Crying and Pooing problems

[alichurch]

Hi. I have a 14 month old shitzu x Maltese dog. She is an adorable dog however we have a few problems.

Whenever we go out, are at home or have guests over she cries. We will be sitting on the lounge and she is on the floor crying because we won't give her any attention. We have previously let her jump up on the lounge but have recently bought a new one so we need to try and stop the habit. The same is if we have someone over - we rarely do because of the problem. She will just cry and seek for attention from the guest. ie she will have the ball and basically say throw the ball for me but she just doesn't stop. If we go out, when we get home she can hear when the car pulls up at the driveway and starts to cry and when we get inside all attention must be on her and she doesn't stop until we show her that she has our attention.

We have an area near the kitchen where she does wees on newspaper but occasionally she sneeks one onto the carpet. She always poos on the carpet and we are over it. We do however have dry biscuits and water out for her all day. Do you recommend stopping that and starting a food timetable for her?

She also sleeps in our bed (i am talking sleeping under the covers, right next to my stomach.) Does anyone have any suggestions to help stop it.? I have tried but found that she just cries and cries.

Any help would be appreciated.

[Smillin'Sammy]

Ignore her when she cries. About 3 seconds after she stop crying (or 3 second breaks in crying) tell her good girl and treat her and praise her. She will learn that when she stops crying, good things happen. When she cries, nothing happens. She'll learn quick. It could take a while, like 15-30 minutes. I'd recommend getting someone and telling them about the problem, what you're oging to do and how you're going to fix, and letting them be the "guest."

Try some training for seperation anxiety too.

And I wouldn't recommend letting her sleep with you, move her to the dog bed, next to your bed. If that doesn't work, try a kennel so she can see you. It's safer for her, A)she won't suffocate, and B) she won't get hurt should you roll over

As for the feeding schedule, yes. Don't free feed, but always let her have access to the water. And clean the areas on the carpet with bio-enzymatic cleaner.

Victoria's book covers all of these topics in depth. I really recommend it!

[maximoo]

I would also advise putting dog in a crate NEXT to your bed on the floor. She can still see you. Put an old (worn) t-shirt of yours in her crate so she can still get your scent up close & personal. At first you might have to put crate ON the bed for a few nights depending on how bad she whines. It can be a soft crate (they are about $35) Or you can tether her to your bed wheel and put her little bed right there until she gets used to her new bedtime routine. Do not give up. She will fuss & whine but be consistant & persistant and within a week she should give up.

Put her on a definite feeding schedule. Once that is established she should poo in the morn before you go to work & in the eve sometime before bed. Food takes 8-12 hrs to pass thru a dog's digestive system. Nibbling on biscuits all day will never give her a chance to have a regular potty schedule. Leave just 1 or 2 & have tiny treats for training time.

When you come her don't make a big fuss over her. Just say 'hello' pet her calmly and go about your business. The more you show excitement coming home is the more you reinforce her whining/carrying on. Give her a toy, kong, or bone to occupy herself. Same for guests. She needs to learn more independance.
GoodLuck!

[Noobs]

She will just cry and seek for attention from the guest. ie she will have the ball and basically say throw the ball for me but she just doesn't stop. If we go out, when we get home she can hear when the car pulls up at the driveway and starts to cry and when we get inside all attention must be on her and she doesn't stop until we show her that she has our attention.

I'll let someone else address your potty training issues because I never had that problem once my shelter dog came home with us at 8 months old - even though the shelter said he wasn't housetrained, it only took us 1 1/2 days to get him pottying outside, we were very lucky.

As for the part I quoted above, I think your answer is within your question. She won't stop until you show her attention. It's because she's learned that EVENTUALLY you will give her attention. I know it's difficult but try seriously to ignore her - don't shout at her, don't look at her and say "no", just continue on with what you're doing, talking to your guests or whatnot. I know it's hard to ignore an adorable little dog but try. At first she'll try harder, after all she's learned that you'll eventually pay attention to her. But if you consistently ignore her when she's crying she will eventually stop. What you should do is wait for her to be quiet for THREE SECONDS, that's all. Three seconds. She pauses to take a breath, say. You silently count to three and then turn to her and say "good girl!" and give her a little under her chin or throw her ball, whatever. When she starts crying again, ignore her - cross your arms, turn your body and head, and ignore her. She gets quiet again, for three seconds, turn your head and body back toward her, praise, pet, maybe give her a treat, engage her. Lather, rinse, repeat. The message to her is "You're quiet, I pay attention. You cry, you get nothing."

