Need immediate help with my Rottie!
Moderators: emmabeth, BoardHost
Need immediate help with my Rottie!
Just today my two and a half year old male (neutered) Rottie/Aussie Shepherd mix whom I belovedly adore has done something I thought he was incapable of. I was gone with my sister and her daughter for an hour and when I got back I found a trail of regurgitated food out of my bedroom. I cleaned it up, played some ball with him to help him feel better, then I had to leave again for about an hour. When I got back, I found the unthinkable: he had marked in four places throughout the living room. It was on the sofa pillow that my other dog uses to sleep on, the barstool that I set the child's clothing on for school (narrowly missing her library book by the way), and two other areas. I'm afraid this is a jealousy problem. He also forces his way between us and the other dog because he wants the attention. I'm appalled at his behavior because he has NEVER EVER done anything like what he did today and I am afraid to leave him home alone again. Please provide me some advice because "it's my family or the dog". Now, the vomiting isn't new, I've known he has some kind of sensitive stomach or something because he tends to vomit if I am gone for an extended period, or if I don't get up on time to give him breakfast.
As far as the vomitting, he should see a vet if it's happening a lot. This is a medical problem, not behavioral one.
How much training does he get every day? And exercise? The marking is often shown by dogs who don't quite know what to do. He may have it in his mind that those things he's marking are his and he may feel insecure about it.
One way to give him an idea of what he's to do, where he stands as a family member is obedience training. AND controlling most of his valued resources. Some nothing in life is free (you can Google it) is very beneficial. I don't know that you have to carry it to extremes, but you need to keep control over the things he likes and have him earn those things. If he wants to go outside, have him sit first. If he wants his dinner, have him sit/wait for a release word. Lift up the bowl if he bolts for it and show him to sit/wait again until you give a release word, which you'll stick in there quickly before he is apt to get up and gradually increase the duration to maybe 5 seconds, then let him eat. Don't let him have toys 24/7. Save them for when YOU decide it's playtime for him. Teaching obedience skills, giving him lots of situations where he reacts to you, not the other way around will help him feel like you're taking care of things and he doesn't need to.
Otherwise, absolute supervision. He must be prevented from freedom throughout the house whether you're home or not. Is he crate trained? Or do you have a safe, small room for him? Crates should not be used to excess though....just a short time. Use an enzematic cleaner to clean where he's gone pee. If you catch him about to do it, interrupt by clapping your hands or an "eh-eh!" but not in a punishing way. (that can cause some other side effects) Take him outside immediately. When he goes outside or marks a tree, treat and praise him. Prevention of unwanted behavior is the best medicine and reinforcing desireable behavior tends to cause him to repeat that wanted behavior.
How much training does he get every day? And exercise? The marking is often shown by dogs who don't quite know what to do. He may have it in his mind that those things he's marking are his and he may feel insecure about it.
One way to give him an idea of what he's to do, where he stands as a family member is obedience training. AND controlling most of his valued resources. Some nothing in life is free (you can Google it) is very beneficial. I don't know that you have to carry it to extremes, but you need to keep control over the things he likes and have him earn those things. If he wants to go outside, have him sit first. If he wants his dinner, have him sit/wait for a release word. Lift up the bowl if he bolts for it and show him to sit/wait again until you give a release word, which you'll stick in there quickly before he is apt to get up and gradually increase the duration to maybe 5 seconds, then let him eat. Don't let him have toys 24/7. Save them for when YOU decide it's playtime for him. Teaching obedience skills, giving him lots of situations where he reacts to you, not the other way around will help him feel like you're taking care of things and he doesn't need to.
Otherwise, absolute supervision. He must be prevented from freedom throughout the house whether you're home or not. Is he crate trained? Or do you have a safe, small room for him? Crates should not be used to excess though....just a short time. Use an enzematic cleaner to clean where he's gone pee. If you catch him about to do it, interrupt by clapping your hands or an "eh-eh!" but not in a punishing way. (that can cause some other side effects) Take him outside immediately. When he goes outside or marks a tree, treat and praise him. Prevention of unwanted behavior is the best medicine and reinforcing desireable behavior tends to cause him to repeat that wanted behavior.
Training with my mind, not my hands.
He's jealous? Of what exactly? Of you going out and leaving him, oh how very dare you! So what, he wee's up stuff to get his revenge?
