Puppy Survival thread part 4

[GooodMythicalMorning]

Puppy's getting bigger!: continuation of Bitey's thread. If anyone wants to join feel free.

My older 2 are siblings, they're 7 and complete pains in the arses! They are very dependent on each other and hate to be separated - even for walks. I'm lucky they don't fight as have heard it quite common, mine are both bitches (spayed).

Cornflake he has breakfast lunch and tea and the kibble is left down

I'm pretty sure ours has separation anxiety at the moment

Grey what problems are you seeing at the moment? Separation anxiety is a specific problem and a couple of people on here have experienced difficulties with it. I was very worried before having a puppy and looked at lots of research papers (rather than just trainers opinions) and it can frequently be diagnosed when it isn't actual SA and is therefore easier to rectify. Wolfie and blue have had issues so they can advise accordingly but if you can explain the symptoms you have right now then it might be easier to identify possible solutions.

Bitey she is absoloutley perfect in every way except every single time she is left unsupervised she poos and wees everywhere.

If I go out for 10mins, half an hour or even am sat in a different room she makes a mess and also at night without fail it's disgusting by the time I get up. I've got up through the night for months but she still does it repeatedly.

I've filmed and watched her, she isn't worried,barking or crying and isn't showing and distress behaviour. She is usually lying around playing then just walks off poos and goes back to whatever she was doing.

She is fully toilet trained when I am around and has plenty of toys and another dog for company so it isn't lack of stimulation. Sometimes she does try and sneak off for a wee but I watch her like a hawk.

I always walk her before I leave and make sure she has been to the toilet. I never greet her and always ignore her when I've been out so she learns it isn't a big deal. I've also spent forever leaving her for minutes at a time but she isn't distressed so it's hard to judge! It's more like she knows she's alone so she will just go to the toilet wherever she feels like.

She's crate trained and happily uses one but poos in it and isn't concerned about lying in it

She's 5 months old, hitting 25kg and I'm totally fed up of cleaning poo up, I feel like my house stinks constantly!

I'm sure it's more than a standard toilet training issue as she isn't stupid and she knows to go outside and on command. I've been doing the training with her since she was 8 weeks old and it's so frustrating

Sorry what a rant

Grey what pup do you have? Mines same age/weight as yours, have a GSD (well 3 altogether).

Grey totally understand why you are at your wits end. When you say she is toilet trained when she is with you but sometimes sneaks off for a pee does she actually ask to go out? I am wondering if she actually thinks it is ok to go inside and out? When I caught mine in the act I used to do a pick up and dash (and leave a trail of pee and poo ) to the outside and then praise outside so I think he got the Nope not inside bit (never told him off but I think the act of running outside during the act indicated that it was the wrong place) but if you are watching her I take it you have done the same thing. What floors do you have, carpet or hard? ( just wondering about residual smell for attraction).

Maybe others might have more ideas as well.

Thanks all. She is a german shepherd. I very nearly got a groenendael and at the last second (on the way to collect said groenendael!) had to have her instead but god she is hard work

She is the 5th GSD we have had and all of them have been clean from about 12 weeks so I'm obviously doing something wrong.

She never asks to go out. I work from home so let them out very often and she always goes outside so maybe that's why. She will wee and sneak off if I'm not watching but I am with them most of the day really as I work from home a lot. On the days I take her to work she is crated and does wee in it occasionally and thinks nothing of lying in it.
She isn't distressed, crying or barking and is in a room full of people who would know if she were upset but she isn't showing any signs of it!

She nearly always goes in the kitchen which is tiled although the whole house is laminate or tile as she's not allowed upstairs. I've used proper puppy cleaning solutions every time as well as bicarb to keep the smells away.

How do I teach her the kitchen is unacceptable if I never catch her in the act? She always waits until I'm not there so by the time I find the poo it's too late

I've done the take outside and praise thing since day one religiously. Every time she wees outside still praising but she thinks she's allowed to do both.

The only time she was clean at night is when she was crated in the bedroom however she is so noisy it was impossible to sleep!

I don't have her crated at the moment as it's easier to clean up poo on a tile than squished up poo in her beds

Grey it does sound like she thinks inside is ok and each time she goes it reinforces it. If it was me I would go back to basics with her ( I work from home so I know how disruptive this is going to be regarding work and sleep) as you are going to have to keep breaking the habit of toileting inside. I would make sure you can easily run outside (carrying a 5 month old dog whilst it is peeing or pooing and opening doors would be difficult). Leave the room and then after a few seconds come back in. Keep repeating until you catch her in the act (I have no qualms about making 'ah-ha' noises when my dog does something I don't want him to but it's up to you on whether you say something or not) and pick
up and run outside then praise when she finishes outside. I would also be tempted to start staying outside again to praise every single time she goes outside as well as doing the leave and come back into the kitchen.

