Help with new puppy
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| Sounds like she may have two separate issues. First, she was probably not housetrained so she does not know what you expect of her. Second, many dogs pee when they are nervous or scared as a sign of submission. Often, this gets their owners angry which can make them pee more. In either case, I would encourage you to be completely calm and unphased, take her outside and then praise her like crazy if she pees outside. So lots of praise when she gets it right and completely ignore it when she gets it wrong. She is not doing it on purpose. She is a baby and really doesn't know what you want. They really do think that peeing will show you that they are being submissive. It is giving you the opportunity to sniff pee -- something dogs do to get to know each other.
Good luck with her. I am sure everyone would love to see pictures. |
| Definately two problems, firstly go back to basics and start a potty routine & potty training like she is a teenie weenie baby again.
Second is definately submissive peeing. You cant scold her when she does this or it makes the problem worse. Build her confidence and also when she pees outside, reward and praise her. Inside accident, no scolding just clean it up with no fuss at all. Is there an obedience class near you that you can take her too ? She needs the socialisation to help build her confidence. Chewing everything is a sheepie thing so crating her at night is good and supervision when out of the crate. Again praise her for chewing on appropriate chew toys etc and things she is not allowed to chew on, just remove them from her with a firm NO and substitute it with an appropriate toy and when she takes that in her mouth then gently praise her. OES are pretty clever if you start a good routine with them and stick to it they click pretty quick. Best wishes with it all, she is still a baby so a good routine, consistency in that and patients will pay off in the longer term.  |
| In addition to the submissive wetting which they generally grow out of as they gain confidence - it's odd to me that she's still doing it with household members at least, but yelling at her can be very counterproductive with this type of dog so can feed the issue - she may be having general problems just holding it due to puppy vaginitis or even a UTI.
Puppy bitches tend to pee low to the ground and can pick up all kinds of bacteria, and many aren't real good at cleaning themselves either, which can play into the vaginitis part. So you may have two separate issues feeding into each other and fueling the ongoing potty problems. My first OES came from a less than reputable breeder at six months old and she had never lived in a house either, but she was potty trained very quickly. This is not a breed that is typically hard to housebreak, so it can be helpful to look for contributing medical and behavioral factors if problems persist. Also, my current young foster dog won't go outside if I don't go with her - she has separation anxiety in her case - and, also, even when I do, she gets to playing with my dogs and forgets what she's there for, so I always have to go right out with her and verbally remind her to pee and then praise the heck out of her when she remembers. The chewing. Welcome to my world. I have an almost three year old who is almost 100% reliable now. She was crated till she was two. Her sister has barely seen the inside of a crate except for at shows and training and traveling since before she was a year old, but they matured at different rates. Your best line of defense is to puppy proof your house to within an inch of your life. It helps to have things they can chew on strewn around the house in hopes that this will grab their attention. Not that the illegals aren't more fun 
Also make sure you have a rolled up newspaper on hand. That way when she eats your new shoes (oh, that reminds me, I think I'm down to four pair but it may be safe to start shopping again) you can smack yourself on the head with it for leaving them accessible and not watching her
Remind me to tell you the story of how I once woke up to find Sybil chewing on one of my shoes and it was still on my foot!!!! I had fallen asleep watching TV. Her nickname (among many others  ) is Jaws.
Kristine |
| great advice already given to you by other members but would like to add to the puppy proofing. Put everything up period. There is no excuse in my opinion. Obe is three (almost) and I still go to every room before I leave and give a quick visual scan. Oh the remote is on the coffee table put it on a shelf or on top of the tv. Oh a shoe is laying out in the bedroom, put it in your closet etc. Just like my guitars ($$$) that sit out and always have. Obe these belongs to me. You will be in soooo much trouble if you destroy them. This was done the first couple of days of getting him. To this day he will lay close the guitars or musical equipment but would not touch then for fear of his life. This was ingrained in his mind at 10 wks and he remembers. I have never hit, kicked or anything else abusive in correcting him. A quick grab by the scruff (just as a mother dog would do) and a firm No, He understands completely.
