New to the Board and Frustrated

[Taryn0405]

One of the keys to stopping a dog from marking is catching while he's doing in. A customer of mine who is a dog agility trainer I talked to long ago about my brother's dog who marked. She said the key is to catch him in the midst of him beginning to lift his leg, and when he does, smack the leg down and don't yell but in a frim voice use "No". She said if you simply yell at him after the fact, it's completely pointless. Just like if you find a potty spot in your house after the fact and yell at the dog, the dog has no idea why you're pissed.

I tried this with my brother's dog with much success. Needless to say, he does not make when he's with me and my brother classified him as "untrainable."

[Mama2Bentley]

I adopted Bentley and within a week or so my pregnancy issues really got rough. I don't feel it's fair to Bentley to re-home him just because of my personal issues. I live with my parents for the time being so there's a house full of people who are all working with Bentley. We have a great support system here and I don't feel it's right to pawn him off on anyone else when it's fixable issues. He'll be fixed within the week. And yes the belly band is definitely a lifesaver for now!

[intilis]

My son brought home a 7 year old neutered poodle mix who was completely housetrained. After 2 years he suddenly started marking EVERYWHERE! The vet cleared him medically, so we knew it wasn't a health issue. I tried many things that didn't work, and finally decided to confine him to a crate when I couldn't watch him. I was shocked a few weeks later when the crate training worked & he stopped marking!

[McheleM]

How are you taking him outside if you're on bed rest??

If I were on bed rest for preterm labor, I would be in the bed, not moving, and certainly not taking a dog out to potty!

[DvlshAngel985]

Originally Posted by Taryn0405

She said the key is to catch him in the midst of him beginning to lift his leg, and when he does, smack the leg down and don't yell but in a frim voice use "No".

there is no need to hit in order to retrain.

When I adopted my little boy, he was a year old and a marking fiend. He marked everywhere on everything. It really is starting all over when you add a dog, of any age, to your home. They might be trained in their former home, but the adjustment period can and will throw them off.

First thing I did was had him neutered after being home for 4 days. It is helpful, but it's not a quick fix. It takes weeks before the hormones are completely flushed from their system. After that, I treated him like a puppy. I had him in an expen when I couldn't give him 100% of my attention. When he was allowed to roam, he wore a belly band, and I literally walked behind him as he explore his new home. As soon as I saw him try to lift his leg, I double clapped really loudly, and that was enough to correct the behavior and redirect his thought to something else. It was a slow process that included walks 5 times a day, slowing he earned his roam, and now he is the perfect little boy. it also helped that I praised him for every single potty, and every time he marked outside. I wanted him to understand that it wasn't the fact that he was marking was bad, it was where he was doing it.

He started in the pen, earned limited free roam in my room, then unlimited access, then he had limited free roam of my room and the hallways, and on and on until he earned my trust and now has free roam of the entire apt. Due to a sudden life change, he was able to be potty trained to piddle pads in 2 weeks using the same method. This will sound like I'm bragging, because I am but he's perfect. He has one piddle pad in the apt and will loyally walk to it for every potty. 0 accidents in our home.

It might sound like a lot of confinement, but I really wasn't. He was walked a lot, when I was lounging in the couch, or on my bed, he was lounging with me, and we played a lot. But, the balance was lots and lots of potty breaks. Set then up for success and they will improve.
Sorry for the long winded post. I hope you can get ideas from it hat you can use to train your pup.

[Taryn0405]

Originally Posted by DvlshAngel985

there is no need to hit in order to retrain.

Didn't mean hit, I mean't you have to catch him in the act. Mac would begin to lift his leg and I would use one finger to tap his leg so it went down. If it came across as hitting, I apologize and I would never condone a full fledged hitting of a dog.