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We have two dogs that constantly poop and pee in the house as well as outside. They are a 4-5 year old Yorkie and a 2 y
I moved in with my boyfriend three months old with my Yorkie. When it was just me and my Yorkie, he never pooped and peed in the house. Same with my bf, his dog never did the same. When I moved in with my bf and we brought the two dogs together, they starting soiling in the house. My bf and I are getting really frustrated about this and he starting to rub noses in the soilings and I don't believe in that and I think there has to be another way. Please advise. Thank you!
Asked by
Guest 975319
on Nov 4th 2009
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in Behavior & Training
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- This question is closed.
Best Answer
Start from scratch and house train your dogs. Disregard the idea that this is a dominance issue. Most of that theory has been discredited and this is a training issue.
Rubbing a dog’s nose in a mess is not productive. Dogs will only associate a response with an action within a 3-second window of time. If you call your dog to you, point at a mess, yell, and then rub his nose in the mess you have just punished him for coming to you or sitting by you while you ranted and raved.
Basically watch the dogs closely, praise and pet every time they go potty outside. If you see them looking like they need to go rush out the door and praise after the deed it completed. If you catch the dog starting to go, say NO and rush the dog out of the door. Praise and pet when the job is finished outside.
If you want to use a punishment, roll up a newspaper tightly and hit yourselves on the head for not watching your dogs closely enough every time there is an accident.
Fritz answered on Nov 5th.
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Answers
such harsh methods will never work. This really sounds like a leadership issue. The key to most behavior problems is approaching things using the dog's natural instincts. Dogs see all the people and dogs in the household as a pack with each having their own rank in the pack and a top dog. Life is much easier if the 2 legged pack members outrank the 4 legged ones. You can learn to play the role of top dog by reading some books or going to a good obedience class. A good obedience class or book is about you being top dog, not about rewarding standard commands with a treat.
Spay/neutering them will help too if not already.
When you are around you need to keep a close eye on the dogs. Use closed doors or gates to keep them in the same room as you are, and perhaps as I do, a short chain fastened to the computer desk. If you catch it in the act, give it a sharp ''Ah, ah, ah!'' and take it out. When you can't watch it, crate it.
A dog that has not been crated since it was little, may take some work. Start out just putting its toys and treats in the crate. Praise it for going in. Feed it in the crate. This is also an easy way to maintain order at feeding time for more than one dog.
Aster
answered 2 weeks, 4 days ago.
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Rubbing the nose in the mess is an antiquated and totally wrong thing to do with a dog or puppy. It has no effect on housetraining and it only serves to open up a whole behavioral can of worms you don't want.
I'm going to be blunt, the fact that your dogs are not housetrained is not their fault, it's yours. I know you may not want to hear that, but trust me, once you take ownership of that fact, it makes it easier to train the dogs. I'm not judging you, just trying to help out. A lot of owners find themselves in the situation you are in and until they take charge/responsibility, the situation does not improve and can get worse for both you and the dogs.
Pick up this book: How to Housetrain aDog in 7 Days. You can find it anywhere and it has both crate and non crate training. It's an inexpensive, short book and it works if you read it, follow through and are consistent. Basically, you have to go back to square one with the training, but no rubbing noses, please.
Good luck!!
Jack
answered 2 weeks, 3 days ago.
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