Monty, 2 and half year old smooth fox terrier

Question
He has always sat and waited for his food and still continues to do so.  You don't even have to say sit anymore, he just does it as he knows he won't get it otherwise.  You can walk away and he will not touch it until you say OK.  This is the only time you can leave the room without him wanting to come with you.  You can take his dish away and make him sit again and wait until you say ok.  He will not however sit and wait by the door or sit to go outside.  Beleive me I have tried!!!

The crate that you mention is probably what we have already got which is in the garage.  The reason it is in the garage and not the kitchen is that he will poo and pee in his bed literally in the crate and lie in it.  Though sometimes he will actually poo right up against the bars and it will end up out side the crate.  Obviously he cocks his leg and unless you actually put paper around and underneath the crate you still have the same mess as if he was left free.

I will try the 6 week class you mention and see how we go.  If you have any other suggestions please, please let me know as I love him to bits and don't really want to get rid of him when the baby comes!!!!!!!
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I don't seem to have an answer stored on my emails
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We are having trouble with Monty in many ways.  He, I think, is suffering from separation anxiety.  He pees and poos when ever he is left alone.  He will cry and bark when either myself or my husband leaves the room and sit at the door until we return.

He has recently started to bark at the garage door, whether it is open or shut!!!  He has a cage in there for the daytime when we are at work.

At nighttime he sleeps in the kitchen and is quite happy to let you go upstairs without him.  No barking or crying or peeing or pooing overnight.

If you move out of your seat he is there right behind you, you can not open a door without him going through first.

The really big problem now is that I am 4 and half months pregnant and we are afraid of what is going to happen when the baby comes along.
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JUlia -

Did I ever get back to you on this ?  I thought I had, but the system is saying that I didn;t.

-Beth
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Julia -

I'm sorry - I must have accidentally deleted the email because I know I wanted to think about some suggestions.

My very first line of defense would be a crate.  It would not only keep your house safe from his reactions to being left, but most dogs come to love their crate and feel safe and comforting to them.  There are tons of internet resources about the advantages of crate training.

Second, he needs some serious attention to obedience before the baby comes.  The behavior I would want him to learn is "sit" and "wait".  He needs to learn to sit before he gets any privilege - having his food dish put down, having the door opened for him to go out, before getting a treat, etc.... You need to nip this in the bud - which is exactly what you seem to already know.

He knows you're pregnant and he's attention seeking. Practing obedience will be a good way to set up a positive experience which will help him with this. The more confidence he builds, the less "needy" he'll be.

You have the time to get a 6 week basic obedience class under the belt. Even if you've done it before, do it again, or start rebuilding those skills with him.

My jack Russell would get a little pushing and demanding if I did;t remind him to behave. He has to sit for his food dish, he has to sit and "wait" to go out, and sometimes I even make him "leave it" and sit there and stare at his dinner till I release him.

Terriers are very very smart, and extremely willful... if you don;t keep a step ahead of him, you could have more trouble with Mr Monty.

You can do things like sit - stay at the edge of a room and make him wait til you come back out of the room. he will feel GOOD about doing what you wanted AND he wasn't being a pest to you.

Get back to me if you need more ideas....

-Beth

Answer
The trainer I assist recommends training the wait at the door like this:

Have him sit right next to you with the door shut. Open it a tiny crack.  Every time he tired to get up or move toward the door, shut it.  Over and over and over.... as he gets the hang of it, you can open it a little further.

He's likely to be a smart dog knowing the breed, so he'll catch on right away. Once he will let you open the door without bolting, invite him through, praise and treat continuously for 10-15 seconds with tiny bits of a high value treat like cheese(she calls it a "party")

If he's not even willing to sit at the door, you'll have to go further back and act like you need to retrain the sit.  Or if you think he knows to sit, give the command and stand there and wait for him to do it (You'll see the lights come on in his head).  and treat

If he won't even do that, you'll have to go all the way back to shaping the sit (yell if you need to know how to do this).

He's being pushy and you just can;t let him do this - ever.  You're gonna need to make him do it every time like his dish so he remembers who is in charge.

Remember - don;t give a command more than once. Say his name, the command (if he already knows it) and then wait ..... his brain will kick into gear within a few seconds normally....

The theory behind this is "nothing in life is free".  He doesn;t get what he wants - going outside in this case - unless he does what you want first.  It's a non-forceful way to reinforce your dominance.

OK - what size crate do you use ?  Dogs who are willing to potty in their crate are often in crates too large for them.  I see this often in puppymill dogs who have had to potty in their crates their whole lives.  If you use a crate what he can turn around in, but nothing more, he is MUCH less likely to mess it.

If you have him in a big crate and don;t wanna buy another sometimes putting a milk crate or other stiff box in the back will limit their room to move enough to do the trick.

and of course potty him before crating.  Is his poopie really loose all the time or just when crated ??

You may end up needing a professional trainer since I can only make suggestions, not actually see what he's doing and the dynamic between you and he..... and some dogs with extreme separation anxiety require medication to take the edge off.

and I BEG you - at the very last resort... if you can;t work through this and get him straightened out ... PLEASE surrender him to a breed rescue and not to the local shelter, and never ever just give him away through an ad (those dogs are often sold to labs or dog fight rings for training victims) The breed rescue would be able to put him into a foster home with experienced terrier folks to work on his issues before ever putting him into another home AND they are able to screen homes far more closely than any shelter can.

-Beth