kaaia

haha! sorry, I had to check the name of the poster to make sure i hadnt done it myself, I had such a strong feeling of de ja vu reading this. I have a puppy too (staffy cross) that I rescued at about 4 months. She would love going on the carpet tho, and she loves to walk while peeing.. so it can be a tad hard sometimes to keep her on the paper to do her thing. She was extremely stubborn though, she would not house train. spent 2-3 months just treating her when she used the paper, and ignoring her if she did it anywhere else. Didnt work. She would still use the paper maybe one time during the day, if I was lucky.. I ended up rubbing her nose in it if she did it elsewhere. Worked within 2 days. Yeah she has had 2 or 3 accidents in the past 3 weeks, but that is nothing. She just seemed to need some negative reinforcement to go along with her treats for doing it in the right place. Now, even when we go out to the store, leaving her home alone, she will still use the paper. Dogs are smart, they'll figure it out. My kids always scream at me if they see her use the paper, or the floor, and will say "The dog peed on the paper!" or "The dog peed on the floor!" Puppy has come to know the difference between the two, and will react accordingly when they scream it. If it is half on paper, half on floor, and they say floor, she reacts like floor, but looks to me still, questioningly, and if I say "that's not the floor, thats paper!" She immediately gets all happy and proud. She understands more than I would have expected. good luck, and take care.

Tethering enforcing her SA? How so? Just by being there, preventing her from going where she wants to go? A crate would do the same thing. She has a little box she sleeps in at night, but she wont stay in there if I am not in the bathroom with her. I would imagine she would be just as stressed if I were to lock her in that, if I were able. I dont know how she was abused, she doesnt seem to shy away from any objects.. she was semi - nervous when I put on her collar - but I had put that down to having never seen a collar before.. She wasnt running scared or anything, more like, whats that youre putting on me. Nope, cant block an area off either. If I could though, I strongly doubt she would use it anyways, she tends to like being right in the middle of things, and the centre of everyones attention all day. She gets a little jealous of my 1 year old daughter. =) But she isnt afraid of the leash tho, from what Ive seen. Indifferent to it. She just doesnt want to be far from me. It's okay though, I was thinking about it this morning, and it might be partly my fault, while she is potty training I dont want her far from me anyways.. it only takes her a seconds worth of being out of my sight and she will pee on the carpet.. so maybe I have been a little paranoid myself. It was just her bashing into my legs as I walked that I was so upset about, and it seems a short quick growl/grunt whenever she did it seems to have worked.. She is starting to understand what's going on. I am forever amazed at how fast she learns. We will figure it out.. she is a smart dog, and we can generally find a way to communicate with her. Thanks for the replies.

Why tie her? What else am I gonna do with her? I can't give her free reign of the house for the entire day. She isnt fully toilet trained yet. I dont have a crate, and am not going to get one unless I see a need for it. For a number of reasons, one of which being it wouldnt fit so well in a small apartment. Of course I am expecting issues. Never said otherwise. I am just trying to get an idea of how to work around them. And we are doing well so far, she is turning into a very well mannered little dog. The bond is at full strength already, I would guess. It has been for a while now - Ive had her for about 4 months. She is about 8 months old. Where she is tied, she has free run of a 2 seater sofa thing. You make it sound so crude. It's not like she is tied with a 1 foot lead. She has room to play comfortably up there when I cant watch her like a hawk. And thanks GSD, I will talk to my vet next visit.

I've actually tried walking slower, faster, doesnt seem to matter. She used to run between my legs as I walked... she stopped that when she was being pushed around.. now she just runs into my still leg. I've noticed the sep anx is so bad that she wont go in the other room to eat her food.. and that it's probably also the reason she is having so much trouble paper training. To go into another room to potty is a stretch for her sometimes. She does understand what is wanted of her; she runs around all spaz coz she knows she did good when she does something on the paper, and if it ends up elsewhere, she just goes back to sit on her couch. She just doesnt want to go all the way into the bathroom (maybe 4 foot out of sight of me.) Okie, thanks for the replies.

Thanks for the responses and the tips, I'll try them out. The whole bashing into my legs thing - is that normal for Sep Anx, part and parcel, or is that more (of what it feels like- ) no respect for my space?

so from your name, I am assuming your pup would be a GSD.. what line of work needs that kind of bond? And I have found that if I am tired, and going to bed early one night, she seems to prefer to be locked up in the bathroom early as well, rather than just tied to the couch in the lounge with the rest of the family. Which makes no sense to me either. She would rather be alone than with their company without me? I dont get it. I did rescue her from what seems to have been an abusive family, and I have been her main carer from that point - maybe she thinks that she is safe now, but only if I am there with her. Does this sound feasible? And how could I start to remedy that so she is content with whoever is looking after her? Thanks

hi hi. My staffy X is extremely clingy. Not to everyone in my family, just to me. Is this normal for a staffy, or for a puppy? I mean, she literally cant be more than 3 feet away from me. If I tie her up then walk to the kitchen (even though she can still see me) she freaks. jumps, whines, tries her best to get to me. Even though she is tied right next to my husband. And heaven forbid if I need to go out somewhere, she pines the whole time I am gone, even though she is not alone. When I am just walking around the house I know she is with me because she keeps bashing into my legs every time I take a step. Is there a way to fix this, does anyone know please? Just the leg bashing thing drives me crazy. She sleeps in the bathroom at night, is obedient only to me... maybe to someone else if she feels like it. I would guess she thinks she is 2nd in the pack, under me.. because she is a very dominant dog.. but I dont know how to fix this. Ive tried having others feed her, look after her etc.. she eats after everyone else has. But could this dominance thing have anything to do with her crowding me like that? If anyone has any suggestions, plz post. thanks

yes, yes, of course. I do that already, she just waits till we come out to use the carpet. lol But yesterday she only had one accident on the carpet.. and twice, she deliberately got up by herself, and ran to the bathroom paper, once to pee, once to poop. But again, I dont want to get my hopes up yet! Still taking her all the time just in case. And she now knows what "go toilet" means.. so there's a start. although she doesnt poop on command yet.. I may not need those panties after all, since she went by herself yesterday, and having them on would prevent her from doing that. Thanks

