At the end of my rope (train, westie, children, puppy)

[Viralmd]

Leorah has giving you excellent, sage advice. You might also want to look at Turid Rugaas' website. Ms. Rugaas is an ethologist who specializes in canine body language: Turid Rugaas - Calming Signals Community.

You might also want to read Patricia McConnell's mindblowing book, 'The Other End of the Leash.' It will change how you think about dogs.

[StrugglinLI]

Great advice from everybody. I know we're focused on the house training issue, as that seems to be the big issue here.

In context, the issue of not being housebroken would lead to a return trip to the SPCA (although I hope not!). Running into a parking lot or a street uncontrolled may have a far worse outcome than a return trip to the shelter.

I've read a few books on obedience training (geared toward competitive obedience). They all are pretty good, teaching sit/stay/down etc.

One book contained a sentence that made the biggest impression on me. Basically it said the most important command you can teach your dog is it's name.

As you have pointed out, when panic strikes, in the heat of the moement, you say the dog's name, not 'sit' or 'down'. How many people would see their dog running into a street with a car coming and yell obedience commands? Most of us would just yell 'Fido!'

Say your dog's name. If it looks at you, reward. Eventually when you say your dog's name it will run at you.

Most important thing you can teach a dog, imho.

[miu]

Originally Posted by miamian in nc

I posted here back in the early fall, after I lost my dog, Princess. It was so empty without her, and I also missed the socialization with other dog owners. So, I looked around a bit at some shelters and in December I saw a beautiful dog at the SPCA. Her behavior seemed odd to me when I was first looking at her, and by that I mean she seemed distant. She had been given up by her owners to a local shelter, and then moved to the SPCA. I thought perhaps the many moves accounted for her behavior.

Her "distant behaviour" was not odd. She'd lost her family and been in a shelter for a while, so naturally she'd be cautious about being outgoing. Most of my shelter dogs were "distant" when I first met them. And their personalities blossomed over a period of time at home as they settled in. You were used to your Princess' close and affectionate personality, so of course by contrast, any new dog coming into your life would seem distant or impersonal.

Anyway, I adopted her and brought her home on 12/23. She, by the way is now eight months old. Within the first week of being here she had several accidents in my apt., mainly urinating. I did the wrong thing, I know, by pulling her to the spot and putting her nose in it, along with a lot of yelling at her. She never let me know she had to go out when she did urinate, and I never caught her in the act. It was always in places I'd never see immediately.

She is only eight months old and after being in a shelter in a kennel for a while, naturally she because less housebroken. And she was being sneaky about where she was urinating because she didn't want you angry with her, but she had to pee somewhere.

Within the first week or two, I encountered another problem. I took her with me in the car to the library to drop off a book, and she jumped out of my car and ran. Luckily someone in the parking lot helped me catch her.

Meanwhile, I took the dog for a long walk today, for I know she needs exercise being so young (combination collie rough and springer spaniel). I came home, did some work on the computer, and guess what? I went near my sofa to see another wet spot on the carpet on the other side of the sofa.

What is wrong with this dog? Has anyone been through this? At this moment I am thinking that I need to just take her back next week to the SPCA and leave her there.

I've been a dog owner all my life but never had such problems before.

Again, it's part of being a young dog with a lot of energy. There is nothing wrong with her imo. She is just a work in progress. You've only had her for just over a month, and that's not a very long time at all. Many young dogs end up in a shelter at her age and up to 2 years of age. Training a young dog takes time and effort. And that is why my personal preference is to adopt older and mature dogs. I would never adopt a puppy or young dog by choice.

My favorite dogs that were perfect companions "right out of the box" were both female terrier mixes, one found as a stray and one from TN through Petfinder. They were both about 7 years old, spayed and completely housebroken when I got them. As mature adults, they listened to my commands more seriously than a young dog. I do love my lab mixes, and the one that I adopted when he was a 1-1/2 years old took about 2-3 years to really become a good dog. Fortunately he loved being crate trained, he housebroke quickly, but we had to endure the last part of his chewing phase. Now he is about 6, and a wonderful dog. But we also knew that labs and goldens don't really become great dogs until 5 years of age. Last month, I took in a 13 year old rat terrier, and he's been a wonderful dog, no trouble at all and a great personality. He warmed up to me right away.

Oh and right now, I've got five puppies in my house. They are eight weeks of age. While they are very affectionate acting, they run to me and want to lick my face, they also have a very short attention span and are easily distracted. They love me as they love their mother, the source of their meals. Even though they've been weaned now for a few weeks, any time they have a chance to be with her, they immediately run to find her nipples. Anyway, I feel that the older the dog is, the more personality they have and more sincere their love and loyalty.

