any helpful hints on 9 month old puppy climbing and pooping where he shouldn't
Submitted by kselibrary76 on September 12, 2011 - 12:24pmI have had bulldogs for years, but have generally gotten them as pups and raised them myself.
My last two dogs are rescue dogs. Sherman is the ideal dog, quick to learn, eager to please. He is 3. I have had him for 2 years.
Enter, 1 week ago today, Custer. Custer is 9 months old and as stubborn and disinterested in pleasing as they come. He's a hoot and we love him. HOWEVER, there is nothing like looking into the backyard to find your deck has a huge dog pile on it, and said dog is lounging on your teak picnic table doing his best frog yoga pose in the sunshine, without a care about the pile he left on the deck.
This dog could climb a ladder! I've never seen a bulldog climb like this. It is a behavior I hope to stop. It is dangerous. Big question. HOW? He is part monkey and loves it. Just when we think we have removed all aids to his climbing, the brat finds another. He likes the unconventional!
Second behavioral issue is that he refuses to poop in our dog yard. It is large, fenced, he can run, he can cavort. He does both! He won't poop there though. We cannot figure out why. We've caught him going both on the deck and in the house. He just looks at us and continues when we try to encourage him to go out into the grass. You may now be thinking it is the grass he has issues with. Nope. If we take him out to the unfenced portion of the yard, he will go ~ ON THE FREAKING GRASS!!!!
I know it is just a week, I know he is new, but holy blue cats. I've never had a dog just look at me with the "yeah, I know what you think I should do, but even if you try to encourage me, treat me, even force me, I'm a contrarian and have to do what I have to do" look.
In the house he is not allowed away from us. If this means a leash it means a leash, because he WILL sneak, like a 2 year old real child being potty trained, to some remote corner and do his business...most often on my persian rug. I like to put them outside in the fall sunshine a bit ALONE, but it looks like I can't do that if he is going to eliminate on the deck.
Any ideas?
We can relate!
My male 6 month old bulldog does both of these things. When I tried to let him out to go to the bathroom..he would walk down the stairs leading outside, pee/poo directly at the bottom of the stairs on the patio, and go right back up the stairs to come inside again. It was very annoying..and if you would go with him outside he would go farther onto the patio, but still use it as a toilet. I also thought maybe he didn't like grass, but if he can play in the grass it must not be that bad! We broke the habit by taking him on a leash to the backyard to the same spot and repeatedly saying go potty until he went...then praise him heavily and gave him treats. It is not as pleasant as just sending them out to do it by themselves, but it did work for us and he has not went on the patio in over a month now. The climbing behavior I have not been able to correct..he also has tried to climb a ladder before! And in no way is he a dog that I would picture as a climber..but he gets on everything. If I am around him when he gets on something he shouldn't, I yell no and he usually will stop, and then I reward him. But he seems to get into the most trouble climbing when he is unsupervised..for example getting on the coffee table and eating all the sugar out of the sugar bowl!
Brothers from another mother
My fiance is starting to think Custer has a few screws loose (j/k).
I tried to puppy proof the place because I know puppies get into everything, but he climbed on my coffee table, got my gorgeous piece of driftwood and turned it into toothpicks.
We have tried the standing out there with a leash thing...have yet to have a successful bowel emptying while on leash. We stand out there looking like loons and sounding worse while encouraging him...he looks at us like the puppetmaster he is "look at em beg" and...NOTHING.
This next weekend I'll do it all day if I must. Custer's last stand, as it were. I asked our dog walker if he poops for her, and she says only on walks. He has yet to poop on a walk for us. I swear he is playing with us!
I again, know he is new and learning the ropes but he is a blessing and a burden right now.
Karen, Custer's new, frustrated mama
When you have a full day to commit to training
take him out on a leash. Wait 5 minutes if he doesnt go, bring him back into the house. Keep him on the leash with you so he doesn't sneak off. Back out the door and keep repeating until he goes.
The climbing, removing any reason for it, ie.-something to chew/food etc., watching him to prevent it is the only way to stop it.
Lynn King CPDT-KA
thanks lynn
I've been taking him out to the yard he likes to go in, and he is quite happy to do it there. I'm thinking he is likely overwhelmed with the size of the area he has to use, as well as how much freedom he has. We've been working on that, and he has, in the past week improved greatly.
As for the climbing...
He climbs for the love of it. There can be nothing there for him to get, but he is curious that there might be...so he climbs to look. We have spent a lot of time finding anything we think he could use to climb, and removed that. The curious thing...I think he'll eventually grow out of that. So much new, so much to learn.
I find it interesting that earlier this week I had some hard news. I had to be biopsied for testing for breast cancer. That puppy seemed to sense the mood in that house and has been a lot less...excessive in his joy of life. :) He's been tender and calmer. I think he senses that things are different. He's a little love bug, with a curiosity that cracks us up.
We adopted our Tucker when he
We adopted our Tucker when he was 7 months old and, for the first time ever, thought about taking him to a behavioral specialist since he would not calm down...ever, plus he was not house trained at all. He was going to be boarded and trained for a week at their facility (kind of like obedience boot camp). But since then, he has steadily calmed down, is house broken, and is now such a sweetie pie (napping as much as our 4 yr old bullie). We never took him to obedience boot camp either.
I just think that when older pups are adopted (7-12 months), sometimes it takes a while for them to get used to your way of doing things. Keep at it (taking him out obsessively and praising when/if he does his business outside) and you will eventually see the fruits of your labor. I didn't think I would ever see Tucker trained (he is as stubborn as they come), but he absolutely is trained and well behaved now!
:D
Preston,
I think we have come to decide that Custer is just very happy to be there, and there are so many things to learn and explore. Each day we see him calmer. I think that poor darling was overwhelmed. The house is huge, the yard is big...and there is so much to see in both places.
I still do not understand his refusal to use the back dog yard (it's clean, it's grassy with bushes and plants, it is of great size) to poop. I now wonder if he smells Sherman all over it and feels it is his territory???
We will work this weekend on getting him to go there. It may take a while but he will learn to do it. This morning I let him out there (he has to go off the deck into the dog yard) he promptly squatted and peed on the deck *insert eyeroll*
He seemed quite pleased he didn't have to do it in the dog yard...until he saw my face. lol
That is great! Yes, that is
That is great! Yes, that is what we saw with Tucker as well...he calmed down a bit more each day. Once he was calmer, we were able to train him better since we can then hold his attention for more than 2 seconds at a time! I'm sure being in a new environment is very exciting (and a little scarey) for pups that are several months old when going to a new home. Plus, my 4 yr-old bully didn't "completely" calm down until she was at least 2, so I think alot of Tucker's energy is puppy energy anyway...that may also be true for your Custer. Each dog is also different, but some are more stubborn than others and need a little more coaxing (to poop on the grass and not the patio, for example).
I'm glad you're being persistent and giving him time to adjust, it will be worth it in the end!