Canine experts-I need help

[Hudson_Hawk]

DH and I just moved from a house with a fenced in yard and dog run to a town home and our dog D.O.G. is having a lot of trouble adjusting to going to the bathroom while on walks. He might pee on occasion, but he hasn''t pooped since Sunday, and when he did that he was inside the house *sigh*. We''ve taken to crating him during the day like we did when he was a puppy, but we need to work out the whole walking/leash thing. He''s fine on the leash, I just don''t think he equates leash with potty. He thinks it''s a fun walk.

Also, does anyone have any suggestions to socializing dogs with children? We have a few kids in the neighborhood and D.O.G. keeps barking at them when we''re out walking. I''m afraid they''ll develop a fear of him (it''s clear he''s somewhat fearful of them). He''s never exhibited any sort of fearful or aggressive behavior, so this is new territory for us. We thought he was well adjusted and socialized. He has not issues with other animals (cats or dogs) or adults, just kids. And actually, not all kids. He''s find with our neices, who he only sees once every 3-6 months. He''s just barky towards strange kids.

Oh and he''s a 14 month old neutered male chow chow.

 

[dragonfly411]

hey Hudson

We had to adjust both our little pip squeaks to leash walking. I tend to emphasize going through grass, and I say go potty repeatedly. Once they DO go potty I do a huge rubbing reward with lots of Good boys and Good Girls to let them know it''s what I wanted. They have come to understand go potty means they need to start looking for a spot.

As to the poopy issue, try long walks, where he has to move around a lot more. You can also try giving him some canned pumpkin or a tiny bit of milk a bit before your walk to help get things moving along. He might be (graphic I know) constipated from the stress of adjusting.

For the children part. I would take the time when walking to stop when they are going by and try to either distract his attention or talk soothingly, telling him it''s ok. Eventually if you have a child you feel comfortable enough with, have them slowly come closer, or stand still and have him approach them at his leisure. It needs to be on his terms so he gets used to them slowly and understands they won''t hurt him. It sounds like he''s more wary/scared than aggressive towards them yes?

You might try carrying treats along too. When he has good behavior (either going potty or is calm when a child approaches) give him a reward.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Thanks a lot DF, yes, from what I can tell he''s fearful of them. But I know how thin the line is between showing more submissive fear and showing aggressive, dominant fear. Right now he''ll put his ears back and bark, and will back up until he''s almost sitting on my feet or is behind me. Sometimes he''ll growl as he''s barking. He''ll take the time to sniff hands, but will still bark. After a time he''ll get comfortable, like if the kids are in our house, but my concern is with the kids we walk by sometimes when we''re out for walks. D.O.G. looks like a big fluffy black bear and it''s natural for people to want to pet him or give him a hug. I had to go through a lot to get him accepted into the community (affidavits from vets etc), so I''m really afraid of him scaring the kids and having the condo association ask us to leave or get rid of him.

 

[AGBF]

I am addressing the first issue, HH. Dogs like to defecate where other dogs have, so if you can find a popular spot your dog will pick up the scent and want to go there, too. That is easier than the alternative (bringing a sample from home and putting it down where you want to encourage your dog to go).

If it wasn't too long since your dog was housebroken, you can also try bringing a piece of newspaper with you on your walks and putting it down. If housebreaking was years ago and the dog is just used to a backyard, that may not be a very helpful suggestion, though.

Good luck!

AGBF

 

[Yimmers]

Our dog is not always comfortable with everyone, so our trainer has us use this method. Teach your dog the "watch me" command. Have a treat near your eye and have the dog look at you. When they look say "watch me" to teach them the verbal command. When the dog is looking at you, treat them. Keep practicing so that you can say "watch me" and have the dog look at your eye.

Then, you need to pay close attention to see if DOG gives off "cues" before he barks. It can be the flattening of the ears, for example. You seem to indicate that the dog exhibits certain behaviors before barking. When puppy begins to give off signs that he''s uncomfortable, and BEFORE he barks, use a treat and use the watch me command. Use high value treats and only use them for this exercise. If he glances at the kid and doesn''t react, use another watch me and get his attention again and treat him again. What you want is for the dog to see others, but not react. That helps them create the positive association.

If the dog barks, you''ll need to get his attention and take him away from the kids and try again. Your dog will have a buffer zone and you''ll have to figure out what it is at first. This exercise is to practice having him condition a treat to seeing strange kids. You''ll probably need to practice this at a distance, and then practice when the kids are closer. This could take awhile, so be patient. If they are passing by you on a sidewalk, then you need to go off the path, onto a lawn, and practice there. The goal is to have the dog completely comfortable and have kids pass right by without barking. It may be your dog will take a lot longer to warm up to strangers - that''s not surprising, since Chows are known to be more aloof and independent.

Also, we were taught to have our dogs sit and stay when people come up to greet us. The dog should not learn it can greet whenever it wants, but that it needs to be on good behavior to greet someone. Always warn kids too, because your dog barks. If your dog behaves well around a kid, then give him lots of verbal praise and a treat or two.

