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Desperately need help with my puppy - really getting frustrated.

1K views 8 replies 9 participants last post by  luv mi pets 
#1 ·
Hello,

I will introduce my dog and say that's it's a jack russell, roughly 7months old. Now, onto the issue.

We trained the dog to wee and poo outside, and in return he was rewarded treats. Everytime he did it in the house, we'd call him a naughty boy and he'd cower away knowing he did wrong. This strategy worked and we had him completely house trained at around 4-5months old.

These past two weeks have been HELL for all three of us in the house. Here's a rundown of what our little dog now feels compelled to do:

- Wee everytime we go to touch him, or whenever we tell him a command (i.e. go to bed).
- Wee wherever he pleases (today my housemate caught him having a full wee on the sofa... Great..)
- Refuse to go wee outside whenever I let him out. I'll let him out and he will just stare at me. If I close the door and leave him outside, he'll eventually go.
- Poos around the house. Drops nice little presents in the bedrooms.
- Does not listen to anybody at all. We will tell him to go to bed, and he will jump on the sofa. We tell him to get down and he wees...

Seriously.. It's just like, everytime we talk to him or go to stroke him, he wees. He is seriously frustrating us all and it's getting to the point where we just want to leave him outside with a bowl of food and water and let him sleep out there because his acts are just ruining the house and resulting in us washing the sofa covers every single day.....

Help is appreciated..

Thank you!
 
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#3 ·
Agreed, if it's coming all of a sudden there may be an inbalance or an infection and they need to see a vet. If he's fine otherwise, then he needs to start housebreaking 101 again, and please don't discipline or yell at your dog for having an accident - that may contribute to his peeing when you try to touch him.
 
#4 ·
It sounds like he is a typical seven month old terrier going through a typical frustrating developmental period, and also that he is scared of you. Go back to the basics, never let him alone, watch him constantly - never give him a chance to wee inside - take him out frequently and praise heavily when he goes in the grass (or wherever you want him to outside). At first really jackpot him, several treats in a row, lots of praise and petting, so he knows you are ecstatic about the wee. Punishing him when he goes inside can make him afraid to go anywhere, because he doesn't understand that inside is bad and outside is good, he just knows that sometimes when he goes wee you get angry. That's likely why he just looks at you when you take him out.

If he goes inside, you weren't watching! You should have been watching! Don't try to punish, just count it as a lesson in always watching him. Clean it up with an enzymatic cleanser to make sure the odor is completely gone, so that he isn't drawn to repeat in that location and continue with the frequent trips outside and heavy praise when he goes wee outside. Eventually he'll get that outside is the best place to go and is accompanied by thrills and praise, and he'll naturally graduate to always wanting to go outside. Then you won't have to watch constantly.

Hang in there, terriers know how to jump all over your last nerve and really push the limits on what you think you can handle, but once the growing pains are over the reward is worth it. Oh, and pray that you don't ever have to learn how to fix drywall. :D
 
#5 ·
It'll pass, I know that sounds cliche, but it's true. I have a terrier mix and the same thing happened with him, every time I tried to touch him he would pee on everything. So I started a new tactic that helped me a lot.

I would start by calling his name in a low voice from a few feet away (happy tone) then I would slowly make my way to him while still talking. I would then stop just a foot oe so away and reach out my hand. He would slowly make his way to me and then I would lift him. As time went on he got past his phase and I can now approach him running like a bat out of hell if I wish and no pee, he just joins in the fun.

As for the training, listen to the above posts. Terriers just take time.
 
#6 ·
He's fearful/submissive urinating (peeing when you touch him or talk to him). Others had great suggestions on this so I won't repeat it.

Also, when most puppies hit 6-8 months, they go through this weird stage where they forget a lot of their training. Especially potty training. And you just have to go back to step 1 with them for a while till they pick it up. Shippo went through it too. But you'll get through it! =)
 
#7 ·
This sure sounds like submissive urination. Sounds like stress and fear. The fact that he won't relieve himself in front of you anymore makes me wonder if you have yelled at him enough times for peeing in the house that now he thinks he's in trouble where ever he goes. I would back off of this pup and switch to a management style of house-training. I would give him less freedom but I would stop correcting him altogether.

I have terriers. None of them went through this stage. I would suggest reading Ian Dunbar's work on Error-free house-training and implement that program. Then I would work on trust building and confidence building with the pup.
 
#8 ·
I'll again cite the notion that it's likely some sort of combination of submissive urination and simply having a setback at his age. I went through such a stage (though not nearly as extreme) with my husky-mix last month and that was very much the suggestion of the situation (having a puppy set-back around that age), so I took away some of the freedom I had given him and just reverted back to some of the earlier training and habits of taking him out more frequently. It's worked quite well and have only had 1 accident in the house since, and that was completely my fault.
 
#9 ·
I would try to walk him at least twice daily. Walking helps stimulate the GI tract, but remember to be a good neighbor and pick up after your dog. These walks do not have to be long. A 10 to 15 minute walk will work wonders. You have a terrier and they need more than just out the door for pee break in their exercise regiment.
If you can not watch him in the house put him in a crate. This will avoid the accidents. The other thing is to tie him to you. This way you have a better way of keeping track of his whereabouts.

Second thing I would do is look into obedience classses for him. It sounds like he is trying to push your buttons on his selective hearing. You could be sending your dog the wrong message and a trainer could help in that area.
 
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