It's possible that you are hoping for her to be quiet for a long time before you think you can give her attention. But for the first few days just wait for three seconds of silence and then reward. If even that is too much to ask of her at this point, try two seconds. There's no way that a dog can cry nonstop for hours, there has to be a couple of seconds here and there that she's quiet. Choose those small time windows to reward her. Someone else here may have a better method, but the idea will be the same - reward the quiet, ignore the crying.

Good luck!

[alichurch]

Hi. thanks for the suggestions and advice. she is one smart pooch so hopefully it won't take long to train her up. even just today she is showing some hope in me ignoring her.
I think I am going to have a bit of dog chocolate on hand for her treats.

Can anyone suggest a feeding schedule???

[maximoo]

It depends on your daily routine & lifestyle. I feed my boy 7:30am before I go to work, and about 8/8:30 pm but that works for me. You probably would want her to poo before you leave for work. So feed him & leave enough time to walk her & for her to go' before you leave. You may have to play around with different times before you settle on one that works for the both of you. Isn't it exciting?!

[alichurch]

thanks. She usually does a wee when I wake up and then she goes back to bed. Then I have no idea because my partner is home all day and I leave for work at 7:00. We usually walk her in the evening, so I should try walking her before I go to work as well?

It will be good once she is in a routine, then it will be exciting. I just wish Victoria would visit Australia to help us out

[maximoo]

Definitely walk her in the am. And since your partner is home all day a midday potty break would be excellent too. Btwn the 2 of you she should be a precision poo machine.

I also wanted to add that she should be taught to 'settle' or 'go to place' when visitors come over. When doorbell rings send her to her mat, bed, pillow, crate, whatever you use. After guests arrive & sit, reward her by letting her greet guest. If guest is willing she can play ball with guest for a few minutes. If not, send her back to 'place'. VS has demonstrated the 'settle' command a few times on IMOTD. You all will have to train it & practice with willing friends, neighbors, & family.

[Mattie]

My Gracie was like this at first, I couldn't ignore her, she was crying for a reason and if I am crying the feeling of abandonment and desolation I get if I am ignored I could never do it to my much loved dog.

It didn't take me long to sort this out with Gracie, instead of ignoring her I would give her a tickle under the chin or behind her ear, smile and tell her that I am busy and will give her attention when I am finished which I always did.

At first she would continue to cry but this is all she ever got each time, in the end she gave up and went and done her own thing. It will take longer with some dogs than others but this is a much kinder way of solving this problem.

I hate ignoring anything that is crying out for help as our dogs do when they are like this, it doesn't do them any good and can do a lot of harm.

[emmabeth]

The first thing to look at with any attention seeking problem is, how much specific attention DOES she get on a daily basis.

From your posts it doesnt seem like much so could you outline roughly how much time is spent with her actively doing things with her (not just in the same room or building as her!) each day.

If she isnt getting the attention she needs, then you can try all the methods in the world for stopping attention seeking and it wont work - you may achieve a miserable depressed dog, more likely you will achieve a dog who finds other even more annoying ways to attention seek. You wont achieve a happy calm dog though.

Without knowing what her daily routine is, I can only guess at what may help but if you tried to walk her for 40 minutes in the morning, 40 minutes at lunchtime and an hour in the evening.. and in those walks incorporate some clicker training and some games (I dont know if you can walk her to somewhere she can go off lead to play and run loose but that would also be good).

I would also add in on top of this a few short clicker sessions during the day - they neednt be long ones, I have just tired my terrier x out with 10 minutes free shaping where he offered me a 'wipe the face' behaviour which is new (he wipes his face with a paw) and i liked that so built on it - in the next couple of sessions he will start to do this on cue (but he is very good at clicker and knows what it means so will offer me new behaviours during a shaping session - if yours has never done it before you might need to start with easier stuff, check out the clicker training thread stickied).

So if after three walks and several game/clicker sessions a day she is STILL attention seeking - then ignoring (acknowledge shes there... 'yes i see you but not right now' rather than flat out 'you dont even exist to me!') will work.