There''s dominant aggressive, and fear aggressive, and my dog falls into the latter category. We don''t let little kids pet him given his past, but an older kid is allowed to give our dog a command and reward him with a treat. Sometimes, we have to be very firm with little kids who want to run up and mob our dog. A truly dominant aggressive dog is less common, and its usually the case that a dog has fear or confidence issues. Your job is to show Mr. Chow that strangers are not bad, and that when he''s near them, good things happen. Eventually, you''ll want to wean him off the treats, but I always walk with them b/c our dog is so happily distracted by them. I find I don''t always need to use them. The hard thing is not to tense up when you see other kids around, because the dog will sense that and feed off of it. So, by being relaxed and confident, your dog will be too.

This method also works with dogs as well. Again, you''re reconditioning your dog and creating positive association between strangers/strange dogs, and a happy thing (like food).

If you are still having problems, I''d contact the local SPCA and look up local certified trainers. I personally recommend ones who only use positive reinforcement methods and has extensive training dealing with aggressive dogs. Before we realized our dog had fear issues, we unfortunately went to a local pet store, and had a "trainer" use the alpha roll on our dog because "she needed to teach him who''s dominant." She was a moron since we had no problem with establishing we were the "pack leader." Dealing with a dog with fear issues is a completely different approach. If you look up the alpha roll, (since we had no clue what she did at the time) you will see that the person who originally came up with the method has now discredited his own method. Thankfully, that woman got fired for using that on all dogs and apparently getting a lot of complaints from people.

That alpha roll experience, unfortunately, made our dog very hand shy. The last thing you want to do is have a fearful dog be fearful of hands, because that''s when they learn to bite. Because of this, I am not a fan of Cesar Milan and most of his methods. Some people find they work, but in my case, they really made his problems worse. I''m more of the "It''s me or the Dog" Victoria Stillwell philosophy. Our trainer too, uses a positive reinforcement based philosophy, and our dog has done a lot better because of it. Yes, it will take time, but the rewards will be well worth it.

Good luck with Mr. Chow!

 

[lulu]

I give you my permission to use these magic words, which embarrass my husband to no end : peepee poopoo Lou.

 

[Haven]

We adopted our pup after she had spent many months in a shelter, and a few months in another family''s home. She was not trained to go potty on walks, she had only ever gone in the fenced in area outside the shelter, and in her former family''s backyard.

We trained her to go potty on walks and *only* on walks because we don''t want our yard to be ruined. This is what we do:

- One of us takes her for a 30 to 45 minute walk first thing in the morning right before her breakfast. We trained her to walk next to and slightly behind us, and when we''re ready to let her go potty we say "Go potty" and trained her to then walk into the parkway and go to the bathroom.
-->Let D.O.G. walk in the grass and when he is about to go the bathroom say "Go potty" and then praise him once he does go to the bathroom. Give him a good rub and a lot of verbal praise. He''ll go to the bathroom, even if you only walk him for 20 minutes. Something about the long walk pushes it out, trust me.

- One of us takes her for a 20 to 45 minute walk in the late afternoon, right before her second meal. Same routine as above.

- One of us takes her for a 15 to 30 minute walk right before bedtime. Same routine as above.

Long-ish walks are really important for training your dog to go potty on walks. Now that Bailee is trained we can take her for a short five minute walk during the winter and say "go potty" and she just goes. She didn''t do this at first, of course, but with a little bit of time and consistency we trained her to go on walks pretty easily.

Walks are really important for your dog''s stability, anyway. And for training him that you are the leader, as well.

 

[Haven]

As for the barking at children issue, we trained Bailee to not bark at anyone at all.

All we did was correct her every time she barked at anyone inappropriately. Now she doesn''t bark at anyone ever, even if there''s a dog barking like a maniac at her. If you can, ask the children that he''s barking at to come and stand near D.O.G. He needs to practice remaining calm around distractions, so make him sit calmly with the kids nearby whenever possible.

We do like it when she growls when strangers are on our property, so we don''t correct that.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Thanks ladies. We made a little progress last night and this morning. He peed on both walks. Now we just need to get the rest moving. I gave him some pumpkin last night and this morning. I''m not sure he''s all that much of a fan of it, but he''s a light eater on a good day so he could just be picking at his food. I''m really hoping the pumpkin acts as a softener as opposed to a stimulant as he''s in his crate today and an explosion would be a bad, bad thing. Last night we praised him and he got a piece of cheese for going on the walk. He was very happy about that. At the rate we''re going, he''ll be on steak when he poops!

I''ll be home early tonight and am going to try working with him if the kids are out.

 

[dragonfly411]

Hudson - the pumpkin usually just softens, no explosions there lol. You might try a little bit of rice as well. You might try using Poopy or poo poo as a target word too, and when he finally does it praise, he might take that as a cue...ohhhh she wants THIS ok. I like the above idea for the look at me training! I agree too with walking him in areas where other dogs do their business, they do take that as a cue (my two have a certain spot). Also, what area did he tend to do this in in your old place? What was the texture of the ground like? Perhaps finding a similar spot texture wise would help him to relate it back, ohh this leafy spot reminds me of my potty spot, or ohhh this is taller grass like used to use...etc.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Update-D.O.G. and I had a long walk last night and it got things moving. He now has a "spot" he can go back to. Unfortunately three days of not going made it so one trip outside wasn''t enough and he went again on my living room rug an hour later. *sigh* Baby steps....

 

[dragonfly411]

Hudson - at least it is progress!!!!! He''ll get there, I''m sure

Mine had an accident last night too, she was too distracted outside I think. It''s very rare for her, and you could tell she felt horrible, she knew when I walked into the kitchen and found it, and got this

look.