He's not jealous. He's not marking in the house to spite you.
Hes insecure, he's not happy about being left, if he has a sensitive stomach, and you add feeling insecure on top of that (or that could be a cause of a dodgy tummy, you ever get a dodgy tummy when you feel anxious? I know I can)....
You have a dog who wants to make himself feel more secure.
What if something happened when you were out, hes already feeling a bit dodgy, and you've gone out again... and and and.... something scary happens, a firework, window cleaner, someone bangs on the door, a big dog from down the road comes and does a doodoo in the garden where he can see.... a truck backfires..
And thats too much and he does what insecure dogs do.. he wees up stuff to make it smell more familiar, more like he belongs, so he feels less anxious and insecure.
When you came home.. what did you do? How did you feel when you realised he'd marked in the house?
Actually, how do you feel when you come home and find he has sicked up everywhere?
Pretty annoyed? I know I'm never pleased to come home to vomit or poo or wee..
Thing is, if he has got into a habit of vomiting through stress (and now possibly peeing too), and then you come home and are upset/angry/off with him because theres vomit all round the house (even unintentionally, its damn hard to go 'WOOOOOO YAY, HUZZAH... SICK ALL ROUND MY HOUSE'), he associates being alone with you returning and being upset.
So next time, his anxiety increases, so he vomits and wees, and you come home and are more upset... so next time hes more anxious...
So you end up with a vicious cycle, the dog becoming more anxious and that showing itself as vomiting/peeing/pooing (with some dogs, trashing the house, biting at him/herself etc etc), and you getting more peed off with coming home to a mucky house.
As Carrie says - make it clearer to him where his boundaries are. Not in any mean way, just as you would reassure a child that you are there, they can have confidence in you, working with you is a good thing.
If he has more confidence in you (and also in himself, try clicker training for that), he will feel more chilled out. If he knows exactly where he stands and his boundaries are clear, he will feel more chilled out.
If you can be happy to see him, regardless of the state of the house, every single time you return (and using a crate when you leave him will help this no end!), you will improve his associations with being left.
He's not jealous. He's not marking in the house to spite you.
Hes insecure, he's not happy about being left, if he has a sensitive stomach, and you add feeling insecure on top of that (or that could be a cause of a dodgy tummy, you ever get a dodgy tummy when you feel anxious? I know I can)....
You have a dog who wants to make himself feel more secure.
What if something happened when you were out, hes already feeling a bit dodgy, and you've gone out again... and and and.... something scary happens, a firework, window cleaner, someone bangs on the door, a big dog from down the road comes and does a doodoo in the garden where he can see.... a truck backfires..
And thats too much and he does what insecure dogs do.. he wees up stuff to make it smell more familiar, more like he belongs, so he feels less anxious and insecure.
When you came home.. what did you do? How did you feel when you realised he'd marked in the house?
Actually, how do you feel when you come home and find he has sicked up everywhere?
Pretty annoyed? I know I'm never pleased to come home to vomit or poo or wee..
Thing is, if he has got into a habit of vomiting through stress (and now possibly peeing too), and then you come home and are upset/angry/off with him because theres vomit all round the house (even unintentionally, its damn hard to go 'WOOOOOO YAY, HUZZAH... SICK ALL ROUND MY HOUSE'), he associates being alone with you returning and being upset.
So next time, his anxiety increases, so he vomits and wees, and you come home and are more upset... so next time hes more anxious...
So you end up with a vicious cycle, the dog becoming more anxious and that showing itself as vomiting/peeing/pooing (with some dogs, trashing the house, biting at him/herself etc etc), and you getting more peed off with coming home to a mucky house.
As Carrie says - make it clearer to him where his boundaries are. Not in any mean way, just as you would reassure a child that you are there, they can have confidence in you, working with you is a good thing.
If he has more confidence in you (and also in himself, try clicker training for that), he will feel more chilled out. If he knows exactly where he stands and his boundaries are clear, he will feel more chilled out.
If you can be happy to see him, regardless of the state of the house, every single time you return (and using a crate when you leave him will help this no end!), you will improve his associations with being left.
