|
|
Post by AmyJo27 on Nov 17, 2011 15:05:54 GMT -5
Ok…I need some help. :/
Honey is our 1 year old Cane Corso (Italian Mastiff). She is an amazing dog- Great with my little one, has great manners, friendly... she’s my girl and we’ve been thru a lot together. She’s a good girl. BUT….We have been having two big problems with her that we’ve just kind of been dealing with but with my due date quickly approaching I think I need to try to get a grip on this.
I’ve come to a conclusion about her….She’s a brat. Lol. Seriously tho….
I work about 3-4 hours a day. So she’s alone a maximum of 4 hours a day. We are setting alarms and taking her out in the middle of the night and she is still managing to poop in her crate or on the floor daily. It’s disgusting…honestly I’m sick of cleaning dog sh*t. And I’m getting tired of my house smelling. :/ She is getting fed twice a day…and I make sure there is plenty of time after she eats before we leave and that we take her out a lot (I think every hour for a 1 year old dog is a lot) half the time, she won’t go. She’ll come in and poop.
Second thing, the barking and fit throwing in her crate. It doesn’t stop. She goes on a jog (Which she HATES, she’s that laziest thing EVER) every morning, then a walk in the evening. When she comes home, she’s drained. But the second you crate her she barks, and barks, and barks and she throws herself (I peeked and watched her do it) into the sides of her crate. I’ve timed her and got tired of listening to her after 1 hour of non-stop barking (And this was RIGHT after a jog). If I crate her when Avery is napping, Avery gets woke up. Funny thing is, she LOVES her crate, when she’s loose she chooses to lay in it. ??? I can’t leave her loose, even when I’m busy around the house; I crate her because she’ll get into the garbage, chew on Avery’s things, poop on the floor, or find something to get into. So instead of risking my dog getting sick or my house destroyed she gets crated.
There are times when she gets crated, she lies down and happily chews on her bone but usually it’s her barking.
And it also seems like she goes on her spurts. There are times when she doesnt poop inside, then she will start again. There are times when she wont touch anything in the house, then she'll shred garbage and chew up Averys toys. There are times she only barks for like 20 minutes then stops, then goes back to non-stop barking. IDK What to think about any of it. Ive never dealt with a dog like her before.
Ahhhh!!! What am I doing wrong?! ???
|
|
|
|
Post by adoptapitbull on Nov 17, 2011 15:26:38 GMT -5
Are you sure her crate isn't too large? Maybe a smaller crate would help.
Phyllis is a notorious crate soiler. I had the wire crate for her, and she would pee and poo in it the same way. We'd take her out after she ate, before she went in her crate, etc and we'd still have to clean up mess. I got her a solid airline style crate, and I think I've cleaned up about 3 poos, 0 pees, in the last 6 months. They were warranted poops, too. Like, we had been gone all day and she had to poop. Not a big deal.
Try a crate switch and see if it helps.
|
|
|
|
Post by AmyJo27 on Nov 17, 2011 15:41:41 GMT -5
Honey is in a wire crate right now so I am going to try that out. 3 poos in 6 months sounds amazing! lol. Kris came to the wonderful conclussion that the dog just needs diapers! lol.... Him and his bright Ideas!  Shes a brat.....But we love her. Hoping MAYBE I can figure her out tho...Make our lives a little easier. |
|
|
|
Post by AmyJo27 on Nov 17, 2011 16:01:30 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by adoptapitbull on Nov 17, 2011 16:50:03 GMT -5
We had one for my mom's border collie about 6 years ago. It never worked. Not the method, the collar! It never sprayed him when he barked.
Keep her mouth busy while she's in there. Toss in a frozen Kong or something and maybe she'll be too busy chewing to be barking.
|
|
|
|
Post by sugar on Nov 17, 2011 16:51:53 GMT -5
Have you tried maybe putting a DAP diffuser in the room with her?
|
|
|
|
Post by maryellen on Nov 17, 2011 16:53:10 GMT -5
has she been doing this before you moved or just when you moved? how long has she been doing this? since you got her or recently? any stress triggers you can think of that might have been around the same time when she started this?
|
|
|
|
Post by maryellen on Nov 17, 2011 16:53:44 GMT -5
she is also just a year old, so the chewing and getting into trouble is typical lol... teenage brattiness...
|
|
|
|
Post by AmyJo27 on Nov 17, 2011 17:06:03 GMT -5
She has mastered her teenage brattiness!!! lol! She’s the queen.
Well Maryellen, that’s the tricky thing. It comes and goes in phases and I can’t really say that there has been triggers every time. It’s like, she goes a few months with no accidents, and only 20 minute barking sprees than she goes a few months of pooping whenever she wants (Preferably inside) and barking non-stop.
