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.

[Adina P]

I want to make another suggestion. You mentioned 'puppy preschool' -- if funds are limited or inlaws won't pay for continued training (i.e. Just one class) then I suggest you wait a couple months, if you can, and start her in a 'beginner' obedience class for older pups and adult dogs. WHY? Because I think puppy preschool doesn't give you 'enough' help with REAL training. Most people don't begin to have control of their dogs until Advanced OB classes. So might as well wait it out a bit and start with something more useful. My opinion.

[Lindsey & Cocoa]

Oh this is great advice I was wondering at what age you should start this.

Timing wise this would work out so much better.   I have a feeling with the baby coming soon and then her time to be spayed coming soon that we might miss a few weeks of class and I hate to waste that money or miss out on a great class.

I was just looking at Petsmart and they have 6 week classes and start with puppy all the way to advanced and clicker training. But it looks like they teach the same thing in the puppy 10weeks-5 months class as they do in the next class after that. 

I think this would be a wonderful thing for my husband and daughter to do together this summer. It would get her and the dog out of the house for me to have a break and it would be something to do with daddy.

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

One more thing and then I'll leave you alone.  I really feel that in your case it is very important for you to attend the classes as well.  Great that DH and daughter go so everyone is on the same page, but if you are going to teach Cocoa that you are the Alpha (so she stops jumping on you and nipping and hitting your knees) then you need to understand all of the rules straight from the trainer's mouth to your ears.  Don't let it go through your DH to you.  You are the one that has been on this site and reading and learning and you are, like it or not, the primary caretaker for Cocoa, so you really need to be in training with him.  My Opinion.  DH and daughter can go out on training walks and practice and give you a little break, but you should really take the class as well. 

[Lindsey & Cocoa]

No problem.  I would love to go to the classes but not sure how class and a new born mix well.  I breastfeed so them having to take breaks while I nurse my baby might not go over so well..lol

The first month or so that's ALL baby's do is eat.  I would be very willing to sit on the side lines and watch so I can see how the trainers are teaching DH how to do things. I will ask when enrolling her if this is allowed, this way I can just sneak off to the car or something if baby is being fussy.

[Adina P]

Ask around about your local PetSmart classes.  They vary by location. Although I think they all use a clicker, not all the trainers are necessarily GOOD regardless of how cheap it is.  Since this might be a one shot deal, if you are able to research ALL your local training opportunities, please do.  You need something doable but something that will give you the highest chances of good results from ONE class.  I know trainers who would have you whipped into shape so you can whip your dog into shape in 10 weeks.  Other training places have about a dozen levels of classes before your dog could even pass a basic Canine Good Citizen test.  Since money is limited, really research what's around you first.  Ask your vet, groomer, etc.  See if there is a local obedience club in your area and find out who they recommend and who they DON'T and why.  You want recommendations based on RESULTS not politically correct methods. 

I agree that it would be ideal if you could at least sit in on the classes with baby in arms, but I realize that that can be super difficult too.  I would not and could not have done that this second time around.  My 6 month old was SUPER fussy until about 3-4 months.  His sleeping is inconsistent and he nurses through the night.  So...yeah...between naps, attempted naps, feeding both kids, preparing the food I and the toddler can eat, playing with them, picking up after them, etc.  Well, I could not have done training at all.  I did when my toddler was younger pay for babysitting now and then so I could take my youngest dood out for training on a regular basis.  Usually I'd run out while she napped and my husband would work and listen on the monitor but when he was unavailable or gone on a trip I'd pay for extra time babysitting and I'd take Boca out for training right after work.  It paid off but she's far from done and 'done' is the only outcome I want...haha.  Half done is useless most of the time.

[Lindsey & Cocoa]

Another good idea.  My friend did petsmart and they had great results with her very ornry Bulldog mix. Not sure if the same trainers go to all locations around this area because I will use the one closer to me.

We have a vet appointment tonight for her last round of puppy shots so I will mention a trainer to the vet. Last time I asked for advice she told me I can rent books from them on training. I am more of a hands on person and would do better with someone showing me what to do. And not all things in a book work for each dog so they might have to do different things to get the results out of her.

Cocoa goes for her first grooming tomorrow so I will talk with my groomer about training as well.

It is nice to talk to another mom with young children on here to see how they did things.

