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Reply to "I was an idiot to get a puppy."
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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]1. You're not reading her cues when she's in the house. You need eyes on her at all times. Yell at her (not hit) when you catch her in the act of peeing or pooping inside. And then take her out by the scruff of the neck and go outside, even though you know she might have finished, just to impress your displeasure upon her and get her to understand that she needs to pee and poo outside. When she does her business outside, you need to give her a high-value treat immediately, and pet and coo at her. 2. Your carpet might have too much scent on it by now and she thinks that's where she's supposed to go. If you can roll away your carpets to have them cleaned, that would be ideal. If not, all the spots she's dumped and peed on need serious soaking in one of those dog enzyme cleaners. Don't even mop it up. Let it soak for days. 3. Finally, crate. It's normal for her to whine and scream. NEVER TAKE OUT A WHINY DOG OUT OF THEIR CRATE. They're training you, not the other way around. The longer you've been obeying their "let me out!" screams, the longer it takes to train them out of it. Put on noise-canceling headphones, and earplugs at night. Put on music while in the shower. Do not cave. You let her out when she's exhausted herself and isn't making any noise in her crate. 4. She sounds extremely anxious. You can ask your vet for anxiety meds, and you can buy a bark collar for when you leave her alone in the house. Make sure she has a high-value treat when you leave (but I know that alone doesn't cut it for anxious dogs). Even if the neighbors aren't bothered by her barking while you're out, she's hurting herself. Dogs bark naturally at various things, including wildlife and mailmen, but the boredom or separation anxiety bark is mentally unhealthy for them. My dog only barked twice with his bark collar and learned the zap wasn't what he wanted. Don't let yourself be lulled by positive-only trainers, OP. Certain dogs need aversive tools, used wisely and sparingly. I tested the zap on myself first. Always do that. [/quote] Thank you for the advice. I did entirely remove the carpet, I will treat it and sent it to a laundromat but it won't be put back until when/if she is house trained. She does settle eventually in the crate and I never let her out while whining. [b]For the house training - I am struggling to have eyes on her all the time. I need to shower / leave the room sometimes. [/quote] [/b] She needs to be in a pen or crate during those times.[/quote] This. What the hell kind of "crate training" are you doing, OP?! The dog is in the crate unless you're actively engaging it. Period. Assuming it's a small enough puppy, take it from the crate, CARRY it out of the house, and deposit it outside where you want it to do its business. If it goes, treat. If not, give it water (outside, ideally), then CARRY it back inside to its crate, which should be just big enough for it to stand and turn around. Do not give it extra space, do not let it walk on the floor unless you're sure it's empty. If the dog does biz outside, you can play for 10-20 minutes in an enclosed, puppy-proofed space, letting the puppy drag its leash so you always have control. Err on the side of caution with the time limit. After the timer goes off, take the dog outside (again, carry it, if it's small/accident prone) and give it the pee command again. If it goes, treat. If not, water and crate. This is intense for about a week, and then it's done. Never take the puppy out when it's whining. If it's little, you'll need to wake in the night to be sure it gets out frequently enough (but it will also be easier to train than an older puppy/dog). basic puppy boot camp lasts about 2 weeks, tops. You'll still need to be vigilant after that, and some breeds are harder to housebreak than others, but those first two weeks get the job done for 95% of all dogs. If you can't handle that, aren't willing to be that intense, feel like giving up, I agree with the pp who said "give the puppy back" and let someone else have a go. The longer it stays in a stressed out household, getting scolded for doing the wrong thing without being adequately taught what's right, the harder it will be to rehome successfully later.[/quote] [b]I wish I had known this previously.[/b] Unfortunately; I am now going back to work and won’t be home to do this ‘boot camp’ style of training. As a side note: I live in a townhome. It’s not feasible to have a dog barking in a crate all day; which is what I’d be dealing with if I did this. Regardless, I’m going to contact the rescue. I’m a bad pet parent and not suited for a pet. [/quote] Yeah, your "trainer" did you dirty. DIRTY. Dirty AF. Truly, you should get your money back. This is crazy... The dog seems habituated to barking in the crate now, so yeah. I can see how that dynamic in a townhome is a problem. That said, I've raised 4 puppies in my current apartment, which has paper-thin walls and zero soundproofing. It's noisy for a day or two. I give my neighbors the heads up (and a bottle of wine, for goodwill). Shared walls mean occasional shared noises. Again, too late now for this puppy, but wanted to put it out there for others reading, and for your future consideration. It's not that you're a "bad pet parent", but you definitely need better training/support before attempting to puppy train again. You tried. Learn from that, take this one back, recalibrate, and then maybe consider practicing your dog training skills on an older dog. They need the same crate discipline strategy, at least at first, but the "at first" is over MUCH faster, and the frequency of engagement can be spread out a lot further. Puppies are INTENSE. As long as you do right by this one by giving him back so he can find another home while he's still little and cute (that really is nature's best trick for their survival, because they're all jerks at this stage!), it'll be okay.[/quote]
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