Help with dog

Richard · Jun 19, 2003

Living out where we do, we get the periodic dog/cat dropped off, or the bundle of puppies/kittens... /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif

We recently had another dog dropped off, wifey brought it home and I took to vet for shots/spaying (or neutering??)

Vet thinks she was abused and kept in small pen, not allowed to relieve herself OUTSIDE her pen and her pads on feet got all torn up, so she could hardly walk. /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif

Today , 4 weeks later, she runs like a rocket, /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif will absolutely force her way onto laying on my lap (and she’s 50 lbs) and just seems to be the most affectionate, dog you might want (unless you have a cat)....she’s totally and I mean TOTALLY fixated on our cat, father in law thinks they tried to train her as hunting dog and used cats. So far, the cat can handle the situation. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

Now, the bad side...

She evidently learned to go “#2” where ever she was. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif To say she’s not housetrained is an understatement. I can deal with that part... what I find perplexing is, she will do her business on the patio, /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif on the driveway /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif, at the front door. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif ..absolutely ANYWHERE but evidently, in the yard /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif . This isn’t “literally” true, as she does use the yard, but we’ve noticed several deposits on the harder surfaces...This strikes us as strange, and if she were a human, I’d suppose she’d be displaying signs of needing help. I’m trying to understand why she might do this, and what (if anything) we might try to do, to change this habit. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

Oh..other than being inside for couple days to recover from her spaying surgery, she is/will be a 100% outside dog, so “taking her out in mornings to the grass”, wont functionally be an option. Nothing the wife likes more than to go out on the back patio to grill out dinner and have to maneuver around the piles...... /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

Thanks for any thoughts.

Richard

MikePA · Jun 19, 2003

I’m trying to understand why she might do this, and what (if anything) we might try to do, to change this habit. 
Richard, I can't say why your dog does this but I can say why our husky does this. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

We have a chain we connect our dogs (we have 3) to when they want out. The chain is anchored to a post in the yard so their 'deposits' are in the lawn. However, the chain is long enough to reach our driveway so we don't have to walk in the mine field to unhook them.

When the grass is wet from dew or rain, our husky goes to the end of the chain, swings his butt around and makes his deposit on the driveway. The little darling doesn't want to get his feet wet. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif If the grass is dry, he uses the lawn and he will water the lawn whether the grass is wet or not.

Since you mentioned that this dog's feet were a mess, it could be a habit she developed in reaction to the damage her feet sustained.

Richard · Jun 19, 2003

hadn't thought of that angle.. she was a sad sight when we found her... imagine tiptoeing on rusty nails... she walked soo tentatively, and looked like she was trying to NEVER touch the ground with her feet...I almost feel bad to say this, but if I saw her walking in a movie, I'd actually seen some humor in it...wondering how they got this dog to walk like the "funky chicken". It was sad though, seeing it was for real and cause of pain and not her being suave.

She (all the dogs) have the run of the farm and she shows absolutely zero fear/other of the fields/water...though I gotta admit, we really have not paid much attention to that angle.

Our patio/sidewalks/driveway, seem like such a SMALL target when she's got a couple hundred acres surrounding her to practice with... /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

Richard

PhilNH5 · Jun 19, 2003

Richard,
If she was crated or kenneled her whole life she may have learned that a hard surface is where she is "supposed" to go.

I have a suggestion but you may not like it if you are squeamish. And I did not think of it myself. I read it in a dog training book years ago when I got my first dog. So if you are ready the suggestion is - supositories. Yep you read it right. They sell them at the pharmacy for children. In the morning insert it as soon as you get up and then take her outside where you want her to go and stay there until the business is finished. Then praise and reward her. I did this to house train my first dog and it worked great. But I had the advantage of "most dogs won't mess where they sleep". That is why you can crate train. But this has been forced out of your dog.

I never needed to use it again as my successive dogs all some to learn from the other dogs.

Good luck. Hopefully Boondox will chime in as he is involved in a Golden retriever rescue and has dealt with abused dogs.

Phil

Richard · Jun 19, 2003

/forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

I think we need a new face... lol one that shows squeamish?

Never much thought of myself as squeamish... then again, never contemplated a supository for a dog /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif I'm not sure if I'd be more squamish, or Dasiy.

(she may never look at me right again, when I wear gloves)

/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Golfgar4 · Jun 19, 2003

( When the grass is wet from dew or rain, our husky goes to the end of the chain, swings his butt around and makes his deposit on the driveway. )

Mike,

That sounds like my dog! /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif When the grass is wet, she HATES going out and getting her feet wet, so we'll find "remnants" on the patio or sidewalk. Of course, the difference is that our dog is a Yorkie, so the pile isn't exactly large. Our office manager talks about having to walk around her dog's (Black Lab) land mines in her yard. But she says that our dog leaves firecrackers! /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif