New Dog Owner-help please (long post)

allison

Hello, I have been reading messages on here for a couple days and need some help from you nice people! This is a long post, but I do appreciate anyone who has the time to read it and help

Here's some background: I just adopted a 6 year old, 50 pound retriever/terrier mix. He is adorable! My husband and I picked him up 3 days ago from the shelter. I noticed from spending time in the shelter with him, that he already knows the commands "sit" "stay" and "no." I brought him home (he was an angel in the car) and immediately took him out back to where I wanted him to potty. He kind of sniffed around and looked at me, finally he sat down. I brought him in and tried to feed him the food that he has been eating, he wouldn't eat, which I read on here was normal for a rescued dog. (I read a thread on here that said to try adding chicken broth... I will try that tonight!)

He lounged around the rest of the night wherever we happened to be. He sniffed around a bit, no chewing or biting anything (phew!) I could tell though that his previous family let him up on the furniture, but I use a firm "no" or "get down" or sometimes carry him off, praising him when he lays down on the carpet. He will not go up on the furniture if I am in the room watching him, but turn my back for a minute- and he's snuggled up like he owns the couch, giving me cute puppy eyes like he isn't doing anything wrong! We let him sleep in the bedroom with us with the door closed the first night. He was totally fine, although I didn't sleep at all because I was listening for that "peeing on carpet sound"... you all know what I mean My husband didn't sleep a wink because he is new to having a pet and wasn't used to the dog sounds, but my doggie didn't pee at night and still wouldn't potty out back the next day. We took him for a walk on the leash and he peed on some bushes. I'm worried now because my backyard is all desert landscaped...no bushes or trees. I bought a "Pee Post" but Ozzy just sniffed it and walked away. I've been bringing him over to it everytime I let him out in the yard. I say "go potty" but all he does is walk away or lay at my feet.

I left him alone yesterday for the first time and gated him into the upstairs hallway with a blanket, water, and his bone (the same set up where he slept the night before). When I got home, there he was greeting me at the door! He had jumped the gate! I was away for about 3 hours and the house was fine, no chewing, no pee, no poop. However, today I left for only 1 hour. But this time, I stacked 2 gates so I knew he couldn't jump over. I came home to poop and pee; and he was frantic...like he didn't think I was coming back. I put some of his poop outside by the Pee Post, I'm hoping that will work. But, did he poop and pee because he was locked up, or will he do that if I leave him alone no matter where he is?

I am worried because I am off of work for the summer, but when I go back to work my husband and I will be gone from about 7am to 4pm. I would like to get Ozzy acclimated to being home alone, maybe even give him free reign of the house... but not if he will jump on the furniture or pee and poop everywhere!

Again thank you to anyone who read this long babbling of mine! Any advice, wisdom, help on any or all of my issues would be GREATLY appreciated.

melgrj7

For keeping him off the furniture you can try putting tin foil or seran wrap on it, it scares some dogs off the furniture. If that doesn't work you can get a scat mat. Or try spraying it with a repellent.

As for him being frantic when gated off, maybe he has problems with being confined. If he did fine the first day with being loose, do a few short test runs. Try leaving him loose and leave for 15 minutes. Come back and see how he is doing. If you have a web cam, you can even set that up to spy on him. If he does fine with 15 minutes, then try it again for a half an hour, and keep increasing the time.

allison

Thanks mel! I love your idea about leaving him alone for just 15 minutes then increasing the time. I'm a little scared to do that but I will be brave and try it.

About him being confined... how come he was fine the entire night in the same situation? He didn't try to jump over the gate at all. In fact he slept the whole night through.

By the way, your dogs are beautiful!

melgrj7

Its different if mom and dad are there If you are worried you can do an even shorter time to start, like 5 or even 10 minutes. To avoid or minimize separation anxiety don't make a big deal about leaving, and ignore the dog for 10 to 15 minutes before you leave. Also, ignore the dog when you get back. You can take him out to go potty, but don't give him a ton of attention. When I get home I ignore my dogs, I go through the mail or do a few things for a few minutes before I let them out of their crates.

If you do want him confined you can train him to be, but it might just be easier to let him be loose if he doesn't cause problems as it sounds like he did live in a house before.

and thanks for the compliment on my dogs

alphadoginthehouse

Maybe he was fine at night because you were there. It's different knowing you are alone and when your humans are there. And dogs have no concept of time...3 min, 3 hrs. Mine are always glad to see me no matter who short a period of time I've been gone.

I think Mel's suggestion is great. Daja used to howl the minute I closed the front door and I could hear her across the street or in my car, in front of the house. Now she does it occassionally, but not for very long. She KNOWS mamma is coming back...eventually.

Good luck and keep us posted!

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allison

Thanks for your reply alpha! So when you say that dogs have no concept of time, what exactly does that mean? For example, Ozzy just leapt up on the bed twice in 10 minutes. I said a firm "down!" and then kind of ignored him a bit. How soon is too soon to say he is a goodboy for laying on the carpet?

Also, would getting him a doggie bed help? Maybe he would lay in there and not want the couch so badly?

alphadoginthehouse

What I meant about not know time, I meant they don't care if your gone a short period or long period they are always glad to see you. But to leave for a few minutes at a time and praising him when he does well is the key. Like I said, Daja has figured out that I will come back (or so I assume) so she doesn't howl for as long any more. Just a few seconds.

If he got down when you told him so, and laid down, that's a "Good Boy" for me. Any time one of mine does what I have "asked" they get a Good Boy/Girl. He's going to need to be reminded frequently at first...I think it's a guy thing Repetition

Having something of his own would probably be a good idea. I have found that something that smells like me (when a new dog is brought home) helps. PetsMart has some very reasonably priced ones (if money is a consideration). They also have very nice fluffy pricey ones

Good luck...and there are lots of people who know more than I do on this forum so be prepared for lots of advice!

allison

I appreciate ALL of the advice I can get!

So this is cool!!!! I put chicken broth in Ozzy's food tonight! I added about 3-4 oz to one cup of food and he totally ate it!!! Yippee!! I added another cup of food and some more broth and he ate about half of that. I am NOT complaining... this is a major breakthrough! So now I am waiting for him to tell me he needs to go out and hopefully he will potty in my yard!!! Wish me luck!

About tomorrow when I will be gone for 2 hours... I have three options: 1. leave him alone in the house with all doors closed; 2. single gate him in his sleeping area and know that he will definitely jump the gate; or 3. double gate like I did today and most likely come home to pee and poop again!
I have not figured it out yet. But I will post what happens!

Thanks alpha and everyone for letting me vent! I welcome any help!

alphadoginthehouse

I would go with option 2...he might surprise you. But close any doors you need to and pick up the trash cans. No sense in giving him more stuff to get into.

It sounds like you are on the right track. And by summers end you will probably have a very well behaved Ozzie. Just be consistent (which I don't seem to be able to do). I get lucky with my dogs I guess.

Good luck!

MyCharlie

You have already got some great advice! Plus it's still early on, so it will still take some time to adjust and get your own routines.

I would definitely get a bed (or 2 or 3 lol). Charlie will pretty much always lay on one of his beds, even if it is in a carpeted room. So we have beds in most of the rooms.

I would say #2 too - you may not come home to poop and pee, he could be learning!

BTW, where are some pics of this little guy?

allison

Thanks Mycharlie! I am going to look at beds tomorrow. Is Petsmart the recommended location or can I try Kmart, Target, etc.?

About the pic... I am not quite sure how to put one on lol

And also, Ozzy hasn't pottied yet.. I took him out, brought him to his spot, said, "Go potty" and e sat down and looked at me... I'll keep trying!

allison

Hi everyone...

Ozzy pottied in the yard this morning, not quite where I wanted him to! He went on the patio near the couch instead of back in the corner near the Pee Post and his poop from yesterday... lol... but I guess it's a start! He also ate some more this morning. Only about a cup of food with chicken broth, so I hope he stars eating more.

About dog beds...any suggestions? Petsmart? Target? Kmart? any brand or type?

Also, I think I figured out how to post a pic of him by my name.

Thanks for any advice!

gingersmom

He's very cute! Glad to hear he's making potty progress. I would praise for any time he goes outside, even if not exactly in the desired spot.

I know that Target has beds... not sure how they compare in price. We got ours at PetSmart and they were not cheap, especially since some of the trim came off the first time we washed the bed. Definitely look for something that lets you take off the outside layer and wash it.

MyCharlie

He's a cutie!!!

