[Jennet19]

Help. My 6 month old schnoodle puppy was totally potty trained at 31/2 months. For the last week and a half he has started to pee on the floor at least once a day. Now he just peed in the middle of my bed. He is also getting more aggressive in his fighting with his 9 yr old brother. I don’t know whether to scold him. I have tried the water bottle to break up fights but I quit that and was trying to do positive reinforcement . He acts like he’s afraid of me now. I am at my wits end. Please help

 

[Shell]

Help. My 6 month old schnoodle puppy was totally potty trained at 31/2 months. For the last week and a half he has started to pee on the floor at least once a day. Now he just peed in the middle of my bed. He is also getting more aggressive in his fighting with his 9 yr old brother. I don’t know whether to scold him. I have tried the water bottle to break up fights but I quit that and was trying to do positive reinforcement . He acts like he’s afraid of me now. I am at my wits end. Please help

He probably wasn't exactly totally potty trained at that time but rather you had a good routine of taking him outside and he held it until then. Lots of people start to minorly slack off the routine when it seems the dog is housetrained and that can lead to backsliding.

But, that said, its also possible that he has developed a UTI causing indoor accidents. Peeing on the bed or other soft spots like rugs can be a sign.

Do not scold aggression. Aggression begets aggression. Instead, look for the cause. Is there resource guarding? When are fights happening? What injuries have happened? Is there is a big size difference? Are they ever unsupervised together?

Water bottle could make a dog afraid of you or your hands because he is expecting punishment. It takes time to earn back trust. Just like a small lie in a relationship can take a long time of truth to overcome.

 

[Jennet19]

What is resource guarding? No injuries. It is usually just mouth playing. The puppy is 10 lbs and the older one is 20

 

[Jennet19]

Also never unsupervised

 

[Shell]

What is resource guarding? No injuries. It is usually just mouth playing. The puppy is 10 lbs and the older one is 20

Mouth playing does not mean aggression exactly. Mouthing and making noise is normal play if both dogs are more or less equal participants, no one is scared and no one is hurt. No injuries often (but not always) means that the dogs are not serious about fighting. Best to keep an eye on them to learn more though. Do the dogs have some give and take in their interactions? The size difference isn't huge so that's helpful.

Here's an example of normal rough housing
[video]https://vimeo.com/185734485[/video]

[video]https://vimeo.com/223915928[/video]

Resource guarding is when a dog protects something he considers valuable by using aggression. For example, if there is food in the bowl and one dog is eating it while another approaches. The dog that is eating snaps or bites or attacks the other dog to protect/guard his food/resource. It can happen with food, toys and treats most often but some dogs will even get snippy over a couch or a bed space.

 

[Kathyy]

I got into trouble with Bucky and pottying. Unless he has a strong 'tell' and signals you that he needs out loud and clear it is super easy to miss the signals. One time he had been signaling without it being recognized as a potty signal and had to pee on the floor right in front of us. He wasn't in trouble, we were. I suspect he had been scolded in his previous residence for this as the look of relief on his face when he wasn't scolded about broke my heart. This was a 2 year old adult dog, a puppy has much less time to tell you he needs outside.

It may not be fighting but if it is too loud and boisterous for your liking then they don't need to play like that around you. Interrupt the play with a call to the cookie tin for a short break. They will likely go right back to playing but the interruption might help lower the intensity of the play and you didn't do anything that will damage your relationship with him. Bucky loves to bounce on Ginger and Ginger isn't a fan of getting bounced on. Bucky is easily distracted and usually he forgets about tormenting Ginger after getting a couple little treats during a minute long training session.