accidents after a year? barking at the slightest sounds? (bulldog, poodle, poop)

[jadedSOUL83]

My dog is 9 months..had her for the last 5. I posted the other thread about average housebreaking age people noticed with their dogs, but I'm interested to see how many people if any saw their dogs having accidents after they were a year old?

She knows to go to the bathroom when we go outside, but she doesnt seem to know that it HAS to be outside and only outside. Its like she thinks, inside or outside is ok, but I have to go everytime that he brings me out.

she also will bark at literally nothing while in our 3rd floor apt. Like right now theres no noises, shes growling and barking. I told her to stop, I called her over, had her sit, lay and she does all that while still growling and barking. I do the "look at me" command and she looks at me, then keeps growling. She barks at every dog outside when shes on her leash, but off leash she plays fine with all dogs. She barks at her reflection in the mirror, dogs on tv, tractors, bicycles, horses, in person and tv. I do nothing but set proper boundaries for her and show her unconditional love. Shes been through the beginner and intermediate obedience classes. This all happens regardless of whether I exercise her for an 20 minutes a day or 2 hours a day. I dont know why she is so unbalanced and has so much anxiety/stress it seems like. I love her to death, but I'm uber jealous of people who had easy dogs. My last dog was an american bulldog and was so easy and friendly with barely any socialization as a pup. I think mixing hound and doberman is just a messed up temperment mix.

[kelly3120]

cody has started barking more at night ad we decided he's not use to the house and wind sounds. We've put him in his crate next to the bed for now and will let him out as he quiets down

[riveree]

Did you move at any point since you've had her?

I have a female who was housetrained at a somewhat normal age (took her a while though ), but then we moved when she was 2. She totally regressed. I woke up to pee and poop every morning after we moved .

I had to train her all over again. It wasn't her fault, she just didn't realize that this new house was her house, her den, so she pooped in it !

[jadedSOUL83]

no moves I suspect that since she was mostly an outside dog for the first 4 months of her life w/ her previous owners that she got ingrained with being able to pee and poop whenever she wanted..so maybe its just bad habits popping back into her brain here and there...I guess patience with my white rugs is a virtue I've gone through almost 20 bottles of Natures miracle at over 10 dollars a bottle! I laugh but its not funny.

[PudelPie]

Hey jadedSOUL83, it's not likely a preordained breed mix causing troubles...and it sounds like part dobie/part hound could be a wonderful mix! First, re: the barking at nothing, keep in mind that dog's hearing/sense of smell is something like 1000 fold more attuned than ours--so nothing to you could be a whole lot going on for her. As for training, when I first got my Poodle, I hung a strip of bells on the door knob for her to indicate when she needed to go out (I too lived in a third floor unit at the time); I think only once she rang it because she wanted out, not having anything to do with the need to eliminate. I recently adopted an Aussie, who had always lived outside and he has had to learn not to pee/poo in the house. He learned how to ring the bell the first weekend!!! (so smart) but he occasionally has accidents (I believe he rings it when no one's home, then poops if need be....) Anyway, major treating of outdoor/poop/pee behavior, of course (I realize I've been less diligent about that). Your girl will come around, and despite what it feels like when you're in the midst, puppihood really does pass very quickly--my Poodle is 9 already!!! Best of luck to you. PudelPie

[riveree]

Originally Posted by jadedSOUL83

no moves I suspect that since she was mostly an outside dog for the first 4 months of her life w/ her previous owners that she got ingrained with being able to pee and poop whenever she wanted..so maybe its just bad habits popping back into her brain here and there...I guess patience with my white rugs is a virtue I've gone through almost 20 bottles of Natures miracle at over 10 dollars a bottle! I laugh but its not funny.

Woolite makes a pet stain remover with Oxygen that does a great job of cleaning up and neutralizing the scent.......might be cheaper than Nature's Miracle and the Woolite is sold in regular grocery stores (cleaning product aisle).

She's only 9 months, so it may just be a stage. I would go back to the foundations of her earlier training. Could she be giving you signals that she needs to go out but the signals are so subtle that you're missing them?

I'm going through this with my new charge. Also an outdoor-only dog before I had her (was terrified of ceilings !). Mine is possibly as old as two (we'll never know for sure). She is very subtle with her signals, so if I think there is even a chance that I'm getting a signal, I take her straight outside.

The barking sounds like boredom/complaining......teenage angst?

Of course, you want to make sure there are no health issues causing the behavior change.

White rugs.....now you're teasing us! You have white rugs and a dog.....really ? Well, enjoy them while you can, you'll probaby be choosing "brown" going forward .

But seriously, some dogs are slower learners in these departments. The female I mentioned in my earlier post was just that. She's not "slow" in any other way, but she was slow to learn housebreaking more than any other dog I've ever had and then she regressed. She's 6 now and it's long worked out, I haven't worried about accidents in many years .

[gardener34]

Some dogs take over a year and a half to get totally housebroken. Take her out often. VERY very very often. Like every hour and a half to two hours when you are home. Never such a thing as too often. She will get the hang of it quickly if you do this. Just eliminate the smell from the areas she peed in or she will go back to them.

My one old dog was a rescue dog that was kennelled until age 8 when we got her, and she would never bark to be let out. She gave you "the look" and headed for the door. More than ten minutes waiting and she would pee right there if you didn't get her outside.

I have housebroke dachshunds which are notorious "pee-pee" doggies.