I HATE FI's dog..

Omg....I'm ready to fly off the handle. I bought FI an English bulldog we named Lola a while back, because he’s always wanted one. I thought it would be good to have another dog around, because we had a schnorkie (schnauzer/yorkie hybrid) named Aristotle, who has separation anxiety….I $hit you not, the dog is depressed. But that’s a different story altogether.

Anyways, we’ve had this stupid dog for like 3 months now. I’ve taken her to obedience classes, potty training class, and been to the vet 5 different times with her. SHE STILL $HITS EVERYWHERE! I take her outside, and the minute I get in, what does she do? Crap on my white carpets. I run to answer the door, and come back to the living room, and what is she doing? Eating the keys on my laptop.

This morning was it for me. I came downstairs and let the dogs out of their kennels. Took Lola out first..out there for 20 minutes…..the dog won’t go. Okay, that’s fine, maybe Andy let her out before he went to work. So, I come back in and take Ari outside to pee. Get him back in, and go get a glass of water. I came back into the living room, and Lola had crapped on my dog!!! She was playing in it, and it was literally ALL OVER MY FLOOR AND WALLS! I hate this dog! Omg, I’ve always been an animal lover, but I seriously want to take this dog and drive 10 miles away from my house and leave her.

I’m at my wits end. She just won’t learn. I’ve tried everything to teach this dog how to pee outside and quit eating everything, but nothing gets through. I told FI that I want the dog gone, but he’s throwing a fit about it. He doesn’t see why I wouldn’t want a dirty animal who makes my house smell like crap. He insists that if we sell her, we’ll never get the amount of money we paid for her back, and that if we got rid of her, Ari would have to go too. Hello?!?!?! Ari isn’t the one who can’t learn how to take a $hit outside like a normal dog! Ugh…..I am so irritated. Time to pull out the carpet shampooer.

I feel your pain. I have an 8 year old bulldog and she was a tough puppy to train. It took her a LONG time to not shit in her crate even! She used to not care if she shit in it and then would lay in it. It was horrible, I'd have to bathe her every day. And she chewed everything for a while too. BUT she really is a great dog and has been for years. She was tough to train, but once she was trained, she's great. I live far from work, so she goes out at 6:30 am and then again at 6:30 pm and then before bed arounf 10 pm and she is good to go. She hasnt' chewed something she wasn't supposed to (other then undies, she loves those!) in YEARS! So give her time, she's just a puppy.

Agreed, definately give her time...my lab just turned 2 and he's finally becoming a good dog. he had "accidents" in the house for a good 7-8 months (and ALOT of pee comes out of him) and he has had chronic diarrea since I got him so cant eat anything other than his medicated food (seriously no treats....nothing!) and you know how challenging it is to keep a lab from eating everything. He has been a sh$tload of work but I wouldn't trade him for the world....it really does get better ....just try not to kill him for awhile (I know I had those days quite often

Puppies are definitely hard. I totally understand what you are feeling!

one really good tip that our puppy trainer gave us was to actually leash the puppy inside the house - here's the catch...tie the leash to your belt. This way you are forced to notice things that you wouldn't necessarily notice if the dog was loose in the house. They key is to watch for signals that the dog needs to go out and then catch her before she makes a mistake. It really worked well for us.

 

Good luck!

You could also look into clicker training - it works amazingly well, and might help your problem.

 

But is there perhaps any way you can block off the room with the carpets?

 

And perhaps she thinks that outside is for playing and not for pooping - you might need to just stay outside with her, in one spot,until she goes, treat her, then bring her back inside immediately so that she figures out that going outside 1. gets her a treat, and 2. means that she can go back inside out of the weather. Then, if she wants to play, take her BACK outside JUST to play. And keep her playing away from her peeing spot.

 

Course, you may have tried that already. I'm sorry for you. We're getting out first puppy in a couple months (so excited!) but I'm terrified it will be tough to train - its a bull - breed dog as well, and they can be notoriously pig-headed.

 

You could also try joining an English bulldog forum - Breed owners generally have great tips on the training and raising of thier breed.

3 months may seem like a long time but it really isnt. You have to be very patient with a new dog. Everydog is different, it took me a year to get my one dog potty trained while the other one was trained in a month. With the one that took a year i had to take him for walks to get him to go potty, i had to do this for probably for 6 months. Because otherwise i'd be out there for 20 minutes and nothing would happen than once we got inside he'd go.

 

Another thing is you have to be very calm while training a dog, getting frustrated with the dog isnt going to help the dog. You have to use positive reinforcment as much as you can and try not to yell or punish the dog when it has an accident.

 

Just stay patient and i'm sure in time you'll be loving Lola and thinking how wonderful she is.

I' am in rescue, I have had over 35 dogs in my home (not including our own) of many different ages and genders. The majority of the time the dogs aren't fixed so we have the same issues as you do. The good think is that my husband is a certified dog trainer, however he tends to be tired after his normal job to train. (go figure huh)

 

My point is that you really have to be take a few steps back and start from square one again. Trust me there are days I want to scream with whatever issue our new foster dog may have. I would suggest this:

 

First thing in the morning, take her out to pee and poo, spend 5 minutes out there, if she won't go, put her back in her crate while you take out the other dog. after about 15 minutes take her out again, and reward her with a yummy treat when she does poo outside, make it a HUGE deal, praise her like crazy. IF you don't catch her pooing in the house, sorry to say but she won't know why you are mad at her and it will only confuse her more. When you are home and she is out of her crate and you know it's around the time she has to go, keep her leashed to you, so that you know what she is doing at all times, and when she starts to go, pick her up and make her finish outside.

 

English bulldogs are very stubborn, and really needs consistancy in order to curb any bad behavior. Good luck and if you ever need training advise, I'll try to help.

Awwhh poor brandy, you seem so overwhelmed. Can I try and pick your brain some and try to help out?

 

I agree with Tammy B as well!!

 

How old is your puppy? What's her feeding routine like? How much time is she spending in her crate? What do you do with her when she is brought back inside? Maybe you should try letting her out first. If you don't confidence that she is doing number 2 outside I suggest you walking her on a leash? Is she going on her crate at all? There are some many different things that it could be... puppies need a ton of patience.

Leash/House arrest is a great idea. Listen to what Tammy B has to say too. I am in rescue also and have had dozens of dogs through my house for rehab/bootcamp. Have you talked to your breeder? If you bought from someone reputable they will have a life long relationship with you and will mentor you through the hard times. If you bought from someone less reputable or from a puppy mill you might be dealing with a pup that doesn't realize he's not supposed to go inside. He might have spend a significant amount in his crate with no potty breaks and it hasn't clicked yet.

When he does his duty outside you need to throw a party for him. Immediately. Get really excited, give him treats, etc right then. Establish a routine and stick to it. Limit his water intake and feed him (not free feed) at set times. That way you will be able to have a good idea when to expect his potty habits. Good luck and give him time.

Breed rescue and breed organizations can help too.

Jeni

Man I feel for you. Although my fiance and I are cat owners we rescued a one eyed kitten and I swear the kitten would find the most interesting places to crap and then we would have the pleasure of hunting for it by smell. It was so frustrating when we couldn't find her crap for two days and was blessed with the wonderful smell the entire time. But she eventually figured it out and I am a firm believer when you purchase/rescue a pet you have taken on the responsibility to see it through all the way. So continue to vent on here and get all the frustration out and I will be right here posting to calm you down and make you laugh. In fact maybe Cesar's wife is a BDW member and we can get a show going for you. :-) Deep breaths.....it will get better!!!