Stubborn Dog???

[jagresti]

Hi there
For those of you who remember me, I have Sophie, and I was really struggling with her being extremely scared a while back. I am happy to tell that it has calmed down a bit and she is doing better (still timid though). On to another issue...Sophie is left at night to sleep downstairs - not in her cage, but left to roam around the whole downstairs level. We all sleep upstairs. I gate the bottom of the stairs off. (my gf has issues with a dog coming upstairs). Here's the thing - this is not new, it has been that way forever. However, starting about 10 days ago, Sophie will poop and pee all over the kitchen floor EVERY SINGLE NIGHT. What a nice surprise to wake up to. Sometimes she will wake me up whining around 3 or 4 am, and sometimes not. When I come downstairs....surprise!
Anyone have any ideas? I had thought it was because she wanted to sleep with us upstairs, (knowing Boxers love to always be with their people) but why would this just start now out of the blue after 6 months of no issues being separated? My gf thinks it's because I am feeding her dinner too late (7-8pm) and we go to bed around 11 and I take her out before bed. That is not a new schedule either. Same brand dog food as well.
Help, I can't take the smell every morning....Thanks,

 

[CoraBoxer]

How old is Sophie? Could she be in one of those grow up phases where they forget everything they've learned? I'd probably go back to potty training basics. Either crate (and take her out at night) or let her roam and take her out at night. I'd rather get up in the middle of the night and not have to clean up the mess in the morning. Is it possible that she has made noise to try and call you to let her out and you haven't heard? How does she normally let you know she needs to go out, during the day? Is she left alone during the day and are there any issues with her doing the same thing? Do you make sure she goes before leaving her downstairs for the night? Your gf might be right about the timing. I feed at 4pm and they usually poop 1-2 times before going to sleep around 9pm (and go again in the morning first thing).

Cora slept crated downstairs, then she slept uncrated downstairs and was only allowed upstairs during the night at about 2 yrs old (not on bed - and usually chose to sleep on her blanket downstairs anyways). She got a blanket on the bed at about 3 yrs old. We had a few phases like what you're talking about but reacted/adjusted quickly to stop her from regressing. I don't think shes relieving herself to sleep with you. She doesn't know what sleeping with you is as it sounds like her routine has always been to sleep downstairs. I think if you let her sleep upstairs with you, you'll probably continue to have the problem except in or around your bed. That and once given a choice she'll have a preference.

 

[Sadienme]

Not much to help out but I have a question...

You said you had issues with her being timid. How did you help her through that. My Sadie is 16 months old and I am having one hell of a time with her. She seems to let fear run her. I have hired a trainer and there seems to be no improvement.

On your issue with the surprises... My Sadie girl would do that in my bedroom (where she sleeps) and I tried changing up her eating sched and taking her out before we went to bed which really helped. I agree with the responding post about the crating. Try it for a couple days then try letting her out for one to two nights to see if she still does it.

 

[jagresti]

thanks folks!! I guess I have to eat crow a little with my gf and work to change the eating schedule and see how that works...

Cora - Sophie just turned 1. Actually on Wed! So maybe you are correct about your analysis. I will try re-crating and see how that goes...

Sadie - for the timid issues, it will sound strange, but things started to turn when me and my gf went on vaca a month ago and had to leave her behind. We left her with friends that used to have a dog (pit) and wanted to decide to get another one or not, so took Sophie for the week to find out. When we returned she was a different dog! I think maybe I sheltered her too much, and because she was so scared all the time, I never wanted to take her anywhere or leave her with anyone. Now I am much more liberal with her, but she is still timid, don't get me wrong. But I would guess it is about 50% better now than 2 months ago...my opinion on trainers is that they are a waste of money. If you give Sadie time and patience she will come around. Trust me, I was at the end of my rope with Sophie, ready to give her up and decided to force myself to wait until she turned 1. Now, I see a different dog.

 

[Luvmygirl]

I'm so happy for you both that she's advanced so far! Thinking back to when Zoe was a year old I would suggest that when she goes outside, make sure she remembers why she went out in the first place. Zoe's 2 1/2 now and she still gets really distracted every time the weather changes. So she'll got out because she needs to go, but then she starts chasing leaves and playing. Then I get woken up at 3 because it's an emergency! Oh, and if the ground is wet, forget it! We've had a few standoffs at the door over wet grass, but eventually she realizes she's not coming back in the house until she potties. Good luck! I'm sure she'll continue to improve as she matures.

 

[TwoDogs]

my opinion on trainers is that they are a waste of money. If you give Sadie time and patience she will come around. Trust me, I was at the end of my rope with Sophie, ready to give her up and decided to force myself to wait until she turned 1. Now, I see a different dog.

I remember your posts about Sophie! It did sound like you were at the end of your rope. I wondered how she was getting along--I'm glad to hear she has improved so much and that your situation took a turn for the better.

As a trainer however, I do have to disagree with your statement--both the waiting it out theory and the bit about trainers being a waste of money (and that last bit isn't just professional pride). I have seen lots of cases like yours where things haven't improved just by waiting. In those cases not only did the dog not "come around" but the dog got much worse. Too often, the "wait and see" method results on a loss of valuable time that could have been spent helping the dog and owner before they reached that end of the rope--time that can never be gotten back.

There are a huge number of variables in dogs' temperments. A great trainer or behaviorist is going to be able to spot those particular variables that indicate that particular dog needs deliberate and focused behavior modification and how to go about it effectively. There are dogs and owners out there that do need the help of a trainer or behaviorist and, for those dogs, that help is worth every penny spent.

 

[jagresti]

I cant believe it

I finally figured it out. It has nothing to do with the food, feeding time, her being sick or anything. I noticed (by accident really) that when I am the last to go to bed, Sophie will go to sleep on my recliner, and there were no problems in the am. The past couple of weeks, because of my work schedule, my gf is the last to go to bed and she does not like the dog on the furniture, so she blocks it off so the dog cannot get up on the couch, or more importantly my recliner. Voila - big mess in the am for me to clean up. Damn stubborn dog. I left it unblocked all weekend and no issues. My gf blocked it last night, and you gussed it, poop and pee surprise again this morning. I could almost see her face this morning when I came downstairs, she was like, "Yeah, go tell your gf to leave open my bed, or THIS is what you get!"

Wow, this is gonna be a tough one to crack...any ideas. I just push her face in it, say NO and send her outside in the cold while I clean and mop the floor. Probably not the best way, but I was frustrated. This dog will not run the house (I hope).

 

[LILYLARUE]

She wasn't being vendictive at all. Probably what happened, she couldn't get in her favorite spot, so she was restless and pacing trying to either figure out how to get around the obstacle or stressed cause she couldn't. Could be a combo of this and her age. With her pacing, she is more active therefore causing the whole poop process. Dogs like routine and habitual events. So, having blocked off her sleeping spot, it totally screwed with her schedule and most likely causing her stress. Tell GF to sleep on the couch tonight and see how stressed she becomes! LOL

I highly suggest never to push her nose in it again. This causes so many issues. First, you are forcing her to lick it off her nose, potential of passing on herself parasites and making her a host to them. Second, she doesn't understand why you would do such a nasty thing to her, risking trust. Thirdly, she doesn't know her poop from any other pile, or even yours for that matter. So she isn't gonna get that it's a bad thing. Fourth, You may teach her that poop in the open is bad, and she may start hiding it, or eating the evidence-not a good trait to be teaching.

If she happens to be backsliding, I would get back on a puppy potty routine and back in the crate for nightime for a little while again.