My Dobe Bitch Spent Last Week At My MIL’s Home, And Throughout That Week My…
My dobe bitch spent last week at my MIL’s home, and throughout that week my MIL fed her Beneful rather than the food we asked her to feed. This…is a problem, and one we will be discussing with her at another time.
However. As a result of this lovely, boundary-free vacation eating nothing but the equivalent of Big Macs for a week, she will not go back to her regular food unless we add enticements. I need her eating what i give her, when i give it to her, without exceptions. Normally this isn’t a problem – she’s trying to get us to give her that lovely, delicious junk food. She is healthy, so this isn’t a health-related problem. She’s just being a stubborn brat. 🙂
My question is this: what is the quickest way to get her back on her normal food? My husband is less than cooperative with my eat-it-or-lose-it method of training, wondering if anyone can suggest anything else. For the moment she is absolutely refusing plain kibble. The most I will do for her is add warm water, which I do for dinners anyway. She won’t touch breakfast at all.
Any suggestions? 🙂
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She Has Not Been Able To Jump On The Couch For A Few Days…
She has not been able to jump on the couch for a few days now. She has always slept in bed with me or my younger sisters but now she won’t even get down to pee. (she went in the bed for the 1st time since she was a puppy that was too small to get down.) My dogs are very close to me, and they are my closest friends. I am scared that she is developing arthritis and that I will not be able to afford much help for her if that is the case. I can give her away to someone that can afford frequent visits to the vet even though it would break my heart to pieces.. if I give her away, I would almost have to find a home that would take her daughter too. They could not live apart, it would only make them miserable. I don’t want to give them up at all. The only reason I’d consider it, is because I love her so much that I would rather her live a longer life without me than a shorter life with me. She does not deserve to suffer just because I am too selfish to give her away bc it would hurt me so bad. I love her so much that I would let her (and her daughter) go in order for her to receive the proper care if she is developing arthritis. I am just afraid that she would never be happy without me and my family. I would die inside, but I want her to be okay.
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Erika Hogan Thank you, I usually do overreact to anything to do with their health. Her baby is hypoglycemic and the vet I took her to was so uneducated that I knew more than he did about he condition, unfortunately. I know I can pay for one visit at least, but if it is serious im scared it may get too costly. I go crazy when there is something wrong. I’ve never given a thought to giving them away before.
How Can I Stop My Boyfriend’s 10 Year Old Dog Mounting My 5 Year Old…
How can I stop my boyfriend’s 10 year old dog mounting my 5 year old dog constantly
Scolding, blowing whisle, shouting does not work. My dog snaps & barks to no avail
Neither I or my boyfriend want to find a new home for one of the dogs
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Anonymous this is a training issue. i would ask a trainer for help to ensure you’re doing things right, but i would keep both dogs leashed when they’re together…and crate them when they aren’t, if you live together.
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PK Dennis Have both of these dogs been neutered? (I assume they are male). If they aren’t, get them to a vet now. Mounting is all about who is in control — not about sex. But, having all those hormones in their bodies amps up all reactions.
If you are making a fuss, and there is snapping and barking involved it sounds to me that the humans are not the ones in control in your life. Both you and your boyfriend need to start working with your dogs on the basics such as down stay, sit stay, go to your bed, bring me a toy, find the ball, heel, etc. As you gain control over the mind of your dogs you show them that humans are the ones in control and they will feel less need to show dominance to each other. It wouldn’t hurt to find a trainer to help the four of you!
Along with this work to calm your dogs with strong leadership, your best tool might be a loaded water gun, or spray bottle. No yelling. No whistle. No scolding. Just pick up the gun/bottle and spray the mounting dog in the face. When he dismounts he needs to be redirected: “find your ball”, “go to bed”, “bring me your toy” or “go outside” (this is why you need to teach these types of commands to your dog). The water needs to happen so fast, and with no fanfare — it works best if the dog never figures out that YOU are the one making the water happen. Keep the guns/bottles all over the house so you can get to one in a step or two. Don’t try to drown the mounting dog, it is just on shot to his head/face to startle him and break his focus on dominating the younger dog. It sets up the association in his mind that when he dominates the other dog, this uncomfortable and startling thing happens. The the redirection to a toy or bed channels his mind in a better activity.
Scolding, blowing whistles, and shouting escalate the excitement — you are barking along with them in the mind of a dog. Stop. Be calm. Calm, positive energy, and 15 mins of focused training 2 times per day (at least) is what is needed to improve the situation.
Good luck.
Is There Any Home Remedies Or Any Other Way I Can Treat My Three Month…
Is there any home remedies or any other way I can treat my three month old puppy with after he ate half or less than half of a 10 mg baclofen pill?
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This Puppy Is The Last Of A Large Litter, He Was One Of The Only…
This puppy is the last of a large litter, he was one of the only ones who would keep a clean crate/puppy pen. When the ground froze he discovered the practice of eating poo when he was outside in our fenced in yard. He was neutered a week and a half ago and we thought it would be an opportune time to remedy the poo eating issue since we had to leash walk him. He now refuses to poo outside, we do take him out every 1-2 hours and give a high value treat for pottying outside. He will go in his crate immediately after coming in and will immediately eat it. It almost seems that since I won’t allow him to eat what is in the yard he is just going to make his own snack. I will add that he is a very quick learner, he learned sit and down in an evening. He is very driven by treats and praise. He will urinate outside and looks to me for a treat and praise as he is going. He does not like to be in a messy crate, we know almost the moment it is soiled as he barks/whines and we clean it up. He will only poo in his crate, I do tether housetraining pups to me to eliminate the possibility of accidents (I try to set them up for success) and he has not accidents in the house. He will poo in his crate once I have exited the room where his crate is. I of course can smell the moment he goes, I run in the room and catch him eating it. I have gone as far as letting him out to potty in a pen thinking maybe he does not want to potty with an audience, I watch from a nearby slider but have only “caught” him pooing outside twice in a week and a half, both times I was able to deliver praise and a high value treat as soon as he was done. Lastly his crate is appropriately sized for him, it is a wire folding style crate that is just tall enough for him, he has enough room to lay, stretch out and turn around. This is something I would like to rectify as I know it will be a potential problem in a forever home.
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Anonymous Your puppy is just being a ……puppy! Sometimes the art of pet parenting is like the TV show Survivor–Outwit, Outsmart, Outlast.
Be diligent in cleaning up after your puppy poo’s. Do not give him the chance to play with or eat poo. Try placing the puppy on a leash when you take him outside to relieve himself, and do not allow him to inspect his poo. Distract him from by calling him to you, and when he responds appropriately, reward him with a treat and verbal encouragement (go crazy and act like he is the BEST PUPPY ON THE PLANET!) and then take him inside before you go back to pick it up.
If he hates poo’ing on the leash this is where the “Outlast” portion of the program comes into play. You just have to wander around the yard with him until he does it.
Some have found that adding meat tenderizer or natural additives to the puppy’s food makes a big difference, since these additives cause the stool to have a particularly unappealing smell that will discourage him from eating it. If you cannot immediately clean up the stool, or if there are some old stool piles in your yard, you can spray it with hot pepper sauce or mouth wash. It is more effective to just clean up after the puppy.
A good resource for puppy training is The Complete Idiots Guide to Dog Training. You can check it out of your local library. Good luck!!
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PK Dennis Walking helps the bowels move. How about taking him on a walk when he comes out of his crate, and after he eats his meals. The walking will get him eliminating and you will have him on a leash to control his movements while you pick up the poop. This may work faster/better than turning him out in the yard and waiting, or wandering around the yard while he decides if he is going to poop or not.
It may also be so exciting to be out and about that he forgets he wants to poop inside where he can snack.
Good luck!
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Jennifer Taylor Post author Thank you for the suggestions. I actually had given more info in the details when I posted that I am doing all of these. This isn’t a typical housebreaking issue but more of a compulsion to eat stool. The issue of eliminating in his crate began AFTER I restricted him from eating poo outside. In the past year alone I have fostered 30 puppies, all were well on their way to being housetrained when they were adopted. As a board member of a local rescue and seasoned foster I provide support to adoptive families on the subject of house training. My approach to house training is to set a dog up for success eliminating the possibility for accidents and rewarding appropriate elimination. I vary my method according to the dog as not all dogs respond to the same method. I have had great success with training dogs who have come from horrendous living conditions, spending months in their own waste.
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Anonymous There are products out there to make the poo taste bad and most of them (I believe) have the main ingredient of MSG, which is the same thing as meat tenderizer. Dr. Foster and Smith has a product called Dis-Taste, but I’m sure there are others. If a dose of MSG isn’t harmful, give it a shot!
