Need a lot of help =\

I tried another dog forum with little success-not that anyone was unhelpful but no one really replied tome, anyway.

I live with a good friend of mine and hid girlfriend. He recently got a wolf/huskie hybrid about 6-7 months ago. This dog is an absolute nightmare. It pees inside all the time, it pees upon being pet, it pees upon seeing new people, and pees upon being scolded.

Every day i come home from work, she hears a car pull up and jumps up along the fence to see who it is. I gently rub her head, look down and she's peeing everywhere. Same goes if i come home and she's inside. We literally have to pet her outside most of the time to avoid her peeing everywhere. She also does odd things, like laying on her side/back and just peeing in the air-often soaking herself in it. Many times i'll have let her outside to pee, and she'll find a spot and do it, and the instant she comes inside and i give her a treat and praise her, she'll pee if i start petting her again. A friend of mine stopped in from out of town the other day (the dog has never seen him) and upon opening the front door and walking in, she bolted into the kitchen and peed everywhere. My roommate just swears that she's still a puppy and will get over this, however I feel like it's gone on a little too long. He says he's familar with how to raise dogs as his family has had several over the years, and that she's still young and learning. However the dog's sister, which his parents own, behaves extremely well.

The next few things I'm not sure anyone can really help with; but she also digs under the fence to one neighbors yard, and actually jumps the some five-foot tall fence on TWO of the other sides of the fence into the other neighbors' yards. She's also fond of chewing holes in the carpet, chewing through cable wires both inside and outside, and of course chewing on shoes and slippers. She recently discovered she can lift the top of the trash can in the kitchen up with her nose, and cram her whole head inside. We've resorted to just putting something heavy atop the garbage can. She's also begun dragging her food and water dish all over the house making all kinds of noise and spilling water everywhere in the process. We can't seem to get her to respond to simple commands like "sit", "stay" or even "no". Once in a while she'll sit for food, but that's few and far between.

He's got what i guess you'd call a shock collar, it has a small remote and you con send electric shock's to it if it's behaving badly. I don't think this really helps anything at all, i don't think the animal understands why it's getting shocked and thus doesn't really learn.

Any small advice would be really appreciated, my friend keeps throwing some blame on me and his girlfriend telling us since he can't be around all the time (work and school) that we need to pitch in and assist him in training it. He's even thinking about getting another older well-trained dog because he thinks it'll help his dog learn, however i think that's a horrible idea and me and his girlfriend are really against it. Thank you.


*edit: oh yea, we can't get her to stop biting (play biting mostly but sometimes it hurts and or it's just terribly annoying) and jumping up on people =\

i dont beleive in shock collars. It gets dogs annoyed and if they dont know what they did wrong they can get irritated causing them to act out. I would teel your friend to talk to a vet to see what he thinks of all this peeing, if he does it as much as you say it could very well be a medical problem.
since he seems to be be a pup still you should take him to a training program, theres some all over,( example pet smart)
I beleive a shock collar is a very bad idea, and i think that is where this biting is coming in, i really hope he stops with the collar.

also maybe the shock collar has given her some anxiousness causing her to pee. hope this helps

I don't even know where to start on this one First of all, this dog is not all dog, it's a hybrid which complicates things. A lot of dogs suffer from submissive urination (this includes everything you have spoken of.) Some dogs outgrow this and others do not, but it usually is a puppy thing. When you come home, and the dog has done something bad, do you scold her? How excited do you get when you first see her? Is she left to fend for herself outside when you are not home? You have to realize that dogs that are left outside are often bored and they develop bad behaviors like barking, digging, and escaping fences. How do you discipline the dog? Does anyone hit or yell at her? You also have to realize that raising a hybrid is not the same as raising a dog. Some counties don't even allow them and require you to have proper housing to keep them. The rabies vaccine is not valid and I would recommend obedience training (A VERY IMPORTANT STEP IN RAISING A PUPPY) but I don't know if a training schools would allow a hybrid because they are considered unpredictable around other dogs and children at times. You can't blame her for her destructive behavior such as chewing slippers, escaping the fence, getting into the garbage, or not knowing how to sit. #1, she's half wolf, and #2 no one has taken the time to train and teach this puppy what is acceptable behavior. Everything this hybrid is doing is the fault of the owner it's sad that people get hybrids out of ignorance and not knowing the difference between a hybrid and a dog which is HUGE! I am not a trainer so I can't help you, but I will say to ignore and not show the dog any attention when you get home, don't even look at her or speak to her for 15 minutes until she settles and do it everytime she is approached for the first time by you or someone else and that MAY help with the submissive urination Please read the information at this link on hybrids
http://animalcontrol.citrus.fl.us/servlets/ac_pkg?showPage=Wolf Hybrids&dt=html

Yea i wish he had just gotten something nice like a yellow lab or something but he had to be "creative". i don't think he'd ever take it to an obedience training class because i think he feels he can train it on his own (also read: ignorance) and i don't think he'd wants to spend the money on something like that (sadly).

