Please Help with Puppy Behavior

[kisstina272]

My husband and I have a 4 month old rottie named Puppie. We can't do anything right with him or at least it seems this way. He only goes to the bathroom in the house, we take him out and it's almost like he holds it so he can go when we go back in. Then as we are cleaning up his mess he watches then goes right in front of us and runs. Puppie chews almost everything he loves to eat clothes and socks he even ate our coffee table. He doesn't listen to anything we say he jumps on everyone who walks in the door and chews on them and does not hear stop he ignores us. And there is always more. I am at wits end and don't know what to do. Please help.

[RottiMomCT]

Where did Puppie come from?? Breeder? Rescue group?? Shelter?? pet Store?

Has Puppie been to classes with you? If not, sign up yesterday - he is in need of LOTS of training.

When you take Puppie out for potty - how long are you outside?? Does he GO when out there?? Stay outside for as long as it takes for him to pee and poop - might be up to 1/2 hour or more...pups don't run on YOUR schedule

If you cannot supervise Puppie 100% when he is awake, invest in a crate for those times when YOU need a break from being a dog owner.

If he jumps on people, PUT A LEASH ON HIM and do not allow him to greet people unless he is CALM. If he cannot be calm, he gets put into the crate.

Is he neutered?? How much exercise does he get daily? How much research did you do before bringing Puppie home??

If you can no longer deal with the mess or his lack of training, please consider contacting a rescue group to rehome him.

[sarahd]

Crate! If you don't have one...get one ASAP! Sounds to me like he is having a blast toying with you humans...no offense! Have you read up on potty training, basic obedience, etc? Use the search on here and you will find a lot of info...its easy to use and there is so much info on here from previous posts.

Definitely get him in to formal obedience classes. Keep a leash on him when ever he is out of the crate so that he can not sneak away and go pee somewhere. You are going to need to work with him and be consistent to get him on track.

Best of luck with Puppie.

[Judi W]

for starters:
http://www.rottweiler.net/forums/sho...oilet+training

[kisstina272]

When Puppie is in his crate he whines bad.(Are all rotties whiners?) My husband doesn't like to put him in the crate. When he is in his crate unattended he goes to the bathroom and rolls around in it.
I could never get rid of him he is family, I just get frustrated and don't know what to do with him. Sometimes we'll have him out for hours and he won't go potty but as soon as we walk in the door he goes and goes and goes.
We def need to keep him in classes but he wants to play with other dogs.

[carolynnl4]

They stop whining if they realize it's not going to get them what they want.

It sounds like his crate is too big if he can roll around in it.

Why would you get rid of him? It's your responsibility to train him, and it sounds like thus far, you haven't really thought of yourself as a leader. Your dog is manipulating the heck out of you to get you to do what he wants. Don't yield to the cuteness!

So what if he wants to play in class? Mine did too. Lunged, yelped, cried, whimpered... First I distracted her with commands, then commands followed by a treat, then knock it off, then a correction. With all those options, SOMETHING is going to work. And then, of course, there's always private training.

[moondog]

It sounds like you have no real interest in or commitment to raising a puppy. Puppies require supervision, redirection, interaction, compassion, and patience, and lots of each. They do not come programmed to fit into your life, you have to help them learn the ropes. Start reading and learning, and for heaven's sake, get your puppy into obedience classes.

[kisstina272]

If I had no interest in my puppy then I would not be searching for help. No I don't have 24 hours a day to spend with him but I spend most of the day with him and we take him with us almost everywhere we go. Everything is easier said then done. I was just searching for help I thought maybe coming here would help me in the right direction.

[RottyMom]

Originally Posted by kisstina272

When Puppie is in his crate he whines bad.(Are all rotties whiners?) My husband doesn't like to put him in the crate. When he is in his crate unattended he goes to the bathroom and rolls around in it.
I could never get rid of him he is family, I just get frustrated and don't know what to do with him. Sometimes we'll have him out for hours and he won't go potty but as soon as we walk in the door he goes and goes and goes.
We def need to keep him in classes but he wants to play with other dogs.

It's good to crate train. Do a search there's lots of information on this forum about crate training. Where did you get him from? Most dogs will not go to the bathroom where they sleep. Maybe you need to use a divider and make the space in his kennel smaller. He would not be able to get into so many things if you were directly supervising him so I don't really understand that part. As for wanting to play in training class your trainer should be teaching you how to keep his attention on you.

Have you ever had dogs before? It sounds like you are really inexperienced and need help. Do not give up on the classes...infact you should probably expect to be in formal classes for at least three years.

[sarahd]

Originally Posted by kisstina272

When Puppie is in his crate he whines bad.(Are all rotties whiners?) My husband doesn't like to put him in the crate. When he is in his crate unattended he goes to the bathroom and rolls around in it.
I could never get rid of him he is family, I just get frustrated and don't know what to do with him. Sometimes we'll have him out for hours and he won't go potty but as soon as we walk in the door he goes and goes and goes.
We def need to keep him in classes but he wants to play with other dogs.