At night I would get a baby monitor and sleep close by and make sure the bedding in the crate makes a noise when she moves about. As soon as she wakes you up then outside for a pee. If she doesn't pee back in the crate but again watch her on the video so you can catch her in the act or hear her wake. You won't get much sleep but if you can break the habit of toileting in the crate at night she might also start to be clean in it in the day.

Grey, also make sure you don't make any fuss when cleaning up. Not even a "fuck sake"

Hi Grey my boy has separation anxiety but actually toilet trained really quickly so I'm probably not the best person to advise. It does sound very frustrating

Bluepuppy's separation anxiety is improving but he's still very over the top when I come home. I try and sneak a look through the front window before opening the front door and most of the time I can see him getting up on the sofa from a sleep. When I open the front door he's right there and I have to be careful he doesn't escape. Once inside he goes crazy jumping all over me and has scratched me accidentally with his nails a few times.

I have a trainer coming to my house in a couple of weeks so will ask about it then. The hard thing when you have a dog with anxiety is that you start to think all behaviours are linked to anxiety when it's not always the case.

I have been posting for the past few weeks during my jet lag lying awake moments on holiday. BiteyDog has had a great time away but god I have missed the furry monster. It was like I was walking around with a dog shaped hole. He's now back with us but not himself as he doesn't look totally relaxed at home but he is getting lots of fuss. I feel so guilty for leaving him for so long but we booked the holiday about 1 year ago when we didn't realise how much we would miss him.

Oh Bitey i cried buckets when I left our girl to go on holiday.
Vets today. Not eating. She has me worried. May be a phantom pregnancy. We soooo don't belong on the puppy thread any more!

Aww Bitey I missed my girl like mad when I was away for two nights. She was fine at my sister's house but was so overwhelmed when I went to pick her up that she practically cried with happiness! They know how to make us feel guilty.

Wolfe, hope your big pup is feeling better soon.

Oh no Wolfie hope she picks up soon . Yeah we need a 'no longer a puppy but still barmy and giving us lots of stress thread'

How to keep a pup occupied for 10 minutes whilst you grab a cup of coffee....

One crumbled dog treat and a large paper bag! Apart from the rustling of the paper it's blissful peace and quiet here!

Wolfie - do hope your (not so puppy) is OK

Awww how cute (also jealous as mine would have eaten the bag and the treat ).

Sorry Get I missed your post. I got a great greeting as well when I came home but yeah I think he might have been confused and a bit overwhelmed at coming home but he is back to his old self again. I am so glad we have someone who looks after him so well when we go away as it's like his second home. I always thought I would use kennels but I can't bring myself to put him in them unless it was an emergency as I don't want him to feel abandoned as he won't know them.

We had our home check today. Already been told by the rescue that if we pass, we can pick pup up this weekend. Got everything crossed that we passed. Nervously waiting to hear now.

Good luck Clay

Really glad to say we passed and we pick up our pup tomorrow! We've been applying for rescues for a year now without any luck. Always someone else got in first. We came close a couple of times but lost out to families who lived closer to the rescue.

Is it normal to feel excited and apprehensive in equal measures? I've been reading so many training articles and threads on here to prepare myself for any problems but I've now convinced myself she's going to have some major behavioural problems even though her fosterer has confirmed she's doing great. I'm worried I might do done thing wrong!

Good luck Clay! And yes quite normal. It's a huge life change, I'd forgotten just what hard work puppies are.

You'll do great!

How exciting Clay. What kind of puppy are you getting?

Very normal to feel apprehensive. Most of the time everything turns out fine with a few minor hiccups. Good luck

Thank you both. The kids are excited a d hyper about getting the dog and so playing up and I'm thinking I must be mad to bring a puppy into this too!

She's a Romanian cross breed so not sure what breed but I'm thinking possibly chihuahua and maybe papillon. She's 5 months now.

Her fosterer has been using puppy pads to housetrain but everything I've read suggests to encourage outside from the start. Should I continue with pad training or change to outside immediately?

I don't know how to play it as she's been in Romanian kennels until a week ago, then travelled across Europe, went into foster care here for a week and will be moving again so I don't know how she'll respond to that amount of change.

She's had an awful lot of changes in a very short time so I'd stay with the pads for a while until she's had a chance to settle. Take it slowly and expect a lot of accidents.

Try and restrain the children from being all over her to start with (might be difficult!) as you don't know how well she's been socialised and she may find them too much. It would be a shame to start with snaps or worse.