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Brian Downie Hello Jennifer. My Great Dane did this and then my Golden Retriever starting doing it. Learned behavior? I agree with Dr. Mag’s suggestions. I taught the leave it command and do not leave them unattended when it is ‘potty time.’ I tried to read a lot of remedies for this issue. What I found was mixed reviews on the food additives to deter the poop eating. I read about nutritional deficits and remedies. What I read and think was going on with mine was most dogs like to keep their play and living areas clean. Sometimes when a mother has a new litter, she will demonstrate this issue to keep the area clean for her pups. I too have a fenced in back yard which doubles as their play area when I cannot take them out in the unfenced area. I taught the leave it command and keep the area clean of feces. Somehow, imo, your dog has associated the crate pooping as safe but then cleans the area since it is his ‘safe spot.’ It took a few weeks to dissuade my dogs from doing this. Still, if I am not diligent about watching over them and keeping the area clean, the issue will persist. Your reaction whether positive or negative outside, may be influencing what the dog believes to be ok so he returns to his ‘safe’ area and only poops when he thinks you are not paying attention (because of your reactoin?) then gobbles the tasty morsel up for maybe cleaning? I found with my dogs when there is an unwanted behavior/issue the best reaction is no reaction. Remember, running to the crate to stop him may be interpreted as him doing something wrong so he tries to ‘destroy’ the evidence. It is learned somehow.
An anecdote. My very sensitive Great Dane when she was young had what I perceived to be separation anxiety when my wife and I would leave. We would come home and rugs would be chewed, pillows destroyed, etc. I would come in and immediately react, negatively. I posted on here and in short, the response was it was my fault. I was at first offended thinking I was a great doggy parent, but then I thought about it. My Dane associated our leaving with her getting negatively in trouble when we came home. This caused her great stress and her acting out was a reaction to fear and anticipation. I quickly changed my behavior. When I came home I would simply clean up what was destroyed and before leaving I would remove anything I could. I did not react. She would cower in her chair while I cleaned. I simply went about my business without noticing her. When I was done, once she came out of her chair, I acknowledged her and said hello. It was my responsibility to break the association, not the behavior. It took a little time, but we became successful. Now when we leave, we make it no big deal. When we come home, it is not a big deal. She isn’t afraid of us leaving and her ‘just’ getting in trouble when we come home. We no longer come home to destroyed items or a fearful dog. I personified her hiding in her chair with her knowing she did something wrong. Nope. I taught her that when we come home I would yell at her so she anticipated that with great stress and fear.
Maybe, without knowing it, we teach our dogs to do negative things. The hard part is realizing and accepting it then correcting OUR behavior.
Good Luck!!!
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Brian Downie ” The issue of eliminating in his crate began AFTER I restricted him from eating poo outside.” Maybe he learned it is not ok to poop outside?
Hello People Of Pawbly, Specifically Friendly Vets.
My Dog Is Not Doing Well And I Need…
My Dog Is Not Doing Well And I Need…
Hello people of Pawbly, specifically friendly vets.
My dog is not doing well and I need some advice.
I just moved from a house with a doggie door that allowed for bathroom time, any time. Now I am working on a schedule and trying to get into a routine with my pup (2 y/o red heeler/terrier mix). For the most part it’s been fine. I have him in the kennel when I’m at work from 6-2 Monday through Friday and only live 5 minutes from work. I take him out right before I leave And right after. He sleeps with me at night.
Last Friday, I took him out before going to bed, waited forever but no number 2. I woke up the next morning and there was crap- a LOT of crap- more than I thought caninely possible, all over the floor of my room. Normal color, texture. I blamed myself for not waiting long enough and let it go.
So last night, same routine, didn’t crap. I ran him around for 20 minutes trying to jostle whatever loose. Nada. So I figured he could wait until morning. I was awakened at 3 am by horrible, hot steaming dog land mines all over My bedroom floor again. Same color and texture as normal.
So I out him in his crate For the rest of the night Because I think since he’s a den animal He won’t go crappin it up in there. I take him out before work And come home to a crime scene.
In his crate, he is huddled in the corner, and this wave of old sour milk or something hits me and there are puddles of yellow liquid that I’m assuming is crap since I didn’t smell bike and there are other, little piles of similarly colored solid poo elsewhere. He hadn’t eaten since the land mines the night before.
I take him outside and he pisses and squirts out a little more diarrhea and keep straining for another 2 minutes but nothing else comes out. There is a little blood now on his backside from straining so hard.
I googled it, and it said right now it’s acute, if it persists, to take him in. He seems in good spirits except was ashamed when I came in and as I was cleaning up after him. I was going to feed him but Google told me not to for the day.
I should also note: at my previous residence I lived with an elderly relative who used her early stage dementia to feed him whatever the Hell she wanted. “Oh I forgot you told me not to”- Fritos. Peanut butter sandwiches, leftover foods. And now he is only eating the expensive all natural food I give him.
