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dog slowly driving me crazy..HELP!

rykade
October 20th, 2005, 08:57 AM
Hi. I have a one year old Beagle Lab mix who I swear will be the death of me. I am having two problems with him. Our back yard is fenced in and he has discovered bunnies on the other side of the fence and oh boy, does he want them bad. So he has started digging either to get to them or invite them in...neither of which I would enjoy. How can I stop him digging? Oh yea, the bunnies are in the neighbors yard so I can't really get rid of them. Also, Jake the obnoxious, as we lovongly call him has started sneaking downstairs in the middle of the night to pee. He generally went in the living room but then we blocked it off with a board and now he pees on the board. And, yes he is already neutered and no, I don't want to use a crate. I have sprayed and sprayed with the stain and odor remover, I have scrubbed the carpets but he always goes to this one spot to pee. Other than building an electric zapper there(that was just a joke!)what can I do?? Any advice on either subject would be greatly appreciated! Thanks! :usa:

jessi76
October 20th, 2005, 09:09 AM
My personal opinion is you should train a good LEAVE IT when it comes to the bunnies & the fence. I'd supervise the dog for now, and everytime he goes to that fence to dig, enforce LEAVE IT, and when he does leave it alone - treat and praise like crazy! Reward him alot for leaving that fence alone. perhaps provide another area FOR digging if he continues to dig. (like a sandbox)

as for the nightime peeing... why don't you want to use a crate? I think it would solve the problem.

LavenderRott
October 20th, 2005, 09:10 AM
Well, beagles and labs are hunting dogs so bunnies are among the things the love best. You may never break this habit. You could try putting an electronic fence around the inside of your regular fence - a couple of feet into the yard - and that might keep him off the fence.

Dogs live in the moment, so you really can't correct the leg lifting in the house unless you catch him in the act. If this is a new behavior, you might want to take him to the vet and have him checked for a UTI. Also, pick his water up a couple of hours before bedtime and make sure that a trip outside is the LAST thing you do before you go to bed.

maddoxies
October 20th, 2005, 05:02 PM
I have seen some hard plastic pads with little bumps/spikes on them at the pet stores. They are used to train pets not to jump on furniture etc. What about staking one or two of them out by the fence line?

I sympathize with you, I have a miniature dachshund who "renovated" the chipmunk hole in my sister's backyard. The chippies have a new "front porch"

As for the peeing, try vinegar and water on the spots. And again maybe those plastic pads might discourage him. Otherwise, if the other suggestions don't work, he may need some crate training. He is young and a stubborn breed to boot.

Good luck

Melinda
October 20th, 2005, 06:26 PM
I use to have trouble with my last dog with digging, we bought on the trainers advice a citronella spray collar, I held a little remote and whenever Daisy would start to dig, I'd push a button and a spray of citronella would spray up from under her neck, she'd back right off.....took about 2 weeks but it stopped her digging where she wasn't suppose to, we ended up giving her her own spot to dig at the back of the yard and she stuck to it.

oreokitty
October 21st, 2005, 10:47 AM
First of all I totally understand your problem! What we have been doing with our dog is using the water bottle and a firm LEAVE IT! Or get a plastic bottle or can fill it half full of pennies and have it near so that when he does dig you can chuck it at him.. DON'T hit him but the noise will startle him and he won't like being startled and will quickly stop after two or three times of this...

This has worked for us...

Rebelrage
November 9th, 2005, 02:00 AM
In my experience most animals don't want to go to the bathroom in the area they sleep, if you don't want to use a crate trying shutting the dog up in the bedroom where you sleep. Also with this I agree you need to lift the water dish a couple of hours before bed time. If that doesn't work then you might want to find out if there is a physical problem, and if that isn't it then you may have to resort to a crate, it worked for my dog and it doesn't have to be forever, just until trained. As far as the digging I am sorry to say I can't help you there, my dog Rebel digs so any advice on that I would appreciate too.

alliekat
November 14th, 2005, 05:47 PM
If you clean the area over and over but are using a cleaner with ammonia it will not get rid of the smell. Dogs have ammonia in their urine and need a product that will not enhance this which is what ammonia based cleaners do. Most household cleaners have this in them so look on the labels and find something that doesn't.

I once believed that "crating" a dog was a mean concept. I was looking at the crate from my point of view instead of the dogs. When I started looking at it from the dogs point of view (they see it as a safe place) I became more open to it. Just like we need our own rooms if we live with other people, dogs need a retreat to go to that is theirs and only theirs. When I crate trained Allie she cried and bit at the crate for a day. Now I say the word and she goes in there and lays down with the door open and even whhen she just need some quiet time away from everything else.

Unfortunately if you are going to allow your dog to roam around unsupervised (cause we really can't watch them while we are sleeping) it is going to be almost impossible to correct the behaviour. You need to correct a bad behaviour within 1 second of it happening and in your case that is physically impossible to do. So your alternative would be to make a crate a "positive experience" for your dog and even put it beside your bed at night so he feels more comfortable. Dogs live in packs. A pack can be defined in a group of dogs, people etc, whatever there living arrangements are therefore they want to be close to their "pack" instead of isolated in another room.

Other than building an electric zapper there(that was just a joke!)what can I do??
Unfortunately "electric zappers" also knows as electric fences are commonly used incorrectly.

An e-collar works close to the same way. They started being used with hunting dogs (which are usually from the hound breeds). They send a vibration like a pager to the dog when used properly. It is a training tool to teach the dog to listen when you call it away from the "prey". It is used in addition to commands and regular training but help when the dog is out of reach phsically. You DO NOT have to use it to "shock" the dog. It can be used just like a citronella collar although I wonder if there is any ingredient in that that could cause long term damage to their repitory tract. Praise the dog when he listens. Your dog most likely has a strong prey drive as it's genetics have been bred to do therefore you cannot stop that drive all together but you can work with it and make it a positive thing by training your dog to obey your desired behaviours. It will just be a little harder than with a low prey drive dog.