Why doesn't your husband like to put him in the crate? A lot of people think its mean but it really is not...do a search on crates and you will see that there is a lot of backup on the positive sides of using crates. It is a whole lot better than him getting into trouble, thats for sure! If he is peeing in the crate and then rolling in it the crate is probably too big. They usually will not soil their "den" but having said that if he doesn't spend much time in there then he probably does not think of it as his "den". Whining...ignore it...if they figure out that when they whine you let them out then they will keep doing it. What ever works to get their way right?!

As far as peeing when you get in goes, make sure you are giving him a chance to actually go pee before you go in. If he has been busy running around he might have forgotten to go because he was too busy having fun! Also work on giving a command to pee. I tell Kyla, "go pee" and she will go within a few seconds of me saying that (my brother uses "get busy"). I did not get her until she was already over a year old so its not too late to train to do this. Just take him outside and say it when you think he is ready to go...as soon as he starts to go then say it again and then praise praise praise!! He will catch on that it is a good thing to do when you tell him to...and it gets him good attention rather than angry attention!!

[moondog]

Then maybe it's time to start learning. If you want to raise a good dog, you have to put quality time into the relationship, and that is much more than simply being in the same house x number of hours a day. Judi gave you the link to an excellent post on potty training and you didn't even acknowledge it - did you read it? Another person said to go to training class, and you said "I def need to, but he wants to play with the dogs."

A large pile of but, but, but......won't get your puppy raised.

[carolynnl4]

Originally Posted by kisstina272

If I had no interest in my puppy then I would not be searching for help. No I don't have 24 hours a day to spend with him but I spend most of the day with him and we take him with us almost everywhere we go. Everything is easier said then done. I was just searching for help I thought maybe coming here would help me in the right direction.

Please don't take our advice the wrong way. It may be easier said than done, but we've DONE it. You haven't, and you're giving us excuses about why you haven't. And no one here has 24 hours a day to spend with their dog. My dogs are lucky if they get 5 hours of my time a day. (10 hours away from the house because of work, 8 hours of sleep, leaves only 6 hours of leisure time in my day.) If you just grit your teeth and do "it", life with your puppy will be a lot easier.

"It" can include anything from getting your dog to training classes and practicing in 10 minute increments at home to leaving him in the crate when he's whining.

[brunie's mom]

You have been given some good advice.
It seems like you need the training more then the puppy.

Start at the beginning with him again...just like a puppy coming home from the breeder. Take your puppy out on a leash with you outside, every hour on the hour during the day. Take your pup out with you, after he eats, drinks, wakes up from a nap, or has been playing. Take him out to the same spot and give a command something like "go potty" or "go pee" or "hurry up"...whatever you want to say. Then just stand around holding the leash...no fun, no playing...no nothing till you have some pee or poop. Once it's done...PRAISE...PRAISE....PRAISE....with a high gentle voice. Make him think he has just won first place at the dog show. Give a treat also. Have your pockets full of treats and give everytime the dog goes.

If he does not go outside...then pop him back into the crate. I would suggest you make his crate smaller and start feeding him in his crate. He may have more respect for the crate. Feed him 3 times a day...do not leave his food out all of the time. Free fed dogs have a harder time being housetrained.

I also would not let him see you clean up his messes. Buy some enzyme cleaner like Nature's Miracle and clean everything thoroughly with it...so he will not want to go back to the same spot.
If he does make a mess inside....take some of the papertowel you have cleaned up with and put it outside where you want him to go. He may realize that this is the spot.

Rottweiler puppies are usually very clean and most are housetrained by 4 months. Do not give him a chance to wander around and pee in the house. If you cannot watch him put him in the crate, if you want him out with you, attach a leash to him and put the leash around your waist.

You do need alot of patience....but it should not take too long for him to catch on.

Gina

[scooterjohansen]

If you continue to strive to learn and have your pups interests at heart it will all work out.

[fostermom]

Brunie's mom gave excellent advice on housetraining....my adult rott was not housetrained when I adopted him and he was leashed to me constantly until he "got it"....that way you can catch immediately any attempts to "go" in the house....praise like crazy when outside and he goes. Try taking him to the same spot to potty...that way he learns that when he is in that spot, he must potty and it's not playtime. Leashing him to you at all times allows you to monitor and correct his behavior IMMEDIATELY...I've done this with all my new fosters and they quickly learn what is appropriate behavior in my home without being able to get away with any bad behaviors, whether that be chasing a cat, jumping on furniture, checking out countertops, chewing, jumping on people, peeing in house, etc. Again, praise, praise, praise good behavior!!!
Also, when crated, do NOT let him out of crate when he is whining....only when he is quite...that way he will learn that whining does not get him out of the crate. Also, how long is he crated?? A pup cannot "hold" it for long..there are numerous threads on how long to crate a puppy at various ages.
Getting a puppy past the learning curve so that he understands good behavior (after all, right now he doesn't know that what he is doing is inappropriate) is HARD work...that is why I only adopt adult dogs!!!! Coming to this forum will help you though.....good luck with your guy.