Roxie has a couple issues...

[Georgygirl]

Roxie has settled in pretty well, but she does have a few issues that I don't know how to address. The first thing is that she's been pooing in the apt. a lot lately. She doesn't pee in the apt though. I'll take her outside to go potty and then bring her in. She will go into another room and poo sometimes within 10-15 mins. I've been trying to give her a treat everytime she potties outside, but she still doesn't seem to connect the treat with going potty even though she only gets this particular treat for going potty. The other issue I'm having is that she gets very upset when she sees another dog while out for a walk. She jumps and barks, and pulls toward the other dog. I don't know if she's acting aggressive or excited. I usually end up picking her up because she gets so crazy. does anyone have any suggestions on how to deal with these issues?

 

[Taylor&Me]

How old is Roxie?

After she pees outside, use touch, words, and treats to praise her! Giver her the treat, tell her how good she is in your excited voice while petting her. Consider walking her until she goes poo outside. If she doesn't go, bring her inside but keep her crated for about 15 minutes. Take her back outside. Repeat until she actually goes outside. A sticky on training board gives an excellent advice on keeping records of when and how often she goes poo/pee after eating/drinking. I know my dog poos first thing in the morning, last walk before I go to work, again when I get back from work, and once more before going to sleep.

Taylor loves other dogs and would try to pull me towards them. If she's pulling you towards other dogs, I think she is excited... But you don't want her to pull you. You can either pull her the opposit direction or stop until she stops pullings/relieving tension. Then you can allow her to go say hi?

 

[Xerxes]

Peeing and pooping are two separate activities in the dog's mind.

Taylor gives some good advice there.

To add to that advice: If you clean up inside, take some of that poo with you outside. Find it and act excited as if you'd found someone's gold or diamond ring. Get her to sniff it. When she sniffs, reward.

The trick is to get her to associate outside (and a particular potty spot in general) with poo.

 

[malmo]

Is she using the crate? Might be a good way to go (no pun intended). It was the first thing we did with our new foster dog last year because I didn't know how he had been trained before.

Also, if she is on some sort of pooping schedule it would be good to know. Write down even the times when she poops indoors. Milo, for instance, used to go every morning before I left for school. If still hadn't gone before I left for work, I was on the lookout.

 

[smkie]

i found when i did the kennel work that dogs tend to move their bowels about 20 minutes after they eat. Also there is nothing like a good hard long walk to get the bowels moving, My dear mary is proof of that much to my embarrasment, she doens't even stop just plods on down the road like a horse. You need to feed on a schedule and watch to see how long after she eats she has the urge to void. Keep her on a leash until you know for sure. I agree she isn't relating the act. Are you walking her in the morning before you leave for work? As to the excited during the walk, get the stop sit and stay down inside then take it outside. When she starts this nonsense put her in a sit. Little dogs can learn it too. By picking her up you are removing her from the stresser, but not teaching her to control herself. t-touch massage helps as well in the very beginning. Use it inside while learning to sit stay down, massage, calm...low voice, gentle praise. Then test it outside when there are no dogs around, walk 20 feet, stop command, sit, stay...massage. You may have to find an area where dogs aren't around but there is still distraction. hardware stores are pretty good about letting me go in..around the outside of shopping malls works too. You will be getting the message to her that you are in command and she is safe, and that you have expectations of her. you got to start with the basics indoors, then expand slowly outside. All dogs should know those commands down pat. If they do the dog will know that you are the boss and they will feel safer in their world and fact is they will be safer for they won't instigate trouble and they will look to you for permission before they act.. Right now she is the one controlling the situation.

 

[Georgygirl]

Sorry, I didn't check back on this after a couple days!

Roxie is two, and I just got her a few weeks ago from a relative of my bf. I know she's been bounced around to a lot of different homes, and I think she might have been abused because she is pretty head shy and if you raise your voice at all she crouches down and curls up like you are going to hit her. I know at her previous home she was left to go potty in the house wherever she wanted to (pure laziness on owner's part). I think one of her main problems is that she;s very easily distracted when outside. It's kind of hard to get away from distractions because I live in an apartment complex in an area with a lot of apartment complexes, so there's usually someone moving around somewhere. I could take her on a short walk in the mornings because she usually has no problems going on walks. I don't usually take them on walks in the morning because Joey is pretty lazy and he sleeps in pretty late. But Roxie is usually up as soon as I get up, so maybe we'll have a little girls only walk!

Right now I walk her with a harness. Is that alright considering her pulling and issues with other dogs? Should I maybe switch to a collar? I should probably get her one of those martingale (sp?) collars because I think she could probably slip out of her regular collar, she's got such a pointy head! So if I'm on a regular walk with her and Joey what should I do if another dog and owner comes along? Should I get off into the grass and put her in a sit and try to get her to focus on me while the dog walks by?

Smkie- what is t-touch massage?