Joey
We are currently leaving our shihtzu in our bathroom with her crate, toys, food and water while at work. She is fine in there, but everyday when I get home its the same routine. I have to clean up pee and poop. She has chewed the trim terribly, tore the drywall, and now she is chewing on the wooden vanity cabinets. My bathroom starting to smell and I cannot take it anymore. Also, she isn't completely housetrained and I attribute this to her just being able to go potty in the bathroom whenever she feels like it. She will potty outside when we are home, but sometimes she still just goes in the house without warning. My bathroom is going to be a total wreck if I can't find a solution. I don't want to be cruel, but if I don't do something Im afraid she will always think she can potty in the house, not to mention my bathroom will have to be remodeled. She would be in her crate different hours on different days, since my wife and I have different schedules. No more than 6-8 hours at a time.
Somedays not even 6 hours.
Answer
Once again a dog being blamed for not being trained. It is not the dogs fault she was never trained properly. Sounds like she is not exorcised enough either. How long do you walk her before shutting her up in the bathroom?
First, house train her. Yes it takes time and effort on your part. Then train her on what is acceptable to chew, again, time and effort on your part. Third give her a couple of long walks every day. Yes, more time and effort.
As for your question, many, many people leave their dog crated for the dogs protection as well as that of their home. They are fine. Just remember to take off her collar and leave nothing in the crate she can get pieces off of to choke on.
If your dog is over 8 months old forget step 1.
1 - The first thing to remember about house
training a puppy is they can not hold
themselves long. Rule of thumb is 1 hour
for each month old. Therefore a 3 month
old pup should be able to control himself/
herself for 3 hours.
2 - The second thing to remember is you
take the pup out, on a leash, to be walked.
Not send the pup out. You have to be there
when pooch does the deed so you can
praise the pup, right then. Let the pup know
it is a job well done. Throw a real praise party!
There are key times a pup needs to be taken
out. When pooch wakes up from any sleep
time & at bed time. After eating and/or
drinking. After playing, exercise stimulates
the "need to go."
3 - Plus there are the odd times when a
pups gotta do what a pups gotta do. You
have to learn the pups behavior when
looking for the spot to go. Pups should
not have the run of the house till pooch
is trained. You should keep the pup in
the room with you so you can keep an
eye on pooch. When you see the search,
get 'em outside. If you catch the pup
making a pile or puddle, just say "NO!",
pick pooch up and get 'em outside. Use
an enzyme cleaner (Natures Miracle or
Simple Solutions)(pet store) to clean up.
Do not let the pup see you cleaning up,
it gives them the idea that is your job.
Outside is okay, just not inside. If you
find a puddle or pile after the fact, clean
it up with an enzyme cleaner (pet food
store) get a newspaper and hit....
yourself in the head and say "I should
have been paying more attention." Do
not try to punish a pup after the fact.
They will NOT get it.
4 - You have to be diligent & consistent.
I can not stress that enough so let me
repeat. You have to be diligent & consistent.
If you do your job the pup will catch on
pretty quick.
5 - You need to keep pooch contained
at night. Either crate or put the pup in a
bathroom. But remember the 1 hour rule.
You should get up and take 'em out at night.
6 - You can also teach the pup to go on
command by picking the word you will
use for each function, when the pup is
about to go repeat the word till the pup
starts going then tell 'em what a good
boy/girl they are.
7 - You can also teach them to ring a
bell when they need to go by mounting
one low on the door frame and ring it
with the pups foot when you go out.
8 - Last thing, never, ever rub your
pups nose in their waste. Besides
being nasty it only tells the pup you
want pooch to ingest the waste. Also,
never, ever hit a dog. That will only
tell the dog you are not to be trusted.
So, these are the 8 Steps to
House training a Puppy Good luck!
Once again a dog being blamed for not being trained. It is not the dogs fault she was never trained properly. Sounds like she is not exorcised enough either. How long do you walk her before shutting her up in the bathroom?
First, house train her. Yes it takes time and effort on your part. Then train her on what is acceptable to chew, again, time and effort on your part. Third give her a couple of long walks every day. Yes, more time and effort.
As for your question, many, many people leave their dog crated for the dogs protection as well as that of their home. They are fine. Just remember to take off her collar and leave nothing in the crate she can get pieces off of to choke on.
If your dog is over 8 months old forget step 1.
1 - The first thing to remember about house
training a puppy is they can not hold
themselves long. Rule of thumb is 1 hour
for each month old. Therefore a 3 month
old pup should be able to control himself/
herself for 3 hours.
2 - The second thing to remember is you
take the pup out, on a leash, to be walked.
Not send the pup out. You have to be there
when pooch does the deed so you can
praise the pup, right then. Let the pup know
it is a job well done. Throw a real praise party!
There are key times a pup needs to be taken
out. When pooch wakes up from any sleep
time & at bed time. After eating and/or
drinking. After playing, exercise stimulates
the "need to go."