When i come home i used to just walk over to it and pet hit, but i got sick and tired of having pee splattered on my shoes so i just ignore it and walk inside. Usually after 20 mins when i've maybe had a snack and changed out of work clothes i'll let it in, and then it starts jumping all over me and won't calm down. When we're all gone for the day at work and or school we usually leave her outside, although with all her escapes lately i'm not sure what we're planning on doing with her. And yes she gets scolded, my roommate tells us it's ok to smack her on the nose when she bites and say "no bite" and she's supposed to eventually get the hang of it.

iwould suggest googling yahoo for the wolfdogz chat. the people on this email list are wolf and wolf hybrid owners and i believe they would be able to help you immensely. it is an email list not a forum like this. i dont own a wolf or a hybrid but i am a member there and the information they give to people is great. good luck

Hello Topo!

(Okay, this got long. I'm going to split it up into a couple of posts.) You're right in thinking there's a problem here. I sure hope we can help! I'm going to go with the quote/reply method just to keep my own mind moving in the right direction.

I'm tempted to say that a good percentage of this behavior in this particular dog is genetic; huskies tend to be difficult, but wolf hybrids are definitely hard to handle. Domestic dogs are basically developmentally delayed wolves. For about 14,000 years we've been breeding them to rely on us to provide them with food, shelter, and attention so we can get what we need from them in return. Because of this, when you mix a little wolf in with your dog, it's hard to know what will happen. It sounds like your roommate's dog is actually in excellent behavioral shape considering her genetic background. So part of this behavior is built-in. Don't place all the blame on her; this is partially the breeder's fault.

The behavior you're describing is called "submissive urination", and it's actually a fairly common problem, although this is the first time I've heard of it being so serious. It's actually a very friendly gesture from her point of view. She's saying, "Hey, I like you! I've got nothing to hide! I'm not scary!" She's showing that she recognizes your higher status. So if you think about it, you'll understand that scolding her or rushing her outside will only make her problem worse. ("Hey, buddy, everything's cool! Here's some more pee to prove it!") But the good news is it can be brought under control fairly easily. First, everyone in the home needs to tone down their behavior toward the dog. She's going to be intensely keyed into everyone's body language, and she'll react to the slightest change in your breathing, eye movement, posture, etc. Try to speak quietly, don't stare at her, and when you want to interact with her, crouch or kneel down next to her (not in front), round your shoulders, look at her out of the corner of your eye, and pet her on her side or chest. If she gets too excited and you think she may be getting ready to pee, back off a little and go do something else. This sort of action on your part will tell her that you recognize and acknowledge her submissive signals and that there's no need to resort to urination. Keep some good treats in your pocket. If you are down next to her and manage to stroke her once or twice without her urinating, calmly give her a treat, pet her once more, then get up and move away. (If you're having trouble even getting to that point without a puddle, follow all the above, but don't touch her. Just get down beside her, hand her a treat, then move away.) If she pees, she doesn't get the treat. Instead she gets ignored for 10 minutes. Then you can try again. This process is called "desensitization", where you define an undesirable behavior (the urinating), find the stimulus that causes the behavior to occur (attention and excitement), and expose the dog to controlled levels of the stimulus that slowly increase in intensity. As she gets better, pet her longer each time before you give her the treat. It may take a week or so before you notice a significant difference, but she'll get better and better as you work with her. Anytime you know she could have peed and didn't, be sure to give her a treat and then disengage. (I recommend the disengaging because if you get all worked up at her success, she'll start getting worked up and may slip back a step. Set her up to succeed and reward her success, but be sure you don't then set her up to fail.) Just watch your own behavior and teach her what you want her to learn.

This is a dog telling you she's bored. She's probably a very intelligent and physically active dog, which means for the average owner she'll be lots of work. If you don't give her ways to amuse herself, she'll find her own and chances are you won't like it! Take a trip to PetSmart and grab some Kong toys. (Kong.com is their website if I remember correctly.) They make several designs, and I'd pick up a couple of different ones. Kongs can be filled with treats or "Kong Stuffin", and they can keep a dog amused for long periods. There are "recipies" on the Kong website, but I tend to put in a little no-sugar peanut butter, then some regular biscuits (try to jam them up inside the wider rim so they're more difficult to get out), then some more peanut butter and maybe some deviled ham or liver paste. Then pop it into the freezer overnight to make it last a little longer. If you're giving a lot of Kongs, you may want to adjust her diet accordingly. Manipulating stuffed Kongs will stimulate her mentally, which brings her a step closer to "good dog". The folks at the store should be able to help you find some other toys, like puzzle cubes and toys with different textures and sounds to keep her amused and stop her playing with things like her bowls and the trash cans. (Although you're probably stuck weighing down the trash cans or finding some tighter lids.)

She's also going to need some serious physical exercise. Does she get to go jogging? Remember that huskies and wolves are both endurance champs. They can run allllll day, and to be happy and healthy (and therefore not driving you nuts) she'll need at least an hour of exercise every day. Tell your roommate to think about enrolling in a structured dog sport, such as agility or flyball (there's a wealth of information online about both). This will stimulate both her mind and her body, and a tired dog is a good dog! I have a wonderful time doing both agility and flyball with my dogs, so it's not just work for their benefit. It's also good fun for you!

The books Caninestein and Beyond Fetch will give you some great ideas on working with her. If you keep her entertained, there will be no reason for her to leave the yard. Roaming in her case is probably just due to boredom, although I'd like to mention that if she's not spayed, get that done ASAP. (It can remove the desire to roam and find a mate, and will eliminate any hormonal issues that can cause behavioral and health problems down the road.) Make sure someone goes outside with her frequently to play, to make her recognize the fenced area as a good, fun place where she's not always alone.

Obedience training will go a long way toward keeping her stimulated, and bond her to her trainers increasing her desire to stay home. (Plus, there's nothing more frustrating than a dog who won't "sit" when you tell them to!) You can try a beginner's class at PetSmart, which will help socialize her and introduce her to positive training. To really teach her tricks, you should train her yourself. The book The Complete Idiot's Guide to Positive Dog Training by Pamela Dennison is cheap and will give you a fabulous introduction to effective training. You'll be able to start training the same day you pick it up.

You've got that exactly right. The cause of her behavior makes a shock collar a bad fit. It will only compound the problems you're having now. I would stop using it immediately, before it begins to cause more problems than it will solve. Put the collar in storage for a while and try the methods above, especially obedience training. Soon she'll be a whole new dog!

I'm with you on that one. If he doesn't have enough time for one dog, two dogs will run completely amok. It's clear to me that you seem to care more about his dog's happiness and well-being than he does. He may not understand completely the responsibilities involved in owning a dog, especially one with the serious physical, mental, and emotional needs as those this dog's genes have given her. I'm sure she's adorable and probably quite beautiful, but he needs to realize that what he has is basically a child. She has needs that must be met or she will become an emotional wreck (and probably pull the house down around your ears in the process!) His responsibility to his dog is enormous. She's not a toy he can turn off when he's done playing with her. He's a daddy now. He needs to understand that. And you can tell him I said so!

When she bites, get up and leave the room. Completely ignore her for at least 15 minutes, even if she does something rotten to regain your attention. Reward her with treats when she plays without biting. In our house, biting is completely unacceptable, and the worst punishment for a dog is to be ignored. Any attention, even negative attention like yelling, is good attention to a dog. The same goes for jumping. Just turn around and face the other way. Don't acknowledge her at all. Then, when she stops jumping up, return your attention to her. If everyone in the house does this consistently, it won't take more than a couple of days to completely eliminate these obnoxious behaviors.

You should be a trainer! I can't tell you how many of my clients I wanted to grab and go, "What were you thinking?! Did you do any research before you got this dog?!"

See, you're a natural!

I'd stop the scolding, for the above mentioned reasons. I'd also like to add that no matter how much your roommate hopes she'll "get the hang of it", dogs don't know what in the world you're talking about until you teach them!!!! This is another thing I run into over and over again. People expect their dogs just to "pick it up eventually", even if what they're doing is completely meaningless from the dog's point of view. She doesn't speak English. She doesn't know what "no bite" means. He could be telling her "potato" for all the good it will do him. "No bite" is a really complex concept if you stop to think about it. It doesn't tell her what to do instead. If she's being mouthy, besides the recommendations I made earlier, give her a toy that she can chew on. Redirect her to a positive behavior and encourage her to do that instead.

Oh, and check this out too:

http://www.chazhound.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4022

Wow thanks for all the helpful replies everyone =D

Well i talked to him about the "submissive urination" problem, and he agreed that it sounds like that's what she's suffering from. I think i also got him to put away the shock collar too. We're discussing obedience classes and i told i'm i'd invest some time into trying to find some local to us, and maybe the three of us splitting costs (because we all want the poor thing to act better).

I'll check out those Kong toys too, sounds like something that could be very helpful. In regards to getting her spayed, my roommate is under the assumption that he's has to wait for her first "dog period" for lack of a better word. Is this correct? I know the neighbors dogs on both sides are male, 1 of which i KNOW is not neutered so yea that could become a real problem.

Again thanks for all the help everyone =)

Waiting until after the first heat cycle to spay is a complete myth. The sooner she's spayed, the less chance she'll have health problems in the future. (If she's around 6 months old, then it's time!)

Oh I'll have to let him know then, i think she's right around 6-7 months old =)

Again thanks so much!

Well, I think CreatureTeacher covered it all . And said it better than I could've.

Kongs are great.

You betcha.