As for beds, anywhere. They tend to chew them up so I buy the cheaper ones. That way I don't feel bad when the stuffing goes missing! lol

You know, another reason he might not be peeing where you want him to - Charlie tends to avoid the spots he has already been in. He doesn't have a specific area but he tends to stick to the perimeter of our yard. (We don't have a fence so we take him out on his leash to pee/poop). So anyway, he seems to avoid his own poop - like he'll smell it and then run away. So maybe the poop by the post is actually working as a deterrent? But I'm not sure - I'm not very knowlegeable about pee/poop.

crogers4

I'm not a dog owner yet (two more days, people!!! I really wish I could bypass the heck that is moving tomorrow and just go pick her up ) anyway, I've read some really good suggestions on here.

For gating- maybe he feels confined with two? If its the kind you can re-position, try setting it up higher on the wall- not so high that he can get under, though. That's what my sister did when her husky got a little claustrophibic in her kitchen with two gates.

For beds- they are SO expensive!! With moving and only graduating from college a year ago, $50 dog beds are not in my budget. I found a gently used mattress pad (foam, queen sized) on craigslist for $5. I cut it in quarters, put two on top of each other, and covered in with a fleece throw I had lying around. For the second one, I went to Goodwill and picked up a clean sheet for $1. If you're a sew-er (not sewer!!), just baste the corners together for easy cleaning. It was easy and reallllllly cheap, and the two I made are just a thick as the ones at pet smart.

allison

Hi crogers! Thanks for your doggie bed advice!

So just now, I single gated him... he jumped over and came downstairs... I took him up and gated him again... he came downstairs. I didn't want it to become a game to him, so I stopped. Is that giving in to him? Now will he think that he will get his way? Even though he is, I suppose.. lol
I tried to leave a small space under the gate when I double gated yesterday, that didn't seem to work.

So I think my option right now is to leave him free and see what happens.

Do you think he may have some form of separation anxiety? He follows me everywhere. If I leave a room, so does he. If I walk in circles, he will follow me! He relaxes when both of us are home, but still likes to be near us. I gated my bedroom door while I was getting ready today and he just layed in the hallway. When I went to the closet to put on my shoes, he couldn't see me and started to whimper oh so slightly. Nothing too bad. Just a few nose whistles.

I really want to trust him and leave him home! I guess should I just take a risk and leave him out???

FilleBelle

Nose whistles!!!! My dog does that too! It's more irritating to me than actual whining. Especially when I'm going to the bathroom... I have the option of either leaving the door open and being stared at while I pee by a single brown dog eyeball or closing the door and listening to the nose whistles until I finish.

At any rate, Alvin does what you describe as far as following me around, too. It's not necessarily indicative of SA, though. When I actually leave, he howls out the window once or twice and then promptly goes to sleep until I return.

I think the hint with leaving some space under the gate was to eliminate the double gating. If you just use one gate, but you put it higher up off the floor, then maybe the dog won't be able to get out, but also won't feel overly confined by the double gates.

alphadoginthehouse

I agree about the beds. I got a rather large one at petsmart for $20. The cover comes off and it has another compartment (w/a zipper) and its filled with shredded foam. They have an inexpensive line there but also have ones that cost 4x as much. I didn't know how this one would go over and if anyone would chew it up, but they all like it. Something to think about.

He may not be going where you want him to simply because he doesn't like to go in the same spot. Butch has to pee on the same spot as Rox & Daja and then they have to pee on the spot the others go on, and so on and so on. The fact that he didn't do it in the house is a time for praise period. I trained one dog by everytime he did ANYTHING outside,he got a reward treat. Soon it worked by praising him without the treat. Praise goes a long way with a dog. Their aim is to please their humans...most of the time.

Good luck and he is a fine looking dog. Keep us posted.

allison

Thanks alpha! He is a cutie huh! And thanks fillebelle for your advice, I am literally trying anything and everythng people tell me to do! By the way, how do I let him know that he is a good boy for not pottying in the house? It seems I just tell him he's good all of the time, because he really is!

Sooooo...the drama continues...

I took a risk and left Ozzy out... went through the garage, got in my car intending to drive around for 10 minutes... and my car won't start. GRR! It's dead.

So I go back inside where Ozzy is thrilled to have me back of course! So, no doggie bed till later and Ozzy is happy, even though I will miss my appointment!

So my risk taking didn't work out! You just can't make this stuff up... lol

jesirose

Treats and affection work much better than "Good boy".

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