So sick of cleaning up pee.

[Lindsey & Cocoa]

Cocoa is for the most part potty trained.  But if she gets excited she will pee all over. I was told they outgrow this phase.  But i am afraid my husband started a new Pee issue that she will never outgrow and I am sick of cleaning up pee.

Last month I left for a week to vacation with my parents. I am almost positive that my husband has been "spanking" the dog.  We do give her swats on the nose for biting us but that's all I will do (yes I tried the grabbing her mouth thing and she would just come back and bit harder thinking it was a game).  But I have a feeling when I was not here he took it farther than that.  Every time I called to check in all he did was complain about the dog. He thinks pets and kids need this and there is no other way to disipline and we are always fighting over this.  Well ever since I have come home if I try to pick Cocoa up to put her outside or in her cage when she is running from me, as soon as I touch her she drops down and pees. If I am doing laundry and drop a sock or something and chase her down to get it back when I get close to her she drops down and pees.

I am so sick of cleaning up pee. I have to put the dog in her cage every time my daughter eats or has a snack because she will sneak the dog food and we are already dealing with poo food issues. So this is happening about 2-5 times a day.  I try to trick her to go potty and put her outside but if I try to put her in the cage its pee time.  I am still watching her poo with new food or I would use treats to get her to go in the cage.  Heck its been over a week on the new food maybe I will just go ahead and use treats for this?  But then I will still have to deal with it when she steals the kids toys or laundry.

I just needed to vent and maybe beat the crap out of my husband.

They say they outgrown excited pee but do they ever outgrow fear pee?   None of my other dogs ever did this.

[Sherri, Sophie, Winston, & Kitty]

This is exactly why DRC doesn't adopt doodles to families with young children.

[Lindsey & Cocoa]

Yes you are correct 50-80 pound untrained puppys and little kids will not mix.  Cocoa is a small and is going to be about 30 pounds. She is 16 weeks and 14 pounds right now.

im going to look over some of the great links & info others gave me on here. I think if I can arm him with the correct way to handle her rather than his way (and we know thats not working) I might be able to give him the tools to correct her with out having to use fear.

Last night we had a long talk about it and he said he is going to stop, he asked me to come on here for ideas of what to do.  I am also going to make him call his dad and ask about the puppy preschool he promised.  I think my husband and my daughter need to go to this class together with cocoa.

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

I so felt your pain because there is a person in my family (outside of my home) that uses old school methods of training and I can talk until I'm blue in the face and it does no good, that is just the way he was brought up so I know what you are up against.  I can also relate to the little dog, big dog issue.  My dog previous to this (as an adult) was a toy poodle.  She came into our home and that was pretty much it, other than grooming her.  She was never crated, I put a leash on her and she walked, I told her to come inside and she did.  Now here I am with two Doodles at 60 and 80 lbs that have been thru Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced classes, and now at 4 years old I'm working with a private trainer to just fine tune a few things I've had problems with.  I had no idea I was so dog stupid until I started into obedience classes.  I learned so much about why they do the things that they do.  I've learned that if I give them the proper tools that they can actually communicate their issues to me, but I had to know what those were.  If we had not gone to training, the last 4 years would have been a total disaster.  I cannot even imagine doing it with a toddler and being pregnant!  You do have your hands full.  I wish you great success with everything.  I don't think that anyone here truly wanted you to have to re-home the puppy.  Our first choice is always to keep the puppy in the home if it is at all possible.  It just seemed that you had so many things working against you that it really seemed impossible.  However, today you are sounding a little more optimistic and I wish you all the success in the world because it really does sound like you love Cocoa and want to make it work.  Training classes for the whole family ... what great family time!

[Lindsey & Cocoa]

Thank you.  Yes today I feel much better about things.  I think I was just having a very bad day yesterday and was very tired. Pregnancy hormones are not helping at all.

This dog is WONDERFUL.  Like you with your poddle my yorkies just wanted to lay on my lap all day and maybe play a little fetch and that was it.  All I had to do was feed them, love on them and they were happy pups.

Cocoa does so many things already. I must say I should brag on her and most of this is the help of this site that's why I was reaching out last night for this problem.  You guys helped me to cage train her and she likes her cage (this was not easy when not allowed to give her treats). Its funny because some nights if we stay up late she will go in there and make noises at us because we must be bothering her beauty sleep..lol.  While in her cage she never really makes a peep unless she is playing with her toys. My other dogs HATED the cage and would cry and bark the whole time.

Dealing with Very runny poo problems and again not allowed to treat her she is 95% potty trained by 16 weeks old. Poor thing was pooing up to 16 times a day but she lets me know she needed to go and I stuck by her out in the cold.

