We have a newly adopted golden retriever named Rubythat we got from our local rescue after fostering her briefly in April for a weekend. We decided after meeting her, she was going to be our dog, and we decided to adopt and continued to foster her. She was a stray that came in with heartworms, unsprayed, and no ID. They think she’s about four years old. She has since completed her heartworm treatment, and is in otherwise good health. We’re having a behavioral issue we can’t figure out.
At first, we crated Ruby when we weren’t in the near vicinity, as she had to stay quiet due to the heartworms. However, she is no longer crated as she’s cleared from the heartworms and seems to have no behavior problems when we’re not home or we’re somewhere in the house she can’t get to (such as closed bedrooms).
The problem is when we’re nearby. We try to let her out to use the bathroom every few hours, but if we don’t, she pees in the floor. But ONLY if we’re in the room with her. She makes no effort to let us know she has to go. She also is capable of holding it all night or all day long, if we’re at work or asleep. But if we’re right there with her, she just lets it go.
We take her out to the same location to pee every time (the back yard). There is no ambiguity in my mind to where she has to pee. If I take her out, and stand on the deck, and say “Go pee” she does. (She then gets praised).
What is going on with this dog, and how do we fix it? Help! Opinions appreciated.
(I actually want to train her as a therapy dog, eventually, which will have to start with basic obedience. She knows sit and down, wonderfully, though, and sits instinctively when greeting someone.)
Does she do this when you first get into her presence or is it after you have been around each other for a while. Also do you take her out almost immediately if you have been out of her presence for a time…
I would use a combination of scolding and more frequent trips out. Goldens are generaly smart and sensitive to scolding so you shouldn't have to be too hard on her.
We take her out immediately when we get home (which is a struggle in and of itself, because all she wants is to love on us when we get home.) This is when we’ve been around for awhile. The scolding is difficult, because we don’t actually catch her IN the act. We just find the wet spot on the carpet.
As a serious amatuer dog trainer I trained my multiple dogs to do many things - and was often praised on the behaviour of my dogs, who were almost always off-leash.
I’ve also been asked to teach other dogs but so few owners understand that basics are needed and/or that they have unintentionally trained their dog without knowing it.
You’re encouraging the behaviour by praising her when she pees. She wants attention and/or that praise - but hasn’t quite figured out the ins-and-outs <sic> of it.
Acknowledge the peeing outside, but don’t praise it. I told my last dog “Thank-you” (and I sincerly believe she understood me. in a way).
I’d also have her do a certain ‘trick’ right before going out - soon she’ll do that trick as a sign to go out out. One of my dogs would lay at the door, another sat at the door.
She’s wanting nearly constant attention, which can be a good thing for training.
I’d say ‘good-luck’, but I don’t believe that’s needed here. So… CONGRATS!
I’ve had 3 border collies, the smartest breed on the planet. 2 of them had no interest in telling us they had to go potty. Thankfully, they held it well and almost never pottied in the house. No matter what I did, they wouldn’t bark, jingle, nudge or anything. Never cracked the code. This current one just won’t bark on command, so maybe that’s part of it.
I suspect that Phoebestar and I are going about this the wrong way. Since we can’t really catch her in the act of peeing on the carpet, I’m going to teach her how to get down a towel and clean it up herself. Problem solved!
Do the same thing you do to housebreak a puppy: don’t give her the freedom to sneak it out. When you are home with her, either keep her tethered to your body so you will know when she starts to pee, or confine her in an x-pen so she has too small an area. As with a puppy, if she starts to squat, dont’ “scold”, really, because then you just encourage her to be sneaky - simply startle her to stop the flow, ideally with expressions of disgust (yes, they understand disgust) and rush her outside and wait until she finishes. Gentle praise, back inside.
Since she’s an adult, if you are consistent I’ll bet you can fix it in a week.
I like Hipgnosis’ thoughts on it. By praising her when she pee, we reinforce that whenever she pees, she’s a “good girl.” So I’m starting to make her do a down before we let her out, and then being indifferent about the ACT of peeing.
I’m not sure this is the brightest golden retriever in the world. She makes up for it by being the friendliest, though! (and that’s saying a lot for a golden!)
Also, thanks for the tethering idea as well. That’s what we’ll try if the lack of praise while peeing doesn’t work. That would be a pain, though, because she only does it once every few days. So **Paranoid Randroid **and I will go for the easiest solution first!
(If I were a good person, I would have quoted replies and responded that way. But I’m just not that good of a person. )
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