You're absolutely right Emmabeth. His anxiety might cause some of that vomitting, but if it's excessive, I'm such a paranoid person, I'd probably want to make sure it wasn't something else. But that's probably based on my own personal experiences in the past with a dog that threw up a lot. It turned out to be something bad. But I'm sure that's rare.
You might also look into those DAP diffusers. I've heard good things about them. That might soothe him.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn4 ... -dogs.html
And some more interactive toys. You can hide things around the house. (if you're going to leave him loose) Things like treats that are not easy to find...special toys reserved for alone time. But alone time shouldn't be very long. Maybe you can get a neighbor to come in with him if you're going to be gone long...just to spend some time with him.
I'd read up on some separation anxiety tips. Jean Donaldson has some good ideas in her book, Culture Clash. But over all, or as a general thing....some additional confidence boosting should help and some of that can come from OB training....using positive, fun methods, tug games, with rules installed first, such as "give" and no biting or grabbing the tug toy. Game over if that happens, then try again in just a minute or two. No scolding.
When your dog knows that you've got things under control, that you're the one taking care of him, providing what he needs and he learns that he can make it happen by the "jobs" he does for you, that really helps, I think to make a dog generally more confident. Hope things improve for your baby.
You might also look into those DAP diffusers. I've heard good things about them. That might soothe him.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn4 ... -dogs.html
And some more interactive toys. You can hide things around the house. (if you're going to leave him loose) Things like treats that are not easy to find...special toys reserved for alone time. But alone time shouldn't be very long. Maybe you can get a neighbor to come in with him if you're going to be gone long...just to spend some time with him.
I'd read up on some separation anxiety tips. Jean Donaldson has some good ideas in her book, Culture Clash. But over all, or as a general thing....some additional confidence boosting should help and some of that can come from OB training....using positive, fun methods, tug games, with rules installed first, such as "give" and no biting or grabbing the tug toy. Game over if that happens, then try again in just a minute or two. No scolding.
When your dog knows that you've got things under control, that you're the one taking care of him, providing what he needs and he learns that he can make it happen by the "jobs" he does for you, that really helps, I think to make a dog generally more confident. Hope things improve for your baby.
Training with my mind, not my hands.
.Things like treats that are not easy to find...special toys reserved for alone time
I wrote that. I should say that at first, make the things easy to find until he gets onto the game...and gradually make them more hidden. It's lots of fun for dogs. You can hide Kong toys with a little peanut butter or other treats inside. See what you can find through Google.
Training with my mind, not my hands.
I cant give any advice on the matter, but Bella does a similar thing, but not as bad. 99 times out of 100 she is fine when we leave her, but that one time she may be sick or have an upset tummy and goes in the house. Just last week I left her at about 1.00pm after being out for a long walk, I returned 2 hours latter to a manic dog who couldn't get out the house quick enough because she really needed to poo. We found out latter that the binmen had been extremly noisy that day, banging bins doors and walls with the bins, so that must have upset her.
I now leave newspaper in the spot were she would go in the house if she really had to, that way it's not a real problem and she knows it is ok to go there if she has to, it causes her less stress that way.
I now leave newspaper in the spot were she would go in the house if she really had to, that way it's not a real problem and she knows it is ok to go there if she has to, it causes her less stress that way.
When I first got Merlin he wasn't house trained it didn't take long but now 4.5 years later he still has accidents because he can't hold it until I get back. He can range from an hour away to 4 hours, there is no pattern to it.
As I don't see any point in getting stressed with this, that will make Merlin stressed and have more accidents, before I go out I get a bucket of water with something in to mop up when I get in. I don't always have to use it but I find that neither of us now get stressed. When I get stressed not only Merlin gets stressed but my other 5 dogs do as well.
I can't do anything about Merlin, he has been checked by a vet who can't find anything wrong so I adapted to cope with it.
When we take a dog into our homes we have to be flexible and be willing to fit in with them as well as expect them to fit in with us.
As I don't see any point in getting stressed with this, that will make Merlin stressed and have more accidents, before I go out I get a bucket of water with something in to mop up when I get in. I don't always have to use it but I find that neither of us now get stressed. When I get stressed not only Merlin gets stressed but my other 5 dogs do as well.
I can't do anything about Merlin, he has been checked by a vet who can't find anything wrong so I adapted to cope with it.
When we take a dog into our homes we have to be flexible and be willing to fit in with them as well as expect them to fit in with us.
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