Potty training Maggie - again/still

[Stacy]

I can't really complain. We haven't had any accidents inside when I have been home for over a month. I'm starting to feel like I can trust her when I'm here and I don't have to watch her every single second. That's the good thing and I'm thrilled about it! 

Here's where I could use any new thoughts. She's still not comfortable in the crate, so when I work I'm leaving her in the garage. She has a recliner and a bed out there. And she seems reasonably happy. It's well dog proofed (after she pulled a brand new half gallon of liquid laundry detergent off the table and it broke and caused a laundry detergent flood - what a mess!) But she's still having some accidents in the garage. And... it's interesting.

I worked Monday, Wednesday, Friday this week. Our routine is that we get up around 7:30 or 8 and eat breakfast and then I take them outside. Then I take them outside several times while I'm getting ready for work. We spend a good amount of time in the yard. I leave around 10:10. I'm still keeping an eye on her with the camera, so I know what she's doing. 

Monday I got to work about 10:45 and looked to see what she was doing and she had already pooped. She did not have any pee accidents that day and just the one poop immediately after I left. 

Wednesday she didn't poop, but peed at some point during the day. I'm not exactly sure what time that was. 

Friday she pooped again before I even got to work. Again she didn't have a pee accident. 

I'm not sure what is happening. I'm calling this the anxiety poop. She had ample time to go potty before I left, but she doesn't potty on command. She also doesn't potty on leash. We went for a 4.5 mile walk the other day and not even a tinkle. Is the poop about being afraid because she's left home? Is there a trick to get her to empty before I leave? I'm not sure about the random pee either. I know she can hold it. Some days she chooses to and other days she doesn't. It doesn't seem like getting a dog walker will help if she potties immediately after I leave. It's already too late by the time the dog walker would come. 

Overall she's doing so much better. I just can't figure out what to do to help her with this. It's such an odd issue. 

Thanks! Stacy

[Maryann,Roo and Tigger]

I had a grown rescue dog who did exactly the same thing.  As soon as the front door closed he pooped right in the middle of the living room.   As soon as we gave him access to the outside through a potty door, it stopped.  He went outside and pooped, still his territory.

Learning where to go is a spatial thing as well as a territory staking out thing, even for girl dogs.

Training her to go pee and poop on command is a big plus.  And on a leash.  Say whatever word you choose right as she is doing it and treat when she finishes.  Gradually phase out the treats.  Don't think will help with the garage issue, but it will be helpful for a lifetime.

I keep my puppies (and grown dogs when we move) on a 6-10 foot leash until they are potty perfect.  One mistake and back on the leash.  They cannot get where I can't see them.  Off course it means I eventually have to spend time in every room.  But I end up with a housebroken dog.  Murphy is nearly six months old and only is just now off leash in rooms where I have spent a lot of time with her and can close the door.  She has not used the house as her potty for quite awhile, but I do not consider her housebroken, but she is getting close.

[Stacy]

I wonder if a dog door would help us. Sadly, I’m the kind of paranoid mom who won’t let her dogs out by themselves when I’m not home. I believe I have a well built fence. Both gates are lost. But I have these horrible visions of them digging underneath or finding a loose picket or someone throwing something harmful over the fence. My family thinks I’m nuts, but I’ve had my own dogs for almost 20 years and I’ve never left them outside unsupervised.

Maybe I need to take her out on leash first thing in the morning when I know she really needs to go and that will help her understand that it’s okay to potty on leash. Sadly, she’s not very food motivated so treats haven’t been a big help. I know she wants to do the right thing. I’m just having a hard time communicating what she’s supposed to do.

Potty training the rescue papillons was also always a challenge. The difference was that they never peed a gallon at a time! But every day I love Maggie more. I believe we are going to figure it out. I just don’t know *how.* It doesn’t seem like there’s an easy fix for this one. But I’m not giving up. I feel like we’ve already made big progress that she’s not peeing in the house when I’m there.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

I am following this Stacy, but don't have any suggestions. I agree with Maryann that it probably is staking territory thing.  No idea about getting her to stake that territory outside though. 