She knows sit & shake. I took her to the pet store and was making her sit before anyone was allowed to pet her and she did it 90% of the time I asked the first time.

when we first got her she would do nothing but mouth on you and would sink her teeth into you sometimes and we were so scratched up for weeks but I have been working on that and she doesnt do it to me anymore just my daughter. But my daughter is 4 and needs to work on being calm around the dog and the dog will be calm around her.  We are doing very good at this but as soon as they are both outside all bets are off. So I am going to take advice from here and use a long line leash so if she is being bad I can get to her easier or even keep her close to me so she will not be so ruff with my daughter while playing.

Things that need work still.

-this submisive pee problem

-running full speed at me and jumping on me (this hurts and not going to be good with a baby in my arms)

-trying to jump on my head when I am sitting on the couch

- when she wants your attention she will sit next to you on the couch and paw at your face (those nails hurt)

-not sure if this is a problem but might be as she gets older I swear she is trying to heard me around the house..lol she like to nose bump the backs of my legs when I walk.  but I will take this over grabbing my pants with her teeth like she was doing.

-Commands, Come, Down, Drop it   etc   but I think we need a trainers help for this and you guy talked me into getting her enrolled in the next week if my inlaws wont step up like they were supposed to.

[Sherri, Sophie, Winston, & Kitty]

Lindsey, get your inlaws to own up to the responsibility they took on when they gave you this "gift". They need to hire a trainer to come to your house a few times a week to work with you and your husband.

You can also try going to your library and taking out books and videos on obedience training. Get the books from all the experts, Cesar, Victoria, Sophia, etc. and then show them to your husband. there isn't an expert out there who recommends abusive methods like hitting and rubbing it's nose in it's urine as means to disipline a puppy. Those methods are abusive and ineffective. Your husband has to come on board, or you need to consider re-homing that puppy. There is already a lot of damage done, and it will take a foster home a while to rebuild Cocoa's confidence. It will be much harder to rehabilitate her when she is older and bigger and her fear issues are more ingrained.

I potty trained Sophie in a couple of weeks by using a simple combination of a consistant routine schedule, clapping my hands when she started to squat which would startle her to stop and look around, scooping her up and taking her outside, and giving her a yummy treat and lots of praise when she pottied outside. It was no time at all before she started wanting to go outside so she could have her treat. She started asking to go out at 11 weeks.

Positive methods are easier and more effective. The puppy will learn quicker because the messages are easier to understand, and positive methods cause less stress for you and the puppy, and everyone is happy, not scared or frustrated. It's the only way to go.

[Lindsey & Cocoa]

Thank you for your advice. I am making him call his dad today about the training he promised.  I think if he gets the tools he needs from a trainer he might listen... rather than just "some people on the internet said so".

She is a very smart dog. I was able to potty train her with no treats, because she was not allowed to have them with tummy issues she was having.  She is for the most part potty trained its just this submisive peeing that she is doing now.  She goes to the door and will bark or growl when she needs to go... or just wants to play..lol

 

So far this morning things have been great no pee issues. Since I am allowed to give her treats finally i went and got some last night and I can use them to get her where I want her with out trying to man handle her.  I was even able to get her on the leash and go outside and practice not eating the leash and sitting on command when I stop walking.

I think with not being able to give her treats the first 9 weeks we had her has made training very hard. I had no way to praise her for going to her cage on comand other than "good girl".  So now I tell her to go and she gets a treat and when I grab the bag I am able to get her attention when before yesterday she would just look at me like "ya right".

[Ann Kendig]

I know exactly how you are feeling, Lindsey.  My most recent foster, who went to her new home last Friday, behaved almost exactly like Cocoa.  Gia is around 20 months old and from the time she walked in the door she would pee 20 times a day!  I had spoken to her previous owner and she never mentioned the submissive peeing.  Wow!  What a surprise!!  Thankfully as the days went by it dropped down to just a couple times a day and sometimes not at all.  This issue was new to me but we muddled through it.

Gia came from a family of 5.  They had 3 children ages 2, 5 & 10.  High energy, jumping, stealing toys, chewing shoes etc. etc.  Her owner had taken her to obedience and had a trainer come over but she felt that she did not have the time with their busy lives to keep up on Gia's training nor could they afford continued obedience training/trainer.   Also she felt that she and her husband couldn't be consistant with her training, especially her husband, so the decision was made to rehome Gia. 