When she was a puppy I got her potty-trained and crate trained. Then a few months later she’d come in from going outside, look right at you and squat and poop on the floor so I started taking her out more frequently again. This was before our lives were flipped upside down, before any moves or anything. And when we got to this new house she’s been doing fine, up until the past few weeks. Its like we have a few Months of normalness—Going poop outside only, not having a meltdown in the crate then months of hell---Fit throwing and pooping freely in the house and/or crate.
|
|
|
|
Post by maryellen on Nov 17, 2011 17:35:21 GMT -5
ok, i was hoping this was new lol... but if she was doing it since you got her then hmmmm. sometimes its harder to potty train dogs if the life they had before was outside.. she came from a breeder right if i remember correctly? its VERY possible that her life there was outside more then you knew ... some dogs who live outside are very hard to housebreak, while others take to it like candy and have no problems.. a friend of mine had the same pooping problem with her female presa but worse.... and her dogs issues were due to living outside at the breeders in a kennel before my friend got her..
i had a dog that i could not housebreak either, she constantly peed/pooped in my house no matter what i did..
i have seen more problems with this type of potty behavior in female dogs lol..
is it possible that the times she goes backwards on the pottying is when she gets taken out less??like if you are busy doing something and a little more time goes by then normal?
either that or she will either be super hard to housebreak and might never be,or she is just being a super brat at a year old and has major brain farts...
i would go back to pretending she is a puppy and start over with the housebreaking and crate training.. get a smaller crate, like a vari kennel, and start over..reward for quiet behavior in the crate and basically start over
|
|
|
|
Post by AmyJo27 on Nov 17, 2011 17:51:40 GMT -5
Ugh...lol. Its like a 100 pound pup! She’s like a puppy except her poo piles are the size of a Chihuahua! lol Oh my....Honey Pie, you challenge me! I got her when she was 12 weeks old. Im not sure how much she was outside but that could very well be it! :/ When she hits these phases it doesn’t matter how much we take her out. I am currently taking her out every hour when I’m home and before I’d say that she and Bola were being taken out every 3 hours (And she'd signal at the door if she had to go before then). When I take her out every hour there are times she will not go then we come inside and she will look right at me and poo. It’s very irritating. I am convinced she is just miss super brat. If you’re sitting in the living room and she is loose, she will look right at you and try to pick up one of Avery’s toys to chew on (Even tho she has her own), if you catch her and  her she will walk past the toy and ignore it, it you don’t notice soon enough and she already gets her mouth around it she will grab the toy, take off running with it and go in her crate. She’s a brat!! Im going to go ahead and get a new crate, and start over like you said. BTW: What is the best way to reward quiet behavior in her crate?? I hope this works but I think this is just her personality. Do you have any recommendations for the barking?! |
|
|
|
Post by adoptapitbull on Nov 17, 2011 18:11:42 GMT -5
Here's the pooper scooper in me talking.
Is your yard picked up? Sometimes rather than going in a poo filled yard, they'll go in a less pooped area.
|
|
daves
Full Fledged Poster
Posts: 188
|
Post by daves on Nov 17, 2011 18:44:24 GMT -5
A site I have used in the past is www.allexperts.com/cl2/328/pets/Dogs/ which allows you to pose questions pertaining to training. behavior issues, and other categories. It is best to be as detailed as possible when submitting your question and don't be afraid to send it to more than one of the experts. For behavior issues I felt the most confident with Jill Connor, PhD. A recent addition to this site is Adrienne Janet Farricelli CPDT-KA who also seems to be very competent. A direct link to the behavior section is www.allexperts.com/el/Canine-Behavior/Good luck |
|
|
|
Post by loverocksalot on Nov 17, 2011 20:16:43 GMT -5
At first I was thinking it sounded like an anxiety issue. But now that you say she has been doing it on and off I dont know. as for quiet time reward. i use to just give food treats through the door for quiet and or let out for quiet. Smaller crate might help. And honestly Im no expert but I would not be getting up at night to take out. How in the heck could she need to poop so often?
|
|
|
|
Post by maryellen on Nov 17, 2011 20:21:36 GMT -5
i agree too, maybe pick up the poop more . some dogs wont go if there is too much poop outside..
as far as rewarding the quiet in the crate, toss her yummy food she never gets, like chicken or pieces of hot dogs or burgers ... the only time she gets them is if she is quiet in her crate... and being a year old she is going to be in her bratty stage until at least 18 months....
you can also try covering the crate so she cant see out. some dogs do better in a vari kennel as its more closed, so they cant really see much and most dogs relax more in vari kennels.
and she is a female lol... some females can be very spiteful.... especially if she looks right at you then squats and goes..
