I would suggest trying potty pads and teach her to go on those when you are not able to take her out.

Just like us, sometimes --when you gotta go, you gotta go.

My 13 year old dog is like that. Particular about both WHEN and WHERE he goes. And if left unattended in the house, he will be good for a while, then use the bathroom in the house for a few days. It's very annoying.

My solution was easy, and it's my suggestion to you...use a crate.

If I am not home, and when we go to bed, the dogs go in their crates. And if crating seems mean to you, just consider that dogs actually like them, if used properly (never as punishment) the dogs see the crate as like their own little den. And they won't typically use the bathroom in there. Even during the day, my dogs just sometimes go in there on their own to nap in the crates.

Good luck!

Necrobile
reply to post by bigfatfurrytexan

 

Thank you for your quick reply, too. I honestly had a feeling it was going to be something like that. I've had a lot of terriers in my life, and never really known them to be like that. But never once owned a dachshund before, so I don't really know their personality types.

But you are right, it's probably something that's pissing her off. Because like I said earlier, it's not constant. So I just need to pay attention to when it happens, and see what's changed around that time.

My first doxy was a male named Roscoe. He was an icon of my young family. We still talk about him frequently, and he was the "first dog" of my family (got him when my oldest was 7). He was a jerk, in all honesty. We all loved him immensely, but sometimes you just wanted to use him to beat rugs with.

I trained him first, and subsequently its the role of our oldest dog to train the youngest one (when the oldest passes, we find a new friend to live with us). No other dog has been like Roscoe. They all follow our verbal commands. Roscoe would know better when he wasn't listening....but like I said, he was a jerk.

"Potty Outside"....my dogs know what this means. And they get very excited by hearing it, running to the back door and barking. It is my invitation to a party (we let them out every 2 hours to run and sun in the back yard). Roscoe usually would listen, but when he was mad about something, he would instead go to the other side of the room and wait for you to watch him do his business. He would stll want to go outside afterwards.

"Go see (insert kids name)"....they all have known who was who by name. If I tell them this, they go to wherever that kid is. It is typically the bed time command.

"Bed"...they go to their kennel. Roscoe hated this, and would sometimes take off somewhere else.

"Leave it"....they back away quickly. Unless Roscoe wanted it really bad. Then he would eat it regardless. This is an important command to prevent possible poisoning with leash trained dogs while out walking.

We have about 20, maybe 25 commands that our dogs know. The oldest trains the youngest. Our training was pretty much limited to Roscoe. It all started with him. Smartest but most hard headed dog I ever had. My best friend and nemesis wrapped into a fat, sausage shaped body.

My current best friend is a doxy named Sasha. She is a doxy/pit bull mix. Same general size as our 14 lb roscoe was, but she is closer to 35lbs. Very stout little dog. She isn't hard headed like a doxy. She is playful like a pittie. She is the best dog I have ever had. The first dog that I actually love like a child. She often gets kissed first when I get home, which pisses off the wife.

whyamIhere
Dogs react to smell.

You must build an area where this smell is overpowering outside.

Blot up her pee and put it in this area. Throw #2out as well.

Take her to this area every time. Make sure she knows where you want it.

This will soon be her spot. Remove all smells in the house.

Remember, it's a smell thing. You will soon all be on the same page.

/salute in support of this approach.

reply to post by Necrobile


Maybe try changing her feeding time.
If you normally feed her in the mornings, change it out to when you get home.
Dogs don't have to eat at a certain time like people do. In fact, they only need to be fed once daily.
When you choose to fed her is up to you, not the dog.

Also after 4 yrs. she's used to being able to go out/in whenever she pleased so she may have to retrain her um, urge to purge, so to speak.

Let her know that when she does use the house, that it's a no-no, tell her 'baaad' dog in a stern voice and pick her up and take her out if possible, just to let her know this is where she is supposed to go.

Our yellow lab we had was extremely sensitive to being yelled at & you could tell when his feelings were hurt. Never did he use the bathroom in the house, major no-no, but other silly things that for a big dog wasn't acceptable for us...[such as clawing your arm- we didn't teach him to shake hands due to my husband being on blood thinners, he bleeds real easy. Once you teach them that, it becomes a habit for them. Same goes for jumping on people- not allowed]

Hope all works out for you
Wish you the best~
snarky