It may sound crazy but it works. Obe "never" chewed anything he was not suppose to. Simply because I put stuff away or where he could not get to it. He has given free roam at 6 months, day and night. Had the crate to go into but door remained open. No problems at all. We have a deal and so far he has lived up to his end. I give you the freedom, you abuse it and I'm taking it away. I got a great compliment from a neighbor a couple of weeks ago. She asked how I got Obe to stay in the yard with out any type of fence. She said you can look and he is always in the yard. If other dogs or people are out he just sits on the hill and watches. Never leaves the yard until myself or Tara takes him for a walk. Lots of training, time and patience, I told the neighbor. He also knows that if he leaves the property he loses all freedom. No excuses. |
| Ahhh a 4 month old puppy...puppies are babies and are just learning. bout a year ago, I rescued a Aussie Shepherd that was basically left outside. When she came to my home she did "submissive" peeing. (it broke my heart to see her do this to know she would get that frightened).. Anyway, each time she would do this, I would act like I didn't see it and would clean it up. As the previous posters have said do not yell, hit or punish her for doing this...it will get worse. Take her out to go potty and make a big deal about it and she will learn quickly.
She is really to young to be left on her own in the house at night...crate her then and when you can't keep an eye on her. The other thing is keep everything up and put away. She is only a puppy and everything is a toy to her. When she picks up something she is not supposed to have, take it from her and substatute a toy or a bone. She will learn quickly what "toy" she is allowed to play with and what not too. Remember to be patient. She is still a baby. |
| Congrats on your puppy!
Crating isn't a bad thing to do. I know a lot of people feel like it's the same as putting them in jail, but it's not. It's safer for them (especially if your puppy ate super glue), and ultimately means less yelling, less mess and overall better situation. (In general--my puppy didn't take to the crate. At all.) My parents crated their OES until she was like 7 or 8. But at that point it was mostly habit. One day we were like, Do we still need to do this? And from then on she was free (but she still ran to her crate when scared...or when she stole something and wanted to hide it). And it was nice to know there was always a safe place to put her if we needed to. I agree with everyone else about what they've said. My parents' dog was also a submissive pee-er and she peed when the doorbell rang, when a guest came over, etc. And like Kristine said, she peed low to the ground and she also got lots of UTIs. Some dogs take longer to housetrain than others. I know with my dog he came to us at 5 months and wasn't housetrained and it took him to about a year until we felt he was reliable. But he too did the excitment pee. So we still take him outside if we know someone is coming over, otherwise he'd get too excited and pee on them (guests don't like that). Good luck and don't give up--your sheepie sounds totally normal and she'll get better with help and as she matures. |
| Have her checked out as Kristine said just to rule out a UTI or Vaginitis problem and if no problems there then go back to basics with her in training and out and about to build her confidence. |
Pudge098 wrote: At Christmas I got an Old English Sheepdog as a gift. I found out at that this puppy was 4 months old and always kept outside. So Daisy (my oes) was never house trained. The problem is with her that she pees at and on everything. If she gets excited, if you yell at her, if something scares her... I mean the list goes on. I have read that there are other laundry thieves, well she is one also. It is not limited to laundry she steals everything. She has eaten cds, crazy glue, cloth diapers, shoes, pieces of paper. I mean you name it she gets it. We have tried everything. I have gotten to the point that she is being crated at night because she cannot be trusted. Can anyone help me or give me some ideas?
My rescue, Garfunkel, was 2.6 when we brought him home. He was not house trained. He jumped on people and other things and was(and sometimes still is) an amazing thief. He's just an overgrown puppy. We worked with him and he is much better...he pee's outside now. You, have a baby. You, have to teach her. Don't yell at her, teach her what you expect from her and you will end up with one of the greatest dogs on the planet. A crate is a great training tool when you have a new dog in the house. It helps when you can't keep your eye on them and it turns out to be a "den" for them. When I brought Simon home as a puppy he was crated from day one. The crate was right next to the bed so he knew I was there and that comforted him and he and I were able to sleep. He was 1.6years old when we took the crate down. As for house training...The way I do it is that until you can trust them the outside is for peeing or pooping ONLY. No play time outside. Save that for inside. When they do go outside, praise them like crazy and then back inside. It works for me. Enjoy puppyhood...it can be very trying but also rewarding. |
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