Question:
Hi, we have adopted Tucker about 10 months ago when he was 10 months old. We have tried crate training with him and it works well for a bit and then Tucker will urinate or defecate in the house (has been on the bed, couch, us and of course the floor) he never has given us a tell. He never hides either but displays behavior were we know he knows he did wrong (drooped head). We have tried a bell with no luck. We have been consistent with setting an alarm to bring him out and slowing lengthening it. Still no luck. We have tried to tie him to us when not in the crate and he just pees on our feet. We feel at our wits end. We live in a town home and feel that he may do much better in a fenced yard were he can run.
This is also about aggression. We have been fearful of bringing him to the dog park because he lunges at other dogs and acts aggressive when first meeting a dog. We have two small and one is a dominate female chihuahua whom Tucker is submissive to unless he has a bone. He has bitten her twice and hurt her to needing stitches
Thank you for your time.
Answer:
Your descriptions of behaviors indicate a complexity to this situation which begs many questions.
Allow me to bring you to my way of thinking about such problems;
Your dog (Tucker) at nearly 2 yrs old has been with you almost a year. This is enough time to know your dog very well.
My first indicator when a dog holds his head low is that he/she may have been scolded. We humans teach that response by yelling when they poop on the rug… There is no sensible reason for yelling at your dog after the offense has been committed. This is a huge area where kids are different from dogs. You can scold your kids and teach something, but a dog has no reasoning skills to understand why you’re upset.
Tucker has not been house trained. You stopped too early. Start over as if he’s a puppy.
1- Crate all night.
2- Out for potty break first thing in AM- pick a spot that is the same everyday.
3- TIP: leave some poo in the spot for the next visit. “X “ marks the spot, J
4- If he does not go potty in 10 minutes, return to crate for 20 minutes
5- Out again for 10 minutes- repeat until he goes successfully. When he does go, PRAISE.
6- Then allow free time in the house for 2 hours.
7- If he fails then, follow 1-4 again but only allow partial house freedom (like the kitchen only)
8- Eventually, Tucker will get the idea that outside is the ONLY place to go.
9- You should slowly increase his alone time in some small room without a crate, while increasing the size as he graduates by successful nights without mishaps. Eventually he will have the run of the house.
Let’s discuss aggression toward dogs:
The attack on your little Chi, was probably resource guarding and must be corrected by a careful process for another teaching lesson.
First, do not allow bones and toys to be available around the home until you get this fixed. Don’t worry, your dogs won’t know why they don’t have toys. They will still be happy pups.
K9-Jack
Longshot Farms