my new dog

Question
Hi, few weeks ago I got a rescue dog named Bella. I was thinking of keeping it inside, in house, but I have problem with her deficating (I'm not sure if this is the right word, I'm not from English speaking region). I have tried with newspaper method, but she would only pee on the newspaper not do the other thing. Could you help me if you know some other method or something I could do. This is kind of urgent, cause my dad is getting really angry, and he might give her back. Please, I want to keep her, but just don't know what to do, help me. Thanks

Answer
Hi Jeff,


Sorry for answering so late but for some reason I didn't receive an alert about your post at all. I hope you don't mind me asking but - your post sounds familiar, have we discus this issue before? I can't seem to find anything on here but again, this looks very familiar to me.

Anyway, here is some of my insight on his subject:

How old is Bella? Is she spayed? Where did she come from?
WHY is nobody taking her out frequently to go potty? Is she free fed, meaning does she eat whenever she feels like it, bowl always loaded with food? If yes, please put her on a schedule so you can calculate when she got to go outside to do #2. You control the input, therefore the output.
It also teaches the dog she's depending on you, as you are covering a major aspect of survival: Nourishment, plus they love routine/timing.

Letting her pee on newspaper/pads:

I don't "Believe" in training a dog to eliminate inside the house. There are exceptions, like if the owner is disabled or someone lives in a High-Rise BUT generally the potty pad idea should be avoided. You're teaching her it's OK to MARK TERRITORY!! Some dogs "Just" pee, some "Just" poop and some do both.
In your case you are telling Bella it's perfectly fine to mark your home, you're actually inviting her to do so. She's a dog, an animal with simple, species related actions. She believes you WANT her to poop in your home!

To teach her different you must put Bella on a leash INSIDE your home. That way she understands you are leading her with the leash, controlling your environment/home/territory and she'll "Get it". Plus she can't meander off and poop while you're not looking. You're 100% in control of her, in charge and ultimately exercise your responsibility to teach an animal what a human, a superior being, actually wants it to do.
Get a timer: Irregardless if she's got to go poop or not, take her OUTSIDE every hour today. Every two hours tomorrow. It's the weekend, perfect time to show her "Who's in charge".
Again, it doesn't matter if she goes poop or not - it teaches her that you want her to go outside.

Make sure to praise her after she went and eliminated.

If you ever (Which you shouldn't) find poop in your home do not tell her, do not scold her (Isn't her fault really), put her outside, tell her to go potty, come back inside without her, clean it up, use a vinegar/water mix, spray it on there and let that be the end of it.

Don't ever let a dog see you found their markings! It will only encourage her, since all she wanted was for you to find it in the first place, for you to see "Who's boss".

Secondly you, the owners, MUST take the dog outside to eliminate. She can't (And shouldn't) open the patio door to get out. You guide her out of your territory, you will invite her back in properly - using a SIT=WAIT command combo. It teaches her to have respect for your home/territory as she won't just run into the house (I can't stand doggy doors), disrespecting boundaries.

Dogs are bound by Hierarchy - it's their nature. Setting those boundaries builds straight-line communications, which also creates sound, well behaved, easy to manage and joyful companion dogs.
There's no need to get angry at a dog, to be harsh, loud or even unfairly harsh...
often small ideas go a long way, low effort actions, which teach a dog so much.

ALSO: Make sure she's on a LOW GRAIN or NO GRAIN diet, therefore she may go poop once or twice a day.

If nobody is around she shall be in a kennel/crate (Dogs are denning creatures, they WANT a crate - it's like having their own little room and sanctuary), preferring the plastic type as the wire is a cage, no enclosure, no denning-sensation offered.



DogNanny 911