My neighbor has also offered to come over and help me with getting her to calm down with my daughter.  She is not an official trainer but does really well with her 5 dogs (2 of them are show dogs) and she also helps with a Shiba Inu  rescue and fosters dogs for them.  She watched Cocoa for me during the day while I was on vacation and she is the one who taught her how to sit... in just ONE afternoon.  She tells me how smart she is and she has the personality to want to please us.  So maybe I will call her and have her come work with us 1-2 times a week and then when Cocoa is older and i have done my home work for good trainers we can step it up to a good training class or private trainer if needed.

Thanks for getting me brain storming I can see the light at the end of the tunnel now.   I just need to go find a stick for beating the husband if he acts up...lol

[Adina P]

I believe each pet smart trainer only trains at THAT location.  So you'll have to check on the reputation of YOUR particular Pet Smart.  Find out what the trainer's best bragging rights are.  Have they titled any dogs in obedience?  Do their dogs have their CGC at the VERY MINIMUM?  I don't care about 'education' or letters after their name. That usually just indicates they may have passed a written test.  Doesn't mean they are good at training dogs or training people to train dogs.  Basically it's not just any training that will get you what you want...it's GOOD training.  Again just my opinion, but judging my how many people go through multiple levels of classes and still have dogs that pull them on leash...I have a STRONG opinion that most classes today aren't worth the money.  So find a GOOD one. 

[Adina P]

Okay here are two pages of trainers within 25 miles of you.  You'll have to vet them individually, checking out their sites if they have them or calling them if they are 'close enough' to you:

http://canineprofessionals.com/FindAProfessional

and

http://www.apdt.com/petowners/ts/us/results/default.aspx?zip=45342&...

Good luck!

[Lindsey & Cocoa]

Update:    Dh talked to his father and he is going to pay for training class YAY.   If he was not going to pay I was going to do it anyway but he got us the dog and offered so i felt DH needed to ask him about it.

I took Cocoa to the vet yesterday for puppy shots and spoke to the vet about this and was given a list of about 4 training places to call.  Someone posted a list on here but the places are 45 minutes away or more or they no longer have a website or correct contact info.  So i will keep searching and interviewing until I find a place that trains the way that will fit in with our family and is not to far away since we will need to work around DH's 12 hour work days and he works a lot of Saturdays.  I know some of you said wait a little longer before we start training.... should we wait until after she is spay since i have heard it can change there personality?

I talked to the Vet about the pee issue and she agreed the reason she is doing this is because of confidence issues and she needs praise training and less being told what she is doing wrong and more of what she is doing right.

Ever since I got treats the other day the pee in the house has pretty much stopped because when she is bad I can use the treats to get the behavior out of her I want.  So if she takes something that is not hers I grab the treat bag walk to her and make her drop it and sit and its been working so far!!!    Its a crazy how just a little treat can make my life so much easier.  When we work on training I have been taking her outside so if my praises make her pee its outside and i don't care.

Cocoa got her first hair cut today and the groomer said she did great other than crying the whole time but no nipping or anything!

[Donna K & Quincy]

Glad to hear that things are looking up for you and that you are coming up with a plan.

[Sherri, Sophie, Winston, & Kitty]

Just reading through all the posts and updates now and see that you are doing a great job turning things around. You are clearly really committed to making this work for your family. I hope the training works out for you guys. Good luck!

[Lindsey & Cocoa]

Another update for all who are still following this.

 It took me about 3 days to find a training place that was affordable, with in good driving distance and that has classes starting soon. 

Some of the problems I ran into is a lot of places I found use E collars for training... while of course DH was on board with that I said absolutly not.  His friend has hunting dogs that are E collar trained and he talks about how well trained they are... I had to remind him Cocoa is not a hunting dog HUGE difference.  Cocoa is very sensitive and a big baby I feel that if we did put a collar on her and zap her it could change her personality and just ruin the dog for life. So I had to weed out all the E collar trainers. He even borrowed a collar from his friend and I told him he must put it on and let me shock him before he thinks about putting it on the dog.... He did and agreed this is not the way to train her :)

Most of the places spring classes started already started and wont have another session until mid summer. I am not sure we really have 3-4 months to wait.  So I found one that is starting spring classes April 16th. 

All of the places I called do not allow kids until the age of 8-12 depending on the place. This is for liability reasons, like if another owners dog gets off the leash and come attack my child. Once they explained this to me I totally understand. So DH will mostly take Cocoa and I am going to try to get a sitter for a couple of the classes before baby comes to see how they teach him to teach her. 

This first class is called Manners 101 and its just basics. Dh really is into this idea and was talking about after this class keeping her going the next couple steps and end with advanced.