Gia was the sweetest girl and loved attention and affection but one wrong move and it was all over.  I had pee everywhere!  When Gia would squat it would be a few sprinkles and sometimes a big puddle.  Sometimes she would squat and kinda run across the floor leaving a trail of pee for 10 feet.  My Little Green Machine got a workout, so did I!  Sometimes I would cringe when I heard her drinking as it felt like she was "loading up" for the next incident.  Ugh.  I was like a fish out of water with her.  I knew what I was going through with her and I knew there were very few people who would want to deal with her issues.  Gia was very good in public, no peeing but get her back home and the flood gates opened!  Walking toward her to take a shoe, toy, anything she would drop and pee.  Trying to get her to go into her crate...pee, letting her out of the crate...pee, putting on leash on to go outside...pee, walking past her...pee, startling her...pee, loud noises...pee, trying to get her out of the car...pee etc.  Sometimes when I was getting the dogs food ready she would suddenly run behind the kitchen table and hide/pee.  I never said a word, no big noises, my dogs were laying quietly on the floor waiting for their food.  Could never figure that one out, something just triggered a fear reaction in her.  After I would set the food on the floor she would come over and eat with the dogs very nicely. 

I learned not to look at or talk to her when I got her out of the crate in the morning.  When we arrived home from going out to eat in an evening I would wait until my own dogs and Gia were in a calm state, then let her out of her crate.  I would walk up to the crate, not looking at her or speaking to her and open the crate and walk away.  She did not like the word "stay" so I used "wait".  I learned when I could use eye contact and when I couldn't.  I practiced commands with her outside so if there were accidents it wouldn't be a problem.  Then we would practice inside with much better results.  She started to learn that not everything was scary and that there were rules and she needed to follow them and she started trusting and her behavior started to change.

I contacted at least 11 people about her and all turned her down.  Finally a lovely woman applied for Gia.  I did a home visit and she fell in love with Gia.  The same day we all went to an appointment with a trainer that Gia's new owner had worked with previously.  I was really impressed with him and I felt more comfortable with Gia becoming a member of her family.  Next Tuesday Gia will be dropped off for a week long stay with the trainer. After Gia's stay they will do follow up visits with the trainer so he can "train"  Gia's new owner.  The week long stay is $400.00.   I spoke to Gia's new owner yesterday and she is having some peeing issues but she is so happy with Gia.  Yay!!  I can't wait to hear the outcome of the training.

If both you and your husband are able to get on board and work diligently on her training I do believe Cocoa can overcome this.  Your husband's training methods are doing nothing but hurting Cocoa, he's just prolonging the problem and could make it worse.  I know it could be difficult and time consuming but she needs training to help her learn the rules and become a more confident dog.  Do you and your husband have the time and/or financial resources available to help her?  With everything that is going on in your lives the situation is not good but it can work if you are able to commit to her training.  

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

What wonderful advice, Ann.  I'm so impressed with the work you did with Gia, and I'm thrilled that she's with a new owner who is committed to working on her problems. 

[Ann Kendig]

Thank you Jane.  I love that little girl and I knew she had to go to a home where the family would be patient and able to take her to some kind of training.  I was so happy that Evelyn, Gia's new mom, and I were able to go meet with the trainer and that Evelyn was willing to see that Gia got the training she needed.  : )

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

Ann -- You are my hero!  I think from now on I shall refer to you as the "Doodle Whisperer".  You have had some doosies when it comes to foster doodles and you have hung in there with every single one of them.  It is so easy to foster the good ones, but you seem to get the challenges and you always seem to know just what they need.  Great advice here, as always.  Another wonderful foster sucess for you. 

[Lindsey & Cocoa]

He said he will work on his issues.  Right now he is very stressed from work (excuses I know).

Thank you for not making me feel horrible for wanting to keep her and trying to work through this rather than telling me because I have kids I need to rehome the dog.  Some of the posts have me in tears feeling like a horrible person for wanting things to work out with the dog.  Maybe I should not have posted some reasons why I think she is acting this way but I figured it might get me best advice faster to turn this problem around while she is still so young.  But if he cant get over himself then I might have no choice because its not fair to Cocoa or to me to have to deal with his actions when I am the one home all day with the dog.

I am home all day with her.. yes a new baby will make my time to train a little less available but I still have a good month to work with her until baby gets here. I was figuring with summer coming it might make things easier since we will not all be trapped in the house. I can take the kids and dog on walks and work on comands while we are out walking or while they are playing in the yard.

If my inlaws dont step up with the puppy preschool they promised then I will start looking. I know our petsmart has classes and they are not to expensive. 

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Ann, YOU are my new hero :) Thank you for helping Gia!!