QuestionDear Dave,
I have reitten to you many times before and have had your advise helfpul to some extent. My sheltie is now 11 months old. I have been writting to you since she was a puppy on advise from chewing things to potty train. She is a good dog by most means but i am still having problems with the potty training and am at my wits end. I have even contacted the breeder and he suggested i "turn her back in to him" so he can find her a good outside home and in turn give me another puppy. My problem is i love this dog alot and have spent about $2000 on her with shots and being fixed. I am at a loss an hoped that you might have some relsolve to my problem. When Lilybell was younger we lived in a house with a big back yard. She had an older dog Chandler and they loved each other. Oh the issue is the potty training. We are still pooping and peeing in the my bran new apartemnt and my apartment now smells of urine. Anyway, we never really got the potty thing down packed when we were at the house she was like 6 months old and still had a few accidents here and there. What happened is that my mom was supposed to sell her house which she did and move to another which she did not and had to move into my sisters house. At the time i was away on vacation and they put lily in this mansion of a kennel for about 3-4 weeks. It was big ans spacious and she was in the cage with a few other small dogs that kept her company. She seemed ok and it was fine. I came back from my vacation and moved into a hotel for a few weeks with Lily and then moved into a bran new apartment. Never been lived in before. All of this time we have had an issue eith poyyty. I have tried every thing that you and everyones else suggested to me. I kennel her until i go out side but she will not go outside sometimes. She will pee but will not poo. NO matter how often this rutine goes on. And i stay out there with her to no avial. Needless to say she is still peeing and pooing in house in sone spot in front of tbe door. I have even joined a class at petco as you suggested to learn a few things and nothing. She is skidish and scared of her own shadow which the breader said she could have been tramatised when she was at the shelter. I know i gave up trying to pin the ears back becasue she looked like she was going to slauther evertime i would try and do them. I can not let her roam the house alone for afraid of her making a mess. She has to sleep in her kenell evernight or she will mess in the middle of the night in the house. When i take her to stay at a kennel or when i take her to my sisters house (with her kennel) when i go out of town it is always a disaster. She will hold it for 2 hours while outside playing and then come inside and poop all in the house. And then she will get all upset or something and end up pooping in her kennel and making a big mess. My last trip i had to come home a day early to pick her up. Dave I love my dog so much and I don't want to give her back, but I don't know what to do to make this behavior stop. I have had a sheltie in an apartment for 13yrs and there was never any probelm like this after a few months or so. Lily is now 11months. Please help I am at my wits end and am so upset at the thought of having to get another "replacement" Did I do something to mess my dog up? Is it my fauld? The breader said he would never send a puppy home with this kind of temperment so something must have happend. I feel like it its my fault and i don't know what to do. Can you please help me? All Lily does now is stay in her kennel unless i can keep her in eye distance and I don't want a dog i have to keep in a kennel in her own home. Please help!??????
Sincerly
Delina Volkerding
Answer> With that said: I do not want to see you give up on
> Lily either. I just lost my Tucker (#2 of my 3
> shelties) and can hardly bear the pain.
>
> First: I DO NOT THINK YOU HAVE DONE ANYTHING WRONG!
> Ok?
>
> Second: We don't know if she is tramatized or not.
> We
> can't fix what we don't know so let it go.
>
> Third: let's try draconian measures of 24/7 crate
> time.
> Get up tomorrow and take Lily out for a stroll. If
> she pottys great, if not, ok too. Put her back into
> the crate.
>
> Come home from work and take her out for a walk.
> Bring her back in and give her food and water for 5
> minutes. Take her back outside for a walk.
> ** IF SHE POTTYS: great! act like you won the
> lottery
> and are so happy with her! Bring her inside and give
> her a treat but put her back into her crate.
> ** IF SHE DOES NOT POTTY: good girl, bring her
> inside
> and put her in the crate for one-half hour and take
> her out for another walk. Try to find places where
> other dogs have done their business and encourage
> her
> to sniff. Sniffing leads to marking. Repeat this
> every 30-45 minutes until bedtime.
>
> She does not get any time out of the crate for 5
> days.
> If she has no accidents then great! She gets to
> gradually get more free time in the house.
>
> The spots in the apartment will make her want to go
> potty there again. Use a blacklight to identify the
> bad spots. Pull up the carpet and pad. Use an
> oil-based paint to cover the spots in the sub-floor
> wood wher the pee stained it. This should block the
> scent. Hire a carpet guy to come in and pull good
> carpet out of a closet to replace the bad carpet and
> pad. This will be cheaper than the damage deposit I
> promise!
>
> This will also help Lily not go in the house.
>
> It will be hard, but give the process 5 days. Try to
> give her as much positive reinforcement as possible
> even when she doesn't potty.
>
> The final step is to find a reputable trainer (NOT
> THE
> GUY AT THE PET STORE OBVIOUSLY) who will take Lily
> into the home for obedience training for a short
> period of time (up to two weeks). Get at least 4
> references and call them.
>
> I know you won't give up without a fight. I want to
> be of help in any way I can.
>
> 'sneezes
> Dave
