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Old October 14th, 2002, 03:41 PM
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MyDogDamien MyDogDamien is offline
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Unhappy Golden Pup Training Issues

Pets.ca forum folks:

This looks like a wonderful forum. Wanted to throw a few "behavioral" issues out there with our 4-month Golden Retriever male puppy.

Top 3 Include:

1. Potty Training
First of all, he failed miserably at crate training. (Barked non-stop, soiled his crate that was not too big.) We are now in the process of paper training him. He is about 75% accurate on the paper. Some good days and some bad days. We are now trying to move the papers twoards the door where we take him out. However, he cannot hold it in duing the night, and appears to be going the minute we leave him alone. He gets plenty of exercise, and time out doors. He eats at 7am, 12pm and 6pm. Any suggestions to improve this (and our paper towel & newspaper supply?)

2. Separation Anxiety:
Currently, we have our puppy penned off in our kitchen and family room. My wife works from home (upstairs), and our dog barks like a madman the second I leave for work or any time he knows that we're in another room out of his sight. He also has started to bang on his gate, and has started to find ways of escaping a 3.5 ft high gate and runs upstairs the minute he escapes. Per our trainer, we have tried Mellow Dog treats, which do nothing. I am also looking into the citronella collars, as he barks extremely loud. Is there a fine line between spending too much time with him? Any suggestions?

3. 4am Wake-up Call:
Our dug has decided that around 4 am, it's time to start barking. We have tried to ignore him, but he keeps going on an on. We have been taking him out at this time, and most of the time he "eliminates" outside, but wants to come upstairs as soon as we go back in, and the barking starts again if we don't give in. ANy ideas to get him through the night (I'll even take 6am) without barking and/or leaving us presents in the middle of the night? The problem is that he wants to go to sleep at 8PM, and despite our efforts to keep him up, he finds a way to go back to sleep.

Looking for any suggestions here. We've taken our dog to Kindergarten puppy training and appear to be doing all the righ things, but we're losing patience (and sleep) with this guy.


Thanks again,

MyDogDamien
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  #2  
Old October 25th, 2002, 08:38 PM
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Choc Lab Lover Choc Lab Lover is offline
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Okay!! Im here to help!!

I dont own a goldy but i DO own a labrador puppy.

Potty Training: we went through this too.. finally at 7 months he is fully trained to pee an BM only outdoors(Not in the house... at last!!. Okay go ahead move your papers to the door!! Dont wait for him he'll get the idea! So put your papers by the door i would give him a good two full pages space wise.

Watch him like an eagle. If he starts to tiddle where the papers used to be... pick him up (YES right in the middle of his pee) run him over to the new paper spot!! put him down on the papers and let him finish peeing there. Trust me.. after a few of these he will get the idea... he wont like being inturpted!! (We went through the same thing!!) If you are going to paper train him.. only paper train him.. if you want him to do it all outdoors then dont let him have any papers... we found this out the hard way!!
Its confusing to have to sometimes do it on papers and other times do it outside!!

Pee issue..... cant expect the poor fella to hold it in his bladder is small!! Minimize his water supply. Dont let him have it whenever he wants... people say they should be allowed to have it whenever but when it comes to this minimize!! After hard play... after walk etc.

Know the following: Puppies pee when- they wake up (even after those catnaps!!), 15-20 mins after they drink water, after hard play time... and likely right when you get in from a walk!! lol

So either take him right outdoors after the above times or show him the paper after the above times.

If he isnt too heavy carry him right after he wakes up and put him on the paper!!

---------------
Seperation anxiety!

two things (depending on how old he is)

Firstly we did the kitchen ordeal for a few days ours was 6 months old when we first left him though.

Ok- Kitchen fenced in-Barracade the kitchen as best as possible. use his crate to block up the area too. Leave the tv or radio on for him to listen to (sounds crazy but works)

if he is a little older like 6 months... crate him- simply crate him... make sure no collars are on him though!! My trick is... give him a cookie before i leave say bye and then i turn on the radio for him. so he doesnt feel so lonely!! or even the tv so he hears noise!

I would Highly recommend crate training him.. our crate is big enough that he wont need a new one when full grown. Put a blanket on the top so he cant see out of the crate. turn tv on. ignore him- absolutly do not give in to him.. we are in an apartment so it was hard but it worked.

-----------
4am wake up call:

Dont let him sleep till you go to bed! Works for us.. then he sleeps longer. Make sure you take away water few hours before bed.. possibly change his dinner time to 5 so he'll be "empty".. keeping him awake... let him TRY to doze off and then bug him poke play bother him so he cant sleep.. seems cruel but so is a 4am wake up call! Just keep waking him up over and over, never letting him sleep for more than 2 minutes!

Hope a helped a little bit.. anymore questions just ask!! Goodluck!
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  #3  
Old August 6th, 2006, 09:06 AM
Marion63 Marion63 is offline
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Hi and congrats on your little puppy. I have a golden/lab she is 22 months old and also suffering from seperation anxiety..Mind you she was a rescue and had a very bad start in the first 3 months..now she is the most wonderful dog.
It is very important to excercise your dog, potty him etc BEFORE you leave him/her home alone, in a crate or in a seperate area.
Do not go to him when he is barking, because now he knows that he will get the attention he wants..positive and/or negative, it is still attention.
I suggest to put a blanket or a sheet over 3/4 of his crate and leave him with a kong, toy, etc.
And yes, like the other writer said, TAKE THE COLLAR off..
Praise him like crazy when he is quiet, goldens love verbal praise..
It takes time and time..because my dog has this anxiety, the vet has put he on a calming medication and it is working very well, I ma in the process ( with my vet) to wean her off of it.
Maggie has the whole house to herself and I think she loves it.
Maggie also hated a crate and we used it only to go to bed. She sleeps with us on the bed..and yes, she wakes up at 05.00 every morning and on the weekends she sleeps in till 06.00..
Good luck..Marion
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Old August 6th, 2006, 10:19 AM
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PetFriendly PetFriendly is offline
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For the house breaking, I think you might have gone too fast. The point of the crate is to get their muscles developed such that they can 'hold' it. So even if you have the exact right size of crate, take him out right before, don't give any water, etc the pup is doomed to fail if you leave him in too long.

Try looking up on the other messages about seperation anxiety. There are lots of people with similar problems. Part of your house breaking issue might be driven by SA. Basically, stop going into the room when he's barking, except for the 4 am outside break (which might go on for months, you'll get used to it). You're going to have to be patient, my guy can go for a whole half hour. You might also want to get a new trainer, there are ways to help lessen the anxiety. I tried a mellowed version of boot camp and that did wonders. (I also cut down on the amount of space he had when he was just wee by using an x-pen and that also helped)
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Old August 6th, 2006, 11:03 AM
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Ummm, this thread is four years old.
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  #6  
Old August 6th, 2006, 11:06 AM
Marion63 Marion63 is offline
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Smile

I just noticed this as well..duhhh..need another cup of coffee.. Please that the rest of my day will be ok..
Marion
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