[dukester.2]

A lot of good advice here. With my Ridgeback he either goes to the door or after sleeping taking his many siestas he all of a sudden get up pace around a bit and give me that look, so I let him out. With your dog I would advise you to keep an eye on her since you are still going through house breaking. Don't let her have the run of the house while you are doing chores. When she does relieve herself outside praise her, praise like there is no tomorrow. All my dogs were initially crate trained when young puppies. I had one of my Ridgebacks House Broken within 12 days. Don't give up on her, she depends on you for your leadership and direction.

[brightdoglover]

My rescue girl, Eloise, was eight when I got her. She's lived in a hoarding situation for years (terrified of people) and then in a great sanctuary for years. Five months in a foster home where she was walked.
I have a large fenced yard, and my dogs just go out a lot. I work third shift, so there were sometimes accidents when I got home. I did get a crate for the scared girl, and after just a couple of nights, she'd run into it for her treat when I went to work. She'd have a large pee first thing outside. I also learned that she ran outside often, but didn't assume she had to pee or poop. She had learned "good busy/go busy" in her foster home, and seemed to need to be told other times than the morning run.
If I sleep through an out time, she will occasionally have an accident, but the overnight crating seemed to work wonders. When I'm sleeping at home on a night off, she sleeps in my room and never has accidents. I think she needed the routine and repetition to get it into her head how it works.
For that matter, I still praise everyone who goes outside (I have five senior mutts) even though two of the rescues would rather die than have an accident.
Good luck with the dog. I love her mix.

[miu]

Originally Posted by miamian in nc

First of all, my dog has never been unrestrained, even in the car.

Then out did she slip out of your car?

She is only unrestrained when she is in my home. Secondly, I am not a neophyte here. In my 50 years of living on this earth I have always had a dog. Perhaps I have not made myself clear here in that regard. What IS new to me is the fact that this dog continues to pee even on a schedule, for I am not an idiot that does not know I need to walk the dog every few hours. Thirdly, the crate idea is not a new one to me either. This dog was crate trained according to the shelter, and I therefore bought a crate immediately after getting her. I appreciate advice but I don't appreciate being talked to as if I don't know anything. For your information, I had my other dog for 12 years. I am still grieving for her. I have no family of my own and my dog/cat have been my family, so having to make the decision to have her put to sleep that horrible night was as painful to me as losing the only family I did have - my parents. Because of my religious convictions I even went so far as having that dog buried in a coffin at a pet cemetery. So do not tell me that perhaps I do not know how to make a commitment to my dog.

miamian - I feel that the title of your thread (At the end of my rope) is why some of the comments have seemed harsh to you. You've only had this 8 month old dog for five short weeks, so how can you be ready to give up on her? Anyway, that was my gut feeling reading your thread title and first post. It's going to take a few months to turn her into a good companion and maybe even longer to forge a bond that is as special as the one you shared with Princess. Every dog is different. Our former dogs unique and irreplaceable. It's important to treat our new dogs as individuals and not compare them to our past canine companions.

[Blondie621]

Please to not give up on this dog. There is no such thing as a bad dog and they do not misbehave on purpose unless some abuse was there prior or just an uncaring owner previously. She needs alot of love and patience and some basic training. Leorah gave you some great advice. Do not give up on her.....every shelter pet is worth the effort in the end! A shelter dog is the best you could have.
Also you need to be overcauscious with her everywhere, especially in the car. Mine stay in the back seat with their leash on and I do not open the car door to get out unless I have the leash in my hand in case they were to run. My lab/mix did that when I first got her....she went from the back seat to over my lap and out the driver door before I could blink and eye! Be careful and make sure her leash is in your hand first at all times when any car door is opened.

[Lana C]

I see a simple fix here (beyond much needed bonding). Hang some bells on the door knob and ring them every time to go out and potty, say "do you have to go potty..ring the bell." After a few times pick her paw up and have her paw the bells as you aske her if she has to go potty.."ring the bells". BIG WHAOOIES and potty party when she does her business outside. Most of the time the puppers don't have a clue how to tell you they need to go out, they simply don't know what to do. Ignor any accidents that happen in the house..only potty parties allowed. It will be sooo much fun!

[miamian in nc]

Thanks for the wonderful messages from those of you (almost all of you) who have been so encouraging and used the same kind words to me that we all must use with our dogs. I am going to hold onto thinking of my little one as a diamond in the rough. I loved the one comment about recognizing the pooping position. If only I'd been able to see it though because each time she has had an accident it's been when I've turned my head away for a moment, and yes, only a moment. Like someone said, some of these rescue dogs were tied up. We never know where they come from. But yes, as far as rewarding for the good behavior of peeing outside, I've consistently kept it up after implementing it.

[miamian in nc]

Sorry I missed some responses when I wrote back. Some I hadn't seen just popped up. Many thanks to you, and Viralmd, thank you too for the website you sent me. I have seen the Dog Whisperer a few times also but haven't been all that impressed by him as I thought I would've been. I love the idea of bells. Maybe we work into that with time too. I'll let you know what the behavior specialist says this week.