New Dog Owner-help please (long post)

LilChipMunk26

To help my dog feel more secure in her crate I used towels and blankets, something with me and my husband's smell on it. If it is an open crate, meaning a crate where you can stick your hand in there to pet him, then try covering it up to make it feel more like a den. Also if at all possible put the crate in the bedroom with ya'll, with nice blankets and a bed, whatever Ozzy likes to snuggle up to or sleep on. Right now with the water and food thing...he is probably thinking that this is where he eats and drinks instead of his safe haven. Try putting something in the crate that makes it look like somewhere he would like to sleep and retreat to. You can still leave the treats in there...to lure Ozzy in there to check it out. Try that and see if that works. I hope so !!! With my dog she doesn't like to be out in the open...she prefers her crate to be in a corner...she does the same thing with her bed at night as well. It makes her feel more secure and safe.

allison

I think I just made a rookie error... I went to take a shower and didn't put Ozzy in his confined sleeping area like I usually do. I figured: he just pooped. I came downstairs to a pee puddle on the front room rug and Ozzy snuggled up on my couch!! Grr! I calmly walked past the pee puddle and went straight to Ozzy and said "off!" He got off. When I was puttering around trying to clean up his mess, he started whimpering a little, so I let him outside. He just layed down. I know it is totally my fault that he peed on my rug, I should have left him confined. I seem to think that his peeing and snuggling up on my couch was an act of spite that I left him alone for a few minutes... but I have been told dogs don't think that way. Would Bitter Apple help keep him off my couch?

ara28

Hi allison, a lot of people have given you great ideas so I'm not sure if mine will help at all but i'll just tell you how I do things. First off, with the pottying, I live in an apartment so I have to walk him for him to relieve himself. Whenever we venture over to my dad's house or my sister's house (they have yards) and I put him in the back yard he will not potty he will wait until we leave. He has this thing where he will not potty anywhere near where he plays. He's only ever had two accidents in the apartment. 1 was explosive poo beacuse he got into some eyedrops and it was EVERYWHERE!, that was in my old apartment. And the last time was in the current apartment because he had a UTI so he had to pee more frequently and I couldn't come home for lunch to walk him so he had an accident in the apartment right by the front door. So our typical potty/walk routine is in the morning after feeding him, after work and then before bed. Even if I lived in a house, I would probably still take him out on a schedule because I figure its better to let them out to potty and they don't have to then don't let them out to potty until they alert you, but they don't alert you...i think that's just asking for an accident. And next, with leaving him alone while I'm gone.. He's not crate trained so he doesn't have a crate. We (me and my dog) live in a 1 bedroom apartment so when I leave to go to work or where ever. I shut the bedroom door and bathroom door and he just hangs out in the rest of the apartment. Per some comments from people on this site, I purchased him a slumber ball (its a bed) from fosterandsmith.com and he LOVES it. Everytime I come home that's where I find him so I just assume he sleeps there all day or something. Hope that helps?

allison

Hi ara!

Thanks for the post! I wish Ozzy would lay in a doggie bed when I'm not home, but I just know he would get into trouble lol. I am going to get a blanket or pad for his crate tomorrow and then see if he will take naps in there while I'm home! I will take him out to potty though and not wait for him to alert me... my question now is do I take him to his designated sopt even though he doesn't want to go there or just let him out and wait for him to find a spot?

By the way... the people on this forum ROCK!! Thanks all for your continued help

melgrj7

To keep him off your furniture when you aren't there to supervise you will need to use a deterrent spray or get a scat mat or something similar.

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ara28

I can't help you with the designated potty spot because I don't use one of those. I would just think that for now, any pottying outside is a good thing. Maybe once he gets used to that then you could start focusing more on the potty spot. I don't know though.

allison

I'm at wits end. Ozzy has not peed since about 6pm last night when I took him on a walk. He has not pooped since noon yesterday when I came home and took him out of his crate. He has eaten since then... twice! I let him out first thing in the morning... nothing. I let him out 30 min after eating... nothing. I let him out just now, he layed in the sun lol. He's got to have to go! Am I just projecting onto him that since I have to go after eating and sleeping that he does too? I know if I put him on a leash and take him for a walk, he will pee, but I think that's more him marking than peeing. I want to get him on a regular schedule and so that when I take him out he does his business. I am so stressed about this.

melgrj7

Give him a couple of weeks to settle into his new home. If by then he is still holding for it long periods of time I would take him into the vet to make sure he is ok.

MyCharlie

I agree with mel. Just keep taking him out at regular intervals. If he pees/poops, great (wherever it is as long as it is outside)! Treats and praise! If he doesn't, no biggie, go back inside until next time. He'll learn where he's supposed to go and eventually hold it until you take him out. I read on one of the posts on here a while ago someone suggested NOT waiting for the dog to alert you that he needs to go. They go when you take them out and hold it in between. I'm not sure if that applies to training with a new dog or not, though. We take Charlie out if it's been a while and he's sitting by the door staring at us.

Break things down - first potty outside. Maybe even for a few months if that's what it takes. THEN move on to the specific area outside where you want him to go.

Charlie is only 9 months but sometimes he holds it for what seems like FOREVER!! I take him out for his last potty around 10-11 pm but if he went around 8 (usually when we walk) then sometimes he won't go at our last potty break. So back inside we go and try again in the morning! And sometimes he doesn't go right away in the morning either. Who knows.

I have also read that it's not so much inside/outside that dogs differentiate, but what they actually learn is not to pee where it smells like "home." So for example, if there is an area of your house (like a certain room) that you are not in very often, it might smell different and they might pee/poop there.

And I think these DFers rock too!!! I have learned sooo much since joining the forums last fall!!

allison

Thanks everyone!

Mycharlie... you may have something here. The couple times Ozzy did go to pee/poop in the house it was always in the front room where we honestly never go. So I am hoping to catch him there again so I can correct.

I have stopped taking him to the yard on the leash. Should I start that again? I also have a feeling that as the day gets hotter (it's been 115 here) that the rocks are too hot for his feet. So I try to walk him over to a shady spot. Ugh! I know it shouldn't stress me out, but it really does!

allison

Guess what? For those of you following the Ozzy drama here's what happened!

Yesterday I bought Ozzy a soft crate pad. I left him in there from 8pm -11pm while I went to meet some friends who came into town. When my husband got home, there was no pee or poop and Ozzy was sitting in the crate thumping his tail. Hubby let him out of the crate after a few minutes and took him outside. Nothing. Then he took him for a leash walk and Ozzy peed on every bush, lol. When they got back to the yard, he let Ozzy off the leash. Ozzy went circling near where he had pooped before and he pooped there again! Yippeee! Of course my husband went nuts praising.

Then, at about midnight, we were watching TV and guess what Ozzy did??? He walked right into his crate, plopped down, curled up and went to bed!!!! I was ecstatic!!

Then, this morning, I took Ozzy out first thing. We went over to the poopy spot. He sniffed at the poop for a minute. Came back to me. I said GO POTTY. He went back to the poop, circled, and pooped!!! YAY! More praise! Then we sat on the outside couch and I gave him some love before going back in!

Now if I can get him to pee in the yard I would be 100% happy! But this is a major breakthrough!!!! Yipppeeee!

MyCharlie

Woohoo! I'm so happy for you guys!!

I had a ton of questions when we first got Charlie and asked a lot of questions similar to yours. I was soooo worried that I would do something wrong, etc. But now I've learned that most things work themselves out on their own with guidance and patience on our end!!

I bet the peeing in the yard thing will work itself out too, especially once he goes once or twice in the yard and he gets lots of praise for it! The first week we had Charlie I would try to praise him for peeing in the yard and he'd run away from me, like he was trying to get as far away from his pee as possible! LOL Luckily he was very easy to train and only had 2-3 accidents in the house.

Again, great job! And keep us posted!

allison

OK so someone in this post said that it all came down to common sense...

I started really thinking with my brain instead of my heart. Ozzy pees on bushes on walks... logically I thought, DUH... plant a bush in the yard. We did. He peed on it without hesitation!

YIPPPEEEE! Thanks to everyone for letting me vent and for your feedback!

terryjeanne

That's cute (and a great idea). Most people plant bushes so the landscaping looks nice or for privacy, noise reduction, etc.

Dog lovers plant bushes so the dog has a place to pee I guess that's all Ozzy needed.

allison

Ozzy loves his new plant! This morning I took him out first thing as usual and he did something so cute. He ran over to the place where I always tried to get him to potty, sniffed around... then ran over to the new bush and stuck his head in it (LOL) and then peed right on it! THen he walked around a little and ran over to where he has been pooping and pooped! OK, so he has a pee place and a poop place...lol... what a spoiled Ozzy! But I don't care as long as he is pottying!

He still doesn't eat much, but we're working on that!

PS... new avatar of Ozzy

rosemaryninja

That's adorable. It's pretty amusing when you realise you've taught your dog something inadvertently, and it's also quite amazing to note how specific their learned behaviour is. Anyway, congratulations!

allison

So I can tell Ozzy is getting more and more comfortable here!

Next step is to defintely get a trainer because he only really listens when he wants to... lol.

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