[Stacy]

I really am hoping she will just figure it out in time. She's a good girl. She wants to do the right thing. I just don't know how to make her understand. I don't really even mind cleaning up the garage so much, it's just that this issue makes other things difficult. I can be a really consistent trainer, but when she's unsupervised I miss the opportunity to correct the behavior. I'm really stuck on this one. I don't have any good ideas either.

[Leslie J]

This made me think...maybe Maggie was raised in a doggie pen and grew accustomed to soiling it because she had no choice.  Could she think that going in the garage is the “right” thing and going potty while on walks is not? I have heard that this can be a problem with puppy mill dogs because they are kept caged too much. I’m not sure often solution though, so my comment probably isn’t too helpful.

[Stacy]

That may very well be the case. It's so hard to know about their background when they can't tell us. I wish she would just give me a hint. I also don't know how to fix it. I don't know how to convince her to pee on a walk, or even at the dog park. I am confident that she will figure it out eventually. I just have this family vacation scheduled for the end of June and I really want her to go with us. And I can't figure out how to make it work if she can't be crated, and she pees inside when left alone. The girls would be with me most of the time, but just a fact of life, there are places where dogs can't go and she would have to be able to be left alone for at least a little while. Luckily I have a good place where she can stay, but I keep hoping that somehow we will get it worked out by then. It won't be the same if she can't come with. I searched and searched for a dog friendly place that would welcome both of my girls. I don't want to leave Maggie out.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

That's the part that's bothering me. There's no opportunity to correct her when she potties indoors (and the garage is still "indoors", as opposed to outside) so each time it happens and there are no consequences, it reinforces that it's okay to just potty wherever you happen to be, inside or out. And what she has to learn is that potty is only outside. 

I would go back to working hard on getting her crate trained. 
What happens when she's crated? 

[Stacy]

I know. You're absolutely right, and I've had that thought myself. But I don't know how to correct her when I'm not there! 

I only left her crated alone the one time, for about an hour. She completely freaked out. She was practically hanging upside down off the thing. She bent some of the bars by the door and pushed the crate tray out. She also pooped everywhere. There was poop on the wall! My biggest fear is her hurting herself on the thing. 

She does okay if crated while I'm in the room. But even then she only lasts for a few minutes before she starts pawing at the door. If I leave the room she starts getting agitated and howling and trying to break free. I don't know what to do. I can get one of the really expensive crates that I know she can't break out of or get her head stuck under the door. But I worry about her mental health. She's just starting to get comfortable here. I don't want to torture her. Do I make her just tough it out? 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

This is really a tough one. I wish I had more ideas. 

[Stacy]

It is a tough one. And I so appreciate that everyone is trying to help. I am thrilled that she's not peeing on the carpet anymore. I will take every win I can get! She's such a sweet sweet girl. I know if she understood she would do the right thing. She's not naughty. She wants to please me. I just don't know how to make her understand that potty is only outside. I've said it before. This would be so much easier if she could just go everywhere with me. But I can't even blame my stupid job on this. It's whenever she's left alone, no matter how short the time frame. 

I guess I need to continue working on the crate training. It's just hard because whenever she's been in there she acts like she's been abused. Not knowing what all happened in her prior life, maybe she feels like she has been.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

This is a small thing and certainly no magic fix, but what helped Jack when he had to be home alone was for him to have a T-shirt or tank top that I had slept in (and therefore smelled like me). He was not a chewer so I didn't have to worry about him chewing it up; he just kept it with him in his bed like a security blanket. I'm thinking maybe something like that in the crate would help soothe Maggie? 

[Stacy]

I'll give it a try. She's definitely not a chewer. And I think she's finally bonded to me. It still looks different than it has with my other dogs, but she definitely looks to me when we're out and she's uncertain. 

Have I mentioned that I think she's the best one in her training class? I might be the tiniest bit biased. And I'm not sure we will pass our class, but to me she's the best one.