For the dog's sake I am going to try and reply with what you have given us, you are concerned about this which is why you have come on here asking questions, if I get things wrong it is because I don't have the information I really need to help you better.
heydeej wrote:What do I do with a foster dog that seems to have an attitude problem? If he is told "no", is not given attention upon demand, or other such things he is "mad" about, then he pees on the floor. I know dogs aren't vindictive and don't get "mad" but he looks at me deliberately and lifts that leg. He doesn't go hide to do it. It's like he is saying "ok then, there you go".
He is a dog, he only understands dog language not English, he is a different species to us, he have to teach our babies and children to understand and speak English but expect dogs to know it. As I don't know how much exercise he has or what breed, I have to be very general.
Exercise is very important, it gets rid of excess energy and helps get rid of stress, your foster dog is very stressed, as you can pick him up I suspect he is a small dog, most small dogs need a lot of exercise both physical and mental, clicker training often helps stressed dogs as well as mind games. His physical exercise can be broken up into 2 or 3 times a day which may help, if he is a terrier he will need a lot of physcal exercise, about 2 hours a day as well as mental stimulation.
If you have a look at the clips in this thread
viewtopic.php?f=20&t=2959 it may help you understand your dog's body language and what he is trying to tell you, the more you can read his body language the easier it will be to understand what he is doing.
He isn't mad, he is picking up on your body language, he knows you are angry/upset but doesn't know why, the more you get like this the more he pees out of anxiety and stress, he can't help it, you can by changing your body language, it is difficult but can be done. Try pretending to be angry, take a good look at your body, it is tense, very stiff, and you may seem to grow taller. Now relax and smile, your body has now relaxed and is soft and loose. When he pees on the floor, try smiling, if your body language is soft and relaxed, the chances of him pees is very greatly reduced but it may take a little time for him to destress enough.
If I say "no!" and snatch him up to go outside, he sometimes keeps on peeing and it trails all the way to the door. This leads me to think its not just marking.
This must be terrfying for him which is why he continues to pee all the way out, it isn't marking but sounds more like stress, anxiety and fear. He may have in the past before you got him been punished for this which will make your job more difficult.
He is walked regularly, as well has having time in the yard. At least once a day, we go on a 20-30 min walk thru the neigborhood. I have seen him pee (not mark) in the yard and then come in and in less than an hour pee on the floor if I won't do something he wants. (maybe this is where the term "pissed off" comes from...
)
That isn't enough exercise, he needs a lot more especially if he is a terrier which have been bred to go all day when working, 20-30 minutes is not nearly long enough. Having the right amount of exercise will help his stress levels. You can put up an agility course in your yard to help with the exercise, you can make jumps out of anything, also give him things to run through, under and over.
The person who surrendered him to the rescue said he was housebroken. His first foster home had no trouble with him, but said he was too energetic for their older chihuahuas. He looks to be a beagle/corgi mix, and he is about a year old. He lived in a boarding kennel for a few weeks before a home opened up for fostering.
Sorry I missed what breeds he was, Beagles like Terriers are bred to run all day, often in the mountains, there is a pack of Beagles not far from me were they hunt on the Pennines which is very rough, mountainous land, they have to be able to run all day when hunting, corgis are also working dogs, they herd cows.
Very few people tell the truth when they surrender a dog in case the dog won't be accepted so I would disregard what his owner said. He may have been more relaxed with other dogs there, I understand about a dog being too energetic for other dogs in the home, I am having to deal with that now.I have to watch my dogs all the time so I can step in and stop Cyril when he is getting too rough for my girls.
I keep him tethered to me now, so I can catch him mid-lift and take him out. Somehow, though, I don't think this is enough...
That won't work, he is already peeing, you need to have him outside before he starts to pee, he isn't learning not to pee in the house but when he pees he is scooped up and rushed outside, no wonder he is so stressed, that must really be frightening for him. Try and see this from his point of view, he is peeing and suddenly he is in the air and rushing outside, it would terrify me.
The best way is
viewtopic.php?f=20&t=6125, it does work, it is how I train my dogs, with a one year old I would take him outside every hour, don't leave it to 3 or 4 minutes past the hour at first, it must be on the hour. He will soon learn that he has to pee outside. You will see a pattern developing of when he pees and poos, you will then be able to adapt taking him outside to suit his pattern. There is no need to stay out for a long time, I normally do approx 5 minutes before coming in, when he does go lots and lots of reward, let him know just how pleased you are.
What may help is some Rescue Remedy in his drinking water, just a few drops will do, he has been through a lot, first he is taken away from everything he knows and put into solitary confinement at kennels, then he goes into a home and has to learn the house rules and get to know some strange people and dogs. He is then moved to you, another strange person with new house rules, no wonder he is confused and stressed. The Rescue Remedy will help him through this.
Every morning, 5am, I open his crate and we go out with me saying "let's go outside! Wanna go potty? Let's go outside and potty?" to reinforce the connection of "outside
" and "potty", and then as we are out there I watch him do his business and praise him. This is repeated everytime it is time to go out. Still, even after a long standing pee, he will come in and pee on the floor while I shower.
Try being low key when he first goes out each morning, reinforcing it can come later, it is more important that he goes outside. When praising him you really need to be over the top with this, he needs to think it is the best thing since sliced bread, be happy and party in your praise. Don't take him back in as soon as he has toileted, wait, walk round a little, give him about 5 minutes so he can amble round and relax, let him sniff were he wants to, he probably has a double pee, doesn't empty his tank with the first one which is why he comes in and does another. I get this from my dogs at times which is why I leave the door open for them to go back out but my dogs are completely housetrained, until they were I stayed out with them. When I first got Cyril in January I had to let him toilet on the grass, he was too weak to **** his leg, he was emanciated when I got him, so would pee like a b itch, it splashed his legs and he didn't like that. He can **** his leg without any trouble now and will go on the patio.
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