now you did rule out any medical issues like incontinence etc right? if there is nothing medically wrong its either a product of her prior environment or being a super bitch brat
|
|
|
|
Post by fureverywhere on Nov 18, 2011 0:13:12 GMT -5
Just a thought...I don't know anything about crate training so follow everyone else on that...but do you have a spare room or bathroom or my brother used the kitchen with his huskie ( with a kitchen table upended as a barricade-she was a BIG doggie). Can you dog proof a room with an easily cleaned floor to confine her in? Like a baby gate in the doorway?
|
|
|
|
Post by loverocksalot on Nov 18, 2011 7:14:01 GMT -5
^The thing with the smaller crate is she likely wont poop if she has to lay there in it.
|
|
|
|
Post by adoptapitbull on Nov 18, 2011 8:27:12 GMT -5
Gotta agree with ME about the bratty, b!tchy girl thing, too. Phyllis does the barking thing, especially when she thinks it's dinner time, or if guests are here. Spiteful girls....
|
|
|
|
Post by RealPitBull on Nov 18, 2011 8:47:10 GMT -5
I think this is a combination of things - she's an adolescent working breed, she needs some kind of mental stimulation, and she's been inadvertantly reinforced for most of her life for pottying in the house (as well as getting attention for stealing toys.) A new crate would be step-one. Get something different like a Vari-Kennel, and make sure it's smaller than what she's in now. The indoor pottying issue is going to be annoying to address for the time being, but the solution is actually pretty simple: never, ever give her the opportunity to have an accident indoors. I know this is difficult, but the only way to get this behavior to change is to remove the reinforcement she is receiving for pottying indoors. Urination and defecation are highly self-reinforcing behaviors. She's basically trained herself to go to the bathroom indoors. You must entirely remove the reinforcement for that, and the only way to do that is to make sure the environment changes (ie. the only time she receives that self-reinforcement is when she is outdoors.) This may mean a few weeks of indoor leashing, tethering, and overkill in the outdoor potty breaks department. And whatever you do, when you take her out, do NOT let her come back inside until she has gone. If you MUST come back indoors, take her in on leash, wait a few minutes, than bring her right back out again. The biggest sabotage to a housetraining protocol is bringing the dog back in before she's gone, and then allowing her to have an accident. There could be an element of stress related to this behavior as well, so adding a DAP diffusor, Rescue Remedy to her water bowl, or some lavender essential oil to her collar or bedding could be helpful. Also, just wanted to make sure, has she been cleared for all internal parasites? Are her stools basically healthy? What kind of toys/chewies does she get? Try stuffed Kongs or various smart toys: www.sitstay.com/dog/supplies/servlet/category_Puzzle%20and%20Smart%20Toys_10001_10001_13361_-1_13251_Now for the barking.... Of course I do not recommend shock collars. I don't recommend citronella collars either because they are still aversive, they can lead to further tension/stress which could fuel more barking, and they also are long-term punishers. The smell lingers on the dog far after that initial squirt, so the dog continues to be punished after she stopped barking. I really like clicking for silence, especially in certain settings. It's as easy as it sounds. Click/treat when she's silent in her crate. You might have training sessions for a few minutes at a time - put her in her crate, and immediately begin clicking/treating for silence. Then let her out, have some play time, maybe take her for a potty break, then have another training session in her crate. Also make sure you aren't giving her attention when she DOES bark. Same thing goes for when she steals toys. The goal is prevention, not reaction-after-the-fact. This is long enough, but if you have questions or need more clarification, let me know. |
|
|
|
Post by AmyJo27 on Nov 21, 2011 16:49:16 GMT -5
Ok.... sorry a little late getting back to this! I read your posts on my phones internet but never posted back.
Anyways... Kris scoops poo every evening so thats not likely the case. I got her a smaller Vari kennel.
Ive been doing the rewarding when quite...Its hard for me to do because if I go in there and drop in a piece of Hot Dog-Before I walk away the silence is over :/ hoping that gets better with time.
She is no longer EVER loose in the house. I have her leashed to me--This has eliminated the pooing inside. But, she did poo in her crate again last night in the night. We let her out at 11 PM and she went pee (She had pood the last outside run) and by 4AM she pooped.
Im going to keep doing what we are doing a see if I see any changes.
I have one question: Is it ok how I am rewarding her for silence? (Maybe Im doing it wrong) When shes quiet for a few minutes (No whining, no throwing herself around) I go in the bathroom (Where her kennel is) drop a piece of hot dog in her kennel (Not saying a thing) and walk out. Is this right?!
And Im not letting her out at all unless she is silent. Once shes silent Ill let her out, which is usually a 20-30 minute wait.
|
|
I look forward to learning much here