r/Dogtraining is taking too long to approve post: help please

[coachryan91]

Help I’m losing my mind

My puppy is a menace. We have tried crate training. She pisses (sometimes shits) in it every night. I am taking her out consistently, feeding her early enough in the day, cutting access to water hours before bed. She’s a Great Dane Mastiff born 12/24 so right at 4 months. Every dog I’ve ever had has been potty trained by this point (minus and accident here and there). She’s a dick. She bullies my small dog (6yrs 4 lbs) and cat, and my small dog has an injury on her back we think was caused by pushing/stepping on her. I do positive reinforcement every time she goes outside and I have thoroughly cleaned up every accident. I honestly just think she doesn’t care to hold it. We can be in the same room with her and she won’t give any indication she needs to go out. With her actually hurting my other pets and my house constantly smelling like piss and shit I am at my wits end. Please help.

[sup][sup]^[/sup][/sup] what I was trying to post to that sub

Posting now because she has pissed in the floor 3 times today and bullied my cat several times, and I can’t do this anymore. Something has to change, fast. I’m becoming so angry from this bad environment. I literally keep her with me 24/7 to try to prevent this but nothing is helping. She does it right in front of me.

Advice more than welcome.

 

[nanner]

@coachryan91 My dog has anxiety, and crate training never worked for her. Being crated literally scared the sh*t out of her. Perhaps yours is also peeing and pooping in the crate out of anxiety? We gave up on crate training, let her sleep in bed with us, and continued with taking her outside a lot. It took awhile to potty train her, but it was more peaceful. And now we have a trainer, and anti-anxiety meds from the vet. Good luck!!

 

[coachryan91]

@nanner For a short period of time (3 days a month or so ago) we tried sleeping with us. But she was peeing in our room so we’ve been strictly crate training since. I don’t think I will do the crate long term but I’ve been trying to ease any anxiety with treats when she goes in and is in there, toys comfort items etc.
Thanks for the response!

 

[davidofasia92]

@coachryan91 She's not a dick or a bully. She's a puppy. My mum still to this day, if I'm not around to let the dogs out once or twice in the night, will set an alarm for 2am to let the youngest out (2yo now). We've done this since we got her at 3 months. She's still not the best at telling us she wants to go out, too quiet and she just tends to sit by the door mostly, but she has her own way at least of telling us when she wants to go out, but it took 6 months to a year to become a habit and for accidents to stop, even when we'd go out for a few hours and forget to put a mat down. And this is with a chihuahua, which I've constantly heard since getting one is one of the worst breeds to try to potty train. It might be that she just still isn't able to fully control it, but she will get there with time.

Also if she steps on your other pets, that's not something she's doing maliciously, she's a big breed and it can take them a while to learn that they are big and heavy and can hurt other people and animals, so it's more than likely just a mistake. And again, puppy. I am sorry your other dog has been injured though, but I'm also in no position to suggest things for this issue.

 

[coachryan91]

@davidofasia92 Thanks for the response! I know it’s going to take time, it was just becoming so stressful because we weren’t having any progress. I do get up in the middle of the night but it’s always too late. Does anyone have a recommendation for how long to go between potty breaks?

I do watch her behavior, and sometimes my others pets are overly defensive when Toph (puppy) is just existing. But Toph definitely purpose steps on, pushes and tries to intimidate the others.

 

[blessedinchrist]

@coachryan91 Some questions for you please before I can guess what the problem may be. Have you trained a large breed dog before? How many hours of exercise / walk / play does the dog gets and how is the behavior during these activities? Does the dog listens to NO when harassing other animals? Can she follow any other commands without food incentive?

 

[coachryan91]

@blessedinchrist Yes, I had a Great Dane about 9 years ago. She was very well trained and the biggest problem she ever had was drinking out of the sink Our puppy gets a lot of play time, pretty much any time she’s not napping. Either me, my husband or kids. But our walks are only about 20 minutes. Another commenter brought this up and I’m going to start going on hour long walks. She half listens to No when she’s harassing the other pets. It usually has to do with proximity. If she’s chasing down the hallway she doesn’t usually listen. But if she’s pushing.. etc she will stop. And very shortly after do it again. She is pretty good at Sit, we’re working on stay and lay down, and is good at shake (she picked this up from my other dog).

