STILL pottying in house :(

GreatDaneMom · 11-20-2008, 05:39 PM

im so upset. im supposed to know how to fix this since im training dogs now... and with other cases i could do it. but my Lexi (my dane in my avatar) is driving me insane! shes over a year old now and STILL potties in the house. BUT there is background to this....

1- she has bad SA. even when i take her to daycare (where i work when not doing obedience class) if she is on the other side of the fece (cuts yard in half into to units of medium and large size dogs) she cries and cries for me and wont play with the other dogs. if im in the group with her she will play, but constantly runs back to me for comfort. even if im with her all day in group, i leave for my 1/2 hour lunch and come back, and she barks and barks in my face and barges into me as if to say "i cant believe you left me! i missed you! i thought you were never coming back!!!!"

2- i think its because of the SA that she potties in the house. she DOES NOT do it when i am at home, only when shes at home alone (with our other dog of course)

3- part of it may also be because she was doggie door trained for the first 5 months of her life?? this is just my own personal thought. she was always allowed to go whenever she need to when she lived there. we have had her for a year come the day after thanksgiving.

i have tried crate training her. the problem is that we have a small apartment (1 bedroom apartment) and the crates take up almost our whole kitchen. also my other dane had HOD as a pup and needs to be able to get up and walk around when needed because she could easily develop arthritis. i cant leave Lexi crated and her to roam free because Lexi will cry and while ALL DAY. also i really dont want to crate Lexi since finding out that she has moderate hip dysplasia in her right hip. i want her to be able to get up and walk when she needs.

sooooo, anyone have any suggestions for me? we are hoping to move into a house within the next year, and there i do plan to have a doggie door. but i really cant live with having to clean up messes everyday that they dont go to work with me for another year!!!

TooneyDogs · 11-20-2008, 08:05 PM

A couple of thoughts: You could be right about the doggie door....she never had to learn to hold it. Secondly, when you're home, I suspect you anticipate/recognize the signs and accomodate her need to go....but, again, she's not learning to hold it (I'm assuming she is NOT telling you outright that she needs to go out by barking/whinning, etc which tells you that she really knows that going in the house is wrong).
It could be part of the SA but, if it is, there is no 'training' that you can do....only minimize the accident areas with crating and treat the SA with medications.

RawFedDogs · 11-21-2008, 01:05 AM

You are a trainer. You know how to cure this but you want to find another magic solution buth that way doesn't exist. You are trying your best to avoid the knownway to fix it because you don't want to distress your dog.

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Originally Posted by GreatDaneMom

i think its because of the SA that she potties in the house. she DOES NOT do it when i am at home, only when shes at home alone (with our other dog of course)

You are making excuses for her. As long as you make excuses, you are excusing yourself for not fixing it.

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part of it may also be because she was doggie door trained for the first 5 months of her life?? this is just my own personal thought. she was always allowed to go whenever she need to when she lived there. we have had her for a year come the day after thanksgiving.

That might have been a posibility when you first got her but by now those muscles should have strengthened enough to hold it.

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i cant leave Lexi crated and her to roam free because Lexi will cry and while ALL DAY.

Another excuse. Of course you can keep her crated. We both know that is the ONLY solution to your problem right now. You are just trying your best to avoid it. Either Lexi is crated and being house trained or she is crapping all over the house. One or the other ... your choice.

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also i really dont want to crate Lexi since finding out that she has moderate hip dysplasia in her right hip. i want her to be able to get up and walk when she needs.

Another excuse. Another reason you don't want to implement the fix. I had severe osteoarthritis in my right hip ... Anytime I was laying still, it didn't hurt. I only had pain when I moved my hip. I have an artificial hip now and no pain anytime.

The osteoarthritis i had is very similar to dysplasia in dogs.

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sooooo, anyone have any suggestions for me?

Yes, stop thinking of reasons not to fix the problem and get down to fixing it. She's not going to get better doing nothing.

rosemaryninja · 11-21-2008, 01:50 AM

If you can't crate Lexi because you want your other Dane to be able to walk around, how about baby-gating your other Dane in another room/setting up an X-pen that she can stretch her legs in, so Lexi can't see her?

GreatDaneMom · 11-21-2008, 08:41 AM

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Originally Posted by rosemaryninja

If you can't crate Lexi because you want your other Dane to be able to walk around, how about baby-gating your other Dane in another room/setting up an X-pen that she can stretch her legs in, so Lexi can't see her?

i have thought about that, but the problem comes into play with Lexi being alone. she will do anything to get back to Chloe in the house. all she has to do is hear her. she would easily knock down an x-pen or baby gate to get to her, but like we have in our house is a baby gate to the bedroom, they will not challenge that gate if they are both together. if one is on either side, thats a whole new story.

rawfeddogs: do you know much about dealing with a dog who has SA? her SA has made SO many limits for us. im not about to crate her and let her tear herself apart in a crate because her sister is loose. thats not going to help any with her SA, only make it worse.

Elana55 · 11-21-2008, 08:51 AM

A dog with SA is hard to "fix." I can understand not crating her with a small apartment but NOT because of the inconvenience, but because of the nosie to neighbors. I could not tolerate a dog pooping in my house.. regardless of size.

IF you crate her and leave, does she poop in her crate? If she is crated and you are home does she poop in her crate?

If answer to #1 is yes and #2 is no, then you are probably correct and it is SA.

SA is a difficult problem. Often it requires medication. Even then, it may never be "fixed." Being a trainer I assume you have read "I'll Be Home Soon" by Patricia McConnell and have instituted any of the ideas or fixes in there and those have not worked.

Ultimately, the ONLY way you are going to fix this problem is to crate the dog when you are not there or have her in an outside kennel when you are not there (probably can't do this because it is an apartment). It will mean if she poops it will be, if nothing else, contained in the crate or outside in the kennel.

If she barks and annoys the neighbors so you cannot crate her or you cannot crate her for other reasons or you cannot treat her SA then you have to live with her pooping in your house. THAT is the solution.

Or you have to find someone to baby sit her.

Or you have to rehome her with someone who can crate her or kennel her or who never leaves her alone.

PS: when you leave the two dogs loose in the house, how can you be certain which dog is doing the pooping? Just curious.

RawFedDogs · 11-21-2008, 09:53 AM

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Originally Posted by GreatDaneMom

rawfeddogs: do you know much about dealing with a dog who has SA? her SA has made SO many limits for us. im not about to crate her and let her tear herself apart in a crate because her sister is loose. thats not going to help any with her SA, only make it worse.

Yes, I was a professional trainer for 15 years. I worked with several SA dogs. I also worked with several dogs whose owners THOUGHT they had SA but they didn't. Some I was able to fix, others I wasn't.

GreatDaneMom · 11-21-2008, 07:16 PM

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