3 - Plus there are the odd times when a
pups gotta do what a pups gotta do. You
have to learn the pups behavior when
looking for the spot to go. Pups should
not have the run of the house till pooch
is trained. You should keep the pup in
the room with you so you can keep an
eye on pooch. When you see the search,
get 'em outside. If you catch the pup
making a pile or puddle, just say "NO!",
pick pooch up and get 'em outside. Use
an enzyme cleaner (Natures Miracle or
Simple Solutions)(pet store) to clean up.
Do not let the pup see you cleaning up,
it gives them the idea that is your job.
Outside is okay, just not inside. If you
find a puddle or pile after the fact, clean
it up with an enzyme cleaner (pet food
store) get a newspaper and hit....
yourself in the head and say "I should
have been paying more attention." Do
not try to punish a pup after the fact.
They will NOT get it.
4 - You have to be diligent & consistent.
I can not stress that enough so let me
repeat. You have to be diligent & consistent.
If you do your job the pup will catch on
pretty quick.
5 - You need to keep pooch contained
at night. Either crate or put the pup in a
bathroom. But remember the 1 hour rule.
You should get up and take 'em out at night.
6 - You can also teach the pup to go on
command by picking the word you will
use for each function, when the pup is
about to go repeat the word till the pup
starts going then tell 'em what a good
boy/girl they are.
7 - You can also teach them to ring a
bell when they need to go by mounting
one low on the door frame and ring it
with the pups foot when you go out.
8 - Last thing, never, ever rub your
pups nose in their waste. Besides
being nasty it only tells the pup you
want pooch to ingest the waste. Also,
never, ever hit a dog. That will only
tell the dog you are not to be trusted.
So, these are the 8 Steps to
House training a Puppy Good luck!
how do you house train a 1 year old rescue dog with no prior training?
Mark Brown
we adopted a secong rescue dog her name is charlie (she looks like charlie from all dogs go to heaven) and she had no prior training to us getting her...we have got her to come sit and basic commands like that but she goes potty in the house no matter how many times we take her on walk or let her out back.....we tried to crate train her and she has chewed her way out of 3 crates...a metal one a plastic one and a wooden one...and when she gets out she chews up books games dvds goes after the cats food and prety much tears up anything she can....she is almost impossible to walk due to her pulling...and we have tried corrective harness and everything and she was attacked by another dog and now whenever we take her to the dog park we have to make sure no one is there cause she goes crazy and wont stop barking...but she doesnt act that way around our older dog cooper (he is a chow and rotty mix...also rescue but one of the best dogs i ever had).....if anyone has any tricks that might help i would really appreciate it
Answer
Hey Mark. I would definitely invest in a dog trainer for this case. Charlie (I love that name! Someday I'm going to get a rescue Pyr and name him Charlie!) sounds like she has so many problems that a trainer would be so beneficial for your family and her. But here are the most likely causes and common solutions for her problems:
1. I'm assuming she's chewing through her crate when you are gone? This is a classic case of separation anxiety. Think about it from her POV. She's been put in this wire cage and then you leave. Well she doesn't know where you went, she doesn't know that you are going to come back in 2 hours. Because she doesn't know, she goes into panic mode and starts thinking, "I need to get out of here!" and starts fighting to get out of the crate. Her anxiety is like a panic attack for humans. It's scary for her. This sounds so bad and unfortunately it can be quite common in rescue dogs, especially ones that have come from a typical shelter enviornment. A professional trainer will be of great benefit in this situation as they will have a very specific treatment plan and will be able to tell you if a visit to the vet is a good idea to look into anti-anxiety medication or if the issue can be solved with behavioral modification alone will work.
2. 90% of shelter dogs are not housebroken when they are adopted, even if they were brought in housebroken. The reason for this is because in the shelter they are not able to go outside to go to the bathroom. Volunteers and staff members can't get every dog out every day to do to the bathroom, that would be a full time job in itself. When a housetrained dog comes into the shelter they will try to hold it for as long as they can until they give up and go in their kennel and then they just keep doing it. Be diligent with your potty breaks and try giving her a treat every time she pottys in the right place. Now you're reinforcing and telling her that if she goes potty outside she gets something yummy, so she'll be more likely to perform that behavior again. Remember that you MUST go outside with her to give her the verbal and physical praise she needs when ever she goes potty outside. That is the MOST important part of potty training. If you don't consistently tell her she did something right, she is never going to know if she did or not.
3. She has likely never been taught to walk properly on a leash or if she has, she's just so excited to finally be out and wants to see as much of the world as she can. This is easy. Start on your walk and the second she gets to the end of the leash and starts pulling you say "Ah!" and walk in the other direction for 5 steps; say "Good Girl" if she stays near you and doesn't pull and turn around again. This may result in you walking in circles for a long time, but that's okay. You're trying to get her to realize that she doesn't get to go where she wants to if she doesn't stay near you and that she has to pay attention to you and where your going on walks.