It's more than sometimes!! Do you know how much they drink?!? has anyone tried those "hygenic panties" for girl dogs? think they would work as a preventative measure? might be worth a try...

yes she is 17 weeks, but weve only had her a month of that, and idk what happened to her before then. We didnt get her from a shelter, we rescued her from the bad situation. We dont have the option of taking her outside - if she cant understand to potty on the paper, we're gonna have to rehome her, with someone who has the outside option. Now she just thinks whenever she pees or poops she gets rewarded. Even if she poops on the carpet, she will still come straight to me, expecting treats. I am rewarding anything, even fake ones, when done on the paper, and I can't help it - I do get frustrated when she does it on the carpet, but I dont take it out on her other than simply saying "No.", pushing her out of the way so she doesnt step on it in her excitement at having done it, and wanting the treat for it. But I am sure she knows I am upset. I dont have a crate for her, but maybe I should get one. I am using a couch right now, which works until she needs to go potty... then if I am not looking, she will just jump down and go - making sure to be very quiet so I cant hear her jumping down. Most times, I can keep her going on the paper.. but if left on her own, even right after she has used the paper, she will still use the carpet. She did her normal 2 poops this morning, so I let her out, and then she pooped again on the floor. /sigh... I hate having to restrict her like this, it isnt any fun for her. Oh well, thanks for the advice, I guess I will keep doing what I'm doing. Maybe it just takes more persistance. I am only hesitant to get a crate for her, because I am thinking it might be more trouble than it is worth. She tends to get panicked if I have to walk away for a minute, even to change a nappy. She has a little seperation anxiety, which we are also working on. She wasnt treated very nicely where she was, so she is very timid, and afraid of new people. She hides and growls at friends who visit.. so am teaching her that new people means lots of treats for her... am hoping that will help her some.

Taking her every 45 mins or so, but she will refuse to do anything - she'll just lay down and sleep. If i then move her to her paper, she'll lie down on her newspaper, and rest. As soon as we get out of there, she will hunt for a spot on the carpet, and try to 'go'. Yes, I am cleaning with paper towels, hot water damp washrag, then vinegar spray. It can be hard to keep track of her when it only takes her 2 seconds to find a spot, pee, then come back into view, like nothing happened. Or when I am busy with my girls.

My puppy did that too.. I told her to go toilet, and she went and squatted, squeezed out a drop, then looked at me, expectingly! I rewarded her with much excitement and treats. So I thought she understood... but I have been given that impression at least 4 times now.. She is very headstrong, and kind of dominant, always testing her boundaries. Give her an inch, she will take a mile. Could she be doing this as a dominance thing? Like: "I will pee/poop wherever I like, because I'm the boss" ??? I do believe she knows what I'm saying... she learns fast. It only ever takes about 6 times to teach her something new, before she will do it on command.. I dont know if that is good, but I've had 2 dogs before, and neither of those learnt that fast.. But both were easier to potty train.

Thanks guys, I guess it happens very often, but I posted right after she'd done it again when I thought I had gotten through to her, hence the exasperation. I also understand that I should have seen it coming though, so part of the frustration was at myself also. A puppy is more work than any of my 3 kids have been so far! (Not a complaint, simply a funny observation!) My youngest child just turned 1, so I have my hands full with a puppy as well! More patience will pull me through though, I guess, if it can take as long as 12 months to potty train. Just nice to know what to expect, since all my experience previously had been within 1 week! But really, Ive seen some dog training places advertising that they teach toilet training - is this really possible? It's not that easy, I thought.. I dont see what they could do any differently. Maybe that's why they say it - simply to pose a question... Thanks

Sorry to ask yet another toilet training question - I know you've probably heard them all, a few times. But, how long does it normally take to toilet train a dog? And at what point do you have to stop and acknowledge there might be a problem? Can all dogs be paper trained, or are some just untrainable? Anyone have any idea if a professional trainer could help? And how much they might cost, if anyone's used one? I've had my puppy for almost a month now, she's around 17 weeks. She is a smart puppy - I've taught her sit, drop, shake (a paw), stay, and some basic people manners, as she seemed raw when I got her. I got her as a rescue though, and have cleared up her fleas and worms, so she is healthy again, and has doubled her size already.. I am at the end of my rope though with her using my carpet as a toilet. At this age, she should have no problems, from my experience. I have been ignoring her messes and praising her toilet area with treats that she absolutely goes hyper for. When I was a kid, my dad would rub their nose in it, and that took a matter of days, from memory. I have been so far refraining from doing that, but it isnt working. I know this is a lot, and there are a lot of questions, but if anyone can help share their experiences, I would be grateful, thanks. I dont want to have to get rid of her again. Thanks.

okies, thanks much. And yes, she was a rescue, the poor thing. She seems to be making an effort though, it's just slow going.. and I am just impatient for my kids.. I want her to be able to come out of the bathroom and play with them! Thanks again