Thought of a couple other things: she will Come about 75% of the time. And if I say, let’s go for a car ride she will follow me all the way there and get in herself. (My other dog does not do this)

 

[blessedinchrist]

@coachryan91 Every sound like a good environment for the pup. I would recommend more emphasis on NO training till it’s over 90% compliance. It’s gonna be hard in the beginning but try not letting her get away with it. Every time she gets away with it is a reinforcement for bad behavior.

 

[aria903]

@coachryan91 How much are you stimulating this dog? A puppy needs so much attention and stimulation. My puppy needed HOURS when she was small. Still needs approx 2-3 hours of walks everyday. Harassing the other pets sounds like she is not getting enough stimulation.

Also with the cat / other dog, did she just get free access to them immediately? If not, try putting up some sort of obstacle so they can see each other and be around without her reaching them. When they interact through the barrier, use treats to enforce a calm behavior in your puppy. When I introduced my dog to my bunny, I always made her lay down when they interacted through the bars I had put up, and now she is so calm around him ( The Bunny ).

And accidents happen, especially over night. Take her out first thing when you wake up ( regardless of accident or not ) and she will learn to wait. It’s not like she enjoys sitting in her own excrements. Are you regular with her walks? If she learns your pattern for walks, she will probably hold. If you are irregular, she will be more prone to accidents.

 

[coachryan91]

@aria903 Thank you, this is super helpful. I’m going to start taking her on longer walks. She definitely gets stimulated through play but I haven’t been walking her for an hour. Hopefully that will help. She was easily spooked up until about 3 weeks ago, and I didn’t want to overstimulate her until she felt more comfortable around strangers. And we slowly introduced them but there wasn’t a barrier involved. Would a baby gate work?

 

[aria903]

@coachryan91 I think a babe gate is a great idea, I used something similar. Let them interact through the gate ( and only through the gate ) and when they have been around each other for a while you can let them interact, and if puppy misbehaves, back behind the gate she goes. Eventually she will understand! I think I didn’t let my dog and bunny interact without the gate at all for like three weeks. Even though they both really wanted to.

Also about the walks, an hour might be too long if she’s young, try and break it up into smaller segments if it’s possible. Two 30 minute walks or three 20 minute walks might be better suited. But you will get to know your own pups limits.

Good luck! It’s definitely possible, just be consistent and have a routine the dog can follow.

 

[coachryan91]

@aria903 Oops, I just saw your comment. We just went for an hour walk. It went really well and she had a lot of growth when it comes to strangers since we went to a slightly more populated area. And she did better with stay since we had to cross the street a few times. She’s exhausted and napping. Here’s hoping for a good rest of the afternoon the only accident so far is the one she had overnight.

 

[aria903]

@coachryan91 Sounds good! Hope she calms down and you get some tranquility at home. As some who has a dog, cat and a bunny, all three being free roaming ( at all times ) in the house without an issue at this point. So there’s definitely hope for you as well! Good luck!

 

[starluv]

@coachryan91 Stop posting on reddit and go find a professional trainer in your area to help evaluate your dog.

There's my advice. Not that there aren't smart people on here with experience and knowledge, but that is not going to help you.

By the way, while I agree in part with the people who say, "she's just being a puppy," that is not an acceptable answer in your situation. Puppy behavior becomes adult behavior when it's not corrected. Your dog is going to be a large, powerful animal. If you don't get ahead of this now, you're going to have problems later.

 

[coachryan91]

@starluv I agree with getting a trainer. I’ve been researching ones in my area. Even if just a couple sessions.

 

[jombuche]

@coachryan91 You need to rehome this dog before you do something regrettable

 

[robertmv]

@coachryan91 Need to take her out on walks regularly. If she's frequent urinating then you got to take her out multiple times every free moment you get. Cut off food and water 4 hours before bed time.

You got yourself a big dog breed invest in a dog trainer. Also shes probably anxious pooping because she knows your angry at her.