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Old March 27th, 2014, 07:56 AM
StopSnowing StopSnowing is offline
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Puppy Problems

Hello!

I have a new puppy named Zoey. Zoey is almost 9 weeks old. I got her last Friday (6 days ago now). We have had a lot of excitement together so far!

Zoey likes to pee and poo in the house and walk through it. She was good at going outside (not 100%, but pretty good for a puppy so young) for the first few days, but now she seems to have learned that she gets a treat and/or praise for going to the bathroom in the right spot. You'd think this is good, but she has developed a strategy to take really small poos and pees then come looking for a treat, then let out a tiny bit more poo or pee and come looking for another treat. She won't take a full poo, so when I put her back in the crate... she poos there. This tells me she has really good control, but I don't know how to make her empty her bowels all at once.

We went to the vet yesterday, and the vet told me that she'll grow out of it. There must be a better solution, so I'm turning here for some help and info.

My wife and I get up with Zoey a few times each night. She howls all night long (the dog, not the wife), so we don't engage her except on a schedule to bring her to the bathroom. We have kept a complete log of every time the dog has been fed (3x a day), every time she drinks, when she poos or pees and if its in the right spot, and how she was rewarded for it. There is no pattern! Sometimes she poos within minutes of eating, and sometimes it not for hours after.

Specifically, I would like to know whether there is something that can be done about her taking tiny poos and then pooing in her crate. Every time she does it, it means I have to put her in the tub, clean the mess, then clean her.. She already destroyed my shower curtain by pulling it in to the tub, getting poo on it and chewing it up.

Thanks!

Here's a photo of Zoey in her crate and of her at the vet.
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Last edited by StopSnowing; March 27th, 2014 at 09:37 AM.
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Old March 27th, 2014, 07:57 AM
StopSnowing StopSnowing is offline
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Oh my goodness those photos are huge.
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Old March 27th, 2014, 01:53 PM
Barkingdog Barkingdog is offline
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I had a hard time reading your post , maybe you could copy and paste what you wrote and post it again.
Your dog is very clever to had figure out the more pile of poop she made the more treats she'll get. She is doing a very good job in training you. I think it would be best to only give her one treat and if she go again in the wrong spot do not give her any treat , that is training to go in the wrong place. I think this what you wrote as it was hard for to read your post. your dog is cute.
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Old March 27th, 2014, 05:33 PM
StopSnowing StopSnowing is offline
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Thanks for the reply - I won't bother making a new thread at this point. I think the problem with her poops was from her de-worming medication rather than her intentionally taking tiny poops. So for today she has been taking big pees rather than small pees and mostly in the right spot!!
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Old March 27th, 2014, 06:32 PM
Lynne&Co. Lynne&Co. is offline
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My goodness Zoey is one cute puppy!
You might want to reduce the space she has in her crate so she has just enough room to lie down. Dogs will usually not eliminate where they sleep. In addition, exercise encourages the body to elimate waste so a leash walk immediately following her meals will help her drain herself. Good luck
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Old March 27th, 2014, 08:34 PM
Barkingdog Barkingdog is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by StopSnowing View Post
Thanks for the reply - I won't bother making a new thread at this point. I think the problem with her poops was from her de-worming medication rather than her intentionally taking tiny poops. So for today she has been taking big pees rather than small pees and mostly in the right spot!!
I did not mean to make a whole new thread , post it on this thread so it would be easier to read.
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Old March 28th, 2014, 07:27 AM
Longblades Longblades is offline
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Sounds like you have identified the problem and I agree, I've had worming on cats and dogs produce that effect. But, FWIW, I don't treat for going to the bathroom in the correct spot. Such a young puppy cannot control it's bladder and sphincter muscles in a way to pee or poop just to get a treat.