So I don’t know what to do. Is it an adjustment period to the new place (only been here 2 weeks) is it the change of diet? Is it my bathroom schedule? Is it stress from being alone all day?
Any advice would be fantastic. Thanks guys and gals.
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My 6month Old Kitten Was Spayed Thursday Of Last Week. Her Incision Is Swollen, The…
My 6month old kitten was spayed Thursday of last week. Her incision is swollen, the length of the incision and about a 1/2″ high. Is this normal? She has only had a bowel movement about 4x since being home.
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I Am At Work But, My Husband Is At Home And Just Called Saying He…
I am at work but, my husband is at home and just called saying he gave Paige, our Boxer her Heartgard and she vomited about 30 minutes later. He cannot tell if the Heartgard was in the vomit or not. Is it safe to give her another one later or tomorrow?
Thank you,
Dawn Gillispie
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Zoey Has Been Doing This Since She Became Older. We Now Roll Up All…
Zoey has been doing this since she became older. We now roll up all rugs, clear countertops, remove plush toys, let them out repeatedly before leaving. This happens whether we are gone for 2hrs or 6hrs. We understand it is probably the anxiety that causes her to urinate and defecate. We also understand the behaviors are related to the same. But it is so disheartening and honestly, frustrating, when we return home to find what she has done. We are now trying the wall plug phermones, trying not to make it a big deal when we leave or come home and most importantly, trying not to react when we discover her latest destruction.
To make it worse, my 1 male who is dominant will mark her urinated spots if we do not clean and neutralize it sufficiently… which we always try to do. It seems the issue is cascading and we are at wits end.
Any thoughts?
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Brian Downie Sounds good and thanks! We will setup an appointment with you to get a general checkup and talk about behaviorists.
Brian and Ericka
I Have A GSD And I Believe She May Have A Urinary Tract Infection, Is…
I have a GSD and I believe she may have a urinary tract infection, is there anything I can do for her at home?
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Jana You mean apart from seeing a vet, getting it diagnosed and treated? Because you absolutely need to do that. Urinalysis, and I’d do culture as well.
Apart from that, cranberry extract indeed IS helpful, as it contains a substance that helps prevent bacteria from attaching to bladder walls.
Plenty of liquids and particularly plenty of opportunities to potty is important. It’s important the bladder gets emptied frequently.
Before someone asks: I show her. She needs to eat when told just like she needs to evacuate bowel and bladder when told…otherwise things may get messy in the ring, and I cannot have that happening. This only becomes a problem after she goes to my MILs for more than a couple of days. Unfortunately, we have another lengthy stay planned later this summer, with a major show soon after. To say this has given me a headache is an understatement.
I know the MIL isn’t trying to be detrimental. She just refuses to believe that Beneful isn’t what I want to feed my dog. If we give her individually bagged meals, she complies. If we give her a bag of Rip’s food and a scoop, she…doesn’t. Last lengthy visit, she managed to feed 15 pounds of food in a week and a half. I fear this may be an ongoing disagreement – she tends to keep her dogs 5 pounds overweight and free feeds, while I like my dog eating specific meals at specific times and I like to see a nice tuck at the belly with a visible waist.
She will accept kibble from my hand if she complies with a command – she thinks it’s a treat. I got about half a cup in her that way this evening, so she isn’t going to go completely hungry. She’s just being a stubborn twit – at nearly 2, she’s at that age where UPS hasn’t shipped us all of the parts of her brain, so she’s still “forgetting” things she knows like how to come when called. I have used this method before with success, at both my breeder and my vet’s suggestion. The last time we did this, within 2 days she was eating normally. This time around she’s throwing a louder temper tantrum, though. Just wondering what, if anything, might make this less painful to my eardrums.
I’ll consider boiling some extra chicken and burying the tiniest shreds in her food – that will depend on whether she eats breakfast. If she doesn’t, tomorrow night’s class will be a difficult one for her…we are in Baltimore and head up to Forest Hill for classes, so we leave around 6. She usually gets the kibble portion of her dinner in class as training treats (interspersed with higher value meats, because that keeps her on her toes).
I can’t think of much else to add. We’re working on “puppy push-ups” right now to keep her busy (and get more kibble in her). Sometimes, I curse myself for bringing such a smart dog into my house. 😉
good news! it took one training session on an empty stomach to convince her that eating might be a good idea. emptied her bowl and was looking for more.
bratdog is a brat. but she’s eating, so i’m happy.