4. You're bang on with the dog aggression issue. The other dog attacked her and now she feels so vulnerable around other dogs and is scared that they will attack her that she puts up a wall and tells the other dogs "Hey, don't mess with me. I won't let you get me again." This can be a simple issue to fix. Have another dog that she is not familiar with or that you know she barks at (but is unresponsive) stand in the middle of an open space, with another person holding its leash of course. Now you and Charlie (on leash) should start walking towards them; make sure you are starting from a very long distance and that both of you have firm grips on the leash. The second Charlie starts barking, you stop. When Charlie stops barking for a full 5 seconds then you and her turn around and walk away. Repeat this a BUNCH of times. Your goal is for her to understand that the dog is 1) not a threat and 2) that her barking does not affect the dog and 3) she only gets to walk away from the dog (which is what she's wanting) if she is quiet. Don't let Charlie's leash be taught. A tight leash can stress a dog out and make the problem worse. Also make sure that you are calm and not nervous or she will believe there is something to be nervous about. It may be best to work on this after she has learned to not pull on the leash.
Thanks for not giving up on Charlie. I know she can be the dog of your dreams and you are obviously committed enough to making her a permanent member of your family.
Hey Mark. I would definitely invest in a dog trainer for this case. Charlie (I love that name! Someday I'm going to get a rescue Pyr and name him Charlie!) sounds like she has so many problems that a trainer would be so beneficial for your family and her. But here are the most likely causes and common solutions for her problems:
1. I'm assuming she's chewing through her crate when you are gone? This is a classic case of separation anxiety. Think about it from her POV. She's been put in this wire cage and then you leave. Well she doesn't know where you went, she doesn't know that you are going to come back in 2 hours. Because she doesn't know, she goes into panic mode and starts thinking, "I need to get out of here!" and starts fighting to get out of the crate. Her anxiety is like a panic attack for humans. It's scary for her. This sounds so bad and unfortunately it can be quite common in rescue dogs, especially ones that have come from a typical shelter enviornment. A professional trainer will be of great benefit in this situation as they will have a very specific treatment plan and will be able to tell you if a visit to the vet is a good idea to look into anti-anxiety medication or if the issue can be solved with behavioral modification alone will work.
2. 90% of shelter dogs are not housebroken when they are adopted, even if they were brought in housebroken. The reason for this is because in the shelter they are not able to go outside to go to the bathroom. Volunteers and staff members can't get every dog out every day to do to the bathroom, that would be a full time job in itself. When a housetrained dog comes into the shelter they will try to hold it for as long as they can until they give up and go in their kennel and then they just keep doing it. Be diligent with your potty breaks and try giving her a treat every time she pottys in the right place. Now you're reinforcing and telling her that if she goes potty outside she gets something yummy, so she'll be more likely to perform that behavior again. Remember that you MUST go outside with her to give her the verbal and physical praise she needs when ever she goes potty outside. That is the MOST important part of potty training. If you don't consistently tell her she did something right, she is never going to know if she did or not.
3. She has likely never been taught to walk properly on a leash or if she has, she's just so excited to finally be out and wants to see as much of the world as she can. This is easy. Start on your walk and the second she gets to the end of the leash and starts pulling you say "Ah!" and walk in the other direction for 5 steps; say "Good Girl" if she stays near you and doesn't pull and turn around again. This may result in you walking in circles for a long time, but that's okay. You're trying to get her to realize that she doesn't get to go where she wants to if she doesn't stay near you and that she has to pay attention to you and where your going on walks.
4. You're bang on with the dog aggression issue. The other dog attacked her and now she feels so vulnerable around other dogs and is scared that they will attack her that she puts up a wall and tells the other dogs "Hey, don't mess with me. I won't let you get me again." This can be a simple issue to fix. Have another dog that she is not familiar with or that you know she barks at (but is unresponsive) stand in the middle of an open space, with another person holding its leash of course. Now you and Charlie (on leash) should start walking towards them; make sure you are starting from a very long distance and that both of you have firm grips on the leash. The second Charlie starts barking, you stop. When Charlie stops barking for a full 5 seconds then you and her turn around and walk away. Repeat this a BUNCH of times. Your goal is for her to understand that the dog is 1) not a threat and 2) that her barking does not affect the dog and 3) she only gets to walk away from the dog (which is what she's wanting) if she is quiet. Don't let Charlie's leash be taught. A tight leash can stress a dog out and make the problem worse. Also make sure that you are calm and not nervous or she will believe there is something to be nervous about. It may be best to work on this after she has learned to not pull on the leash.
Thanks for not giving up on Charlie. I know she can be the dog of your dreams and you are obviously committed enough to making her a permanent member of your family.
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