But they can very quickly learn to ask to go outdoors for no other reason than they associate it with getting a treat. In and out, in and out. My darn OH gives the dog a treat every time he comes back in. In my OH's mind this conditions the dog to want to come back in. In and out, in and out. OH is right, it works, he just doesn't understand the dog is smart enough to also understand in is preceded by out. Arrgggghhhhh.
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Old March 28th, 2014, 08:57 AM
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Marty11 Marty11 is offline
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Your puppy is beautiful! 9 weeks old, she has no clue what to do yet....Go to basic house training. Take her out after naps/ after play/ after eating. Reward her outside with a treat not inside. Definitely leash walks (short ones) will encourage pooping regularly right after eating. It will be 3 months before she is housebroken maybe more. She cannot hold it all night in her crate yet, so frequent trips outside are required. I personally like to use a playpen with a crate (door open) for a den and peepads or newspapers for eliminating. Close crate door for shorter times when you out so she will get comfortable with crates. Eventually dogs learn as they do not like to eliminate anywhere they sleep and eat.
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Old April 1st, 2014, 08:58 AM
StopSnowing StopSnowing is offline
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Thanks for all the help guys . Zoey has not pooped or peedin her crate for a few days now, but we're still working on going outside... I had her outside on a leash while doing yardwork yesterday for over an hour, and she didn't go to the bathroom until about two seconds after I brought her back inside.

I think she's confused because for the first two days we had her, we had a training pad inside for get to go on and then we moved the training pad outside. She used the training pad without a problem for the first day, then a raccoon peed on her pad and pooped all over the area where she hangs out outside. I caught the raccoon in the act and chased it away, but now Zoey doesn't like that place anymore.

Today we were napping in the kitchen (I put a little blow up mattress on the floor of the kitchen for us to nap on together) and she moved down to my feet, peed on my feet (which were under a blanket), and then came back up to my head... Grrr!!!
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Old April 1st, 2014, 08:59 AM
StopSnowing StopSnowing is offline
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Oh and we'll be going to basic training classes after she gets her second round of shots, but I'm afraid she'll be the only puppy peeing all over the place in training embarrassing for both of us!
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Old April 1st, 2014, 09:11 AM
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Winston Winston is offline
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Stopsnowing I think your puppy is so adorable!! I just wanted to share a quick story with you.....

My previous lab Winston was introduced to obediance as a 6 month old pup. We arrived at the training facility. Our class was after dinner in the evenings. We entered the building and just as the class was about to start he decided he needed to go and promptly pooped in the middle of the room in front of everyone! I could have died. Next week same thing except he pee'd. I was so embarrased. The trainer came over after and asked me if we were feeding him before class and we were. She told us not to feed him before class because it is perfect timing after dinner for them to go. Once we stopped feeding before class he stopped doing his business.

Another thing you could teach your pup is to ring a bell attached to your door. (they sell them at the pet stores) I have a female lab now and she was so easy to train to ring the bell. Everytime I took her outside to do her business I rang the bell and went outside. She picked it up reall fast and began ringing the bell all the time!!!!

Good Luck

Cindy
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Old April 5th, 2014, 07:03 PM
StopSnowing StopSnowing is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Winston View Post
Stopsnowing I think your puppy is so adorable!! I just wanted to share a quick story with you.....

My previous lab Winston was introduced to obediance as a 6 month old pup. We arrived at the training facility. Our class was after dinner in the evenings. We entered the building and just as the class was about to start he decided he needed to go and promptly pooped in the middle of the room in front of everyone! I could have died. Next week same thing except he pee'd. I was so embarrased. The trainer came over after and asked me if we were feeding him before class and we were. She told us not to feed him before class because it is perfect timing after dinner for them to go. Once we stopped feeding before class he stopped doing his business.

Another thing you could teach your pup is to ring a bell attached to your door. (they sell them at the pet stores) I have a female lab now and she was so easy to train to ring the bell. Everytime I took her outside to do her business I rang the bell and went outside. She picked it up reall fast and began ringing the bell all the time!!!!

Good Luck

Cindy
Haha thanks for the advice about feeding after classes . We have a bell on the door but we're having a hard time getting her to use it. We ring it every time we go outside to go to the bathroom, and we've started holding her in front of it to ring it herself before we take her out, but she has yet to ring it intentionally.

We went to the vet today for her second shots and the vet said Zoey was too young when she got her first round of shots, and we had to start over with her immunizations...

On the bright side, Zoey is now sitting on command about 90% of the time!
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