Boxers Puppies

Question
Good afternoon,
My girlfriend and I have a female boxer, just over 3 months old. She is very good while we are with her and we do not have any major problems when we are around. When we left for work, we would put her in the bathroom with a baby gate and put paper in a corner for her to eliminate on. Early last week, she jumped over the baby gate while we were away so we bought another baby gate to put on top. One the first day we tried this and we were happy to see she was still in the bathroom but there was feces smeared all OVER the bathroom floor, walls, bathtub and everywhere she could reach. We thought it was diarreah at first but now she is doing it every time we leave. We tried leaving her for just 30 minutes to see what she would do and so far, she has done the same thing with her feces every time we've left her alone in the bathroom, even if we are gone just a few minutes. We even tried not feeding her in the morning and making sure she eliminates outside before we leave the house but it seems she always seems to manage to eliminate right after we leave and enjoys playing with her waste!

We want to avoid putting her in her crate while we go to work because we are gone almost 9 hours and feel it is not fair to ask her to hold it in for that long if she has to go since she is so young. Do you have any ideas what we could do?

My other question pertains to dogs from the same litter. My relatives purchased her sister but are not sure if they will be able to keep her. Their dog is a female also. Would it be a bad idea for us to take her if they were to get rid of her? They get along great and love to cuddle when they sleep but I've heard same sex dogs from the same litter can often fight when they are older.

Thanks in advance,

Chris


Answer
The problem with her smearing her feces is one I have never come across before, and cannot give much insight into. Maybe one of the other experts can give you better advice about it.
I do know this, they can be very inventive in ways to drive us up the walls to get their way.
Does she have toys to play with when you are gone?
That is really a puzzler to me. Maybe you could consult a qualified trainer in your area, that has had experienced this problem.
She must eat regularly. A puppy's health can be damaged seriously by not being properly fed when they are growing. Maybe you could work on a different feeding schedule, one that would give her the number of feedings, and the proper nutrition she needs,but that puts the longer period of time she goes longest without eating,at the hours you are gone.
Could you arrange for a friend or family member, or one of you, to go and feed her, and see to her elimination, in the middle of your absent hours?
As far as taking her littermate.
I have taken littermates, of the same sex and of the oposite sex. no problems.
Maybe even, they are less of a problem.
Having a playmate may also stop the problem with her playing with her feces.
I have also taken dogs of same and different sexes in at different times, and they get along great.
As with children, the main factor in raising dogs is their training.
I now have 4 dogs, 3 males and 1 female.
The English setter is a purebred, and she is the first one of this group. She is going on 11 years old. We took in an Australian Shepherd mix, when he was 6 months old, and she mothered him. We took a little Lasha, 6 weeks old,male, and the Aussie took him over, pushing the Setter aside. He was 1 year old when we took Max, the Lasha,spoiled him rotten, and would see to the puppy eating and drinking, before he himself ate. We call Rowdy, Max's stepdad.
Rowdy was 5 and Max 4 when we took in a Sheltie rescue dog, at 1 and 1/2 years old. they all get along like one big happy family.
When my sister died last December, I brought her kitten home with me. she is about 1 year old. The dogs love her, and she loves them. We also raise Diamond doves, and the cat, after deviling them for a few days, stopped, when they stopped fluttering around when she jumped on the cage. Now she just watches them.
I am the alpha dog in this house, and they all know it. They are trained, and they know what is allowed and what is not.They are all well behaved children.
If those two little puppies get along and like to cuddle with each other, I think all you have to look forward to is a lot of enjoyment watching 2 puppies play, and twice the puppy lovins.
When you are away from home, they will play together. The feces smearing may be just her acting out of lonliness, and boredom.
I like to give puppies hard rubber balls to chase, and toys that sqweek. Chewing on these toys help strengthen their jaw muscles, and provide help with teething. Puppies teeth too, and need to chew on something.
Just be careful to get toys that cannot be eaten and choked on, when you are not there to handle an emergency.
I raise animals just like I raise children.
I teach them what is expected of them, try to be aware of their feelings, and DO NOT HIT!
Dogs want to please you.
Scold with a harsh NO! when they are bad, praise a lot when they do it right.
This is what they understand.
Your sharp voice tells them it makes you unhappy, your soft, loving tones tell them you are pleased.
They will quickly stop the behavior that makes you scold, and do what gets the praise.
All those tales of dogs of the same sex fighting is a lot of hooey. Whether or not they get along, same sex, and related or not, depends on how they are raised, and what their personality is at the beginning. If they don't fight when they are puppies, they will get along when they are grown.If they get the same food, attention etc, and they are not in competition for food or affection, they will get along. One will be top dog over the other, but they will work that out for themselves.
They will have squabbles, but as long as they don't draw blood and harm each other, it is just arguing, like it is with children. Let them work out their own differences when you can. Just see they don't go too far with it.
Watch them though. We used to have a little mixed breed female, and an Irish Setter, purebred, female, and they started fighting, furiously.
The whole family would scramble to separate them.
After several weeks of this, I noticed there had never been a drop of blood drawn.I also noticed they were looking at us while they were fighting.
One fight, I let them go. They stopped and looked at me. I told them to fight all they wanted to.
They just looked bewildered, and went to playing.
They were faking a fight, to get all that attention.
Dogs don't think?
We have a lot of grandchildren and great-randchildren, and the animals love to see their grandkids come to visit.
All our children were good with animals, and their children are too. They are gentle, and loving, and the animals know they are in for a lot of play when the little ones come over. The Setter has Arthritis, and she lays on her bed and wags her tail furiously, for them to come and give her loving and sympathy. the dogs really love to see a baby. They know not to lick the baby in the face and hands, and they know we will show them the baby. The aussie will lay down near the baby, and watch over it the whole time it is in the house.When a baby cries, all the dogs come running to me to do something about it. They seem to see a baby crying a little as a major emergency they have to fix right away.If you don't run to the baby immediately, they will start to bark at us, until we see to the baby.
Children learn a lot from living with animals as family members. It makes them more aware of the feelings of all beings, and I think, more sensitive to other human beings.
also, recent scientific studies have shown that babies that are raised in the home with animals, before the age of one year, have fewer allergy problems when they are older.