# Behavior Help with my new Rescue 1yo



## TaraMom22 (Mar 11, 2011)

We have had Molly for 10 days. She was adopted from another owner who couldn't keep her any more due to the owners serious health issues. We are thrilled to have Molly, but these first 10 days have been a handful. I could really use some help and advice.

Molly is 11+ months. She lived with 2 older dogs, but is now an only dog.

My #1 problem is that she has had a number of accidents in the house and NEVER ever lets me know she needs to go out. I do my best to take her out every couple of hours, but when she goes out she is easily distracted by any toys SO we have had problems where she has been out recently but didn't go pee since she had other things on her mind.

HOW do I teach an 11 month old to TELL me she needs to pee?

She is having separation anxiety issues. She won't even let me go to the bathroom without getting upset, so she sure isn't going to ASK to go outside and take the risk that I might let her out and not come along. We have nicknamed her Shadow since she isn't willing to be more than 3 feet from me.

SO, where do I start. I don't want to stress her out, she is already stressed enough. But I want her to ask to go outside to go pee. What do I do? How do I train her to go to the door when she has to pee?


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## Chelseanr (Oct 3, 2010)

If she is getting distracted by toys I would suggest putting them away so she won't pay any attention to them. 

Everytime she goes potty outside give her lots of praise and a few treats! 

Some dogs (like mine) won't ever tell you they need to go out but eventually you'll be able to tell, Rowan walks in circles and gets restless when he needs to go. 

Shes gone through a big change so as she gets more comfortable her clinginess will probably wear off a bit. 

I'm no expert but hope that helps :]


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## Oaklys Dad (Dec 28, 2005)

First, welcome to the forum. My suggestion would be to start from square one and take her out early and often and praise, praise, praise when she goes outside. You also may want to check with your vet to rule out a UTI. 

A basic obedience class may help with the clinginess and increase her confidence and your bond. I'm sure others will chime in with other ideas.


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## Summer's Mom (Oct 20, 2010)

You may want to consider crate training her just like a brand new puppy. Except it'll be much easier for you since her 1yo bladder can last much longer!! If you play enough crate games with her and she learns to love her crate - that can help your separation issues to if you ever have to leave her alone..

Once she goes in the crate willingly (with a stuffed Kong or a chew to keep her busy), she can rest or take a nap, and you can get her out ever 3 hours or so, straight out to pee. If she does her job outside, she gets to stay out say half an hour to play, and then back in the crate. If she doesn't pee, put her back in the crate and try again in 20 mins. Make sure there isn't enough space in the crate for her to pee and then still lay down comfortably. 

She should soon understand that pee and poop belongs outside! =) Good luck! You're going to have a blast together.

Taking an obedience class will also help with bonding and your instructor may be able to give you some tips.. Get in one as soon as you can!


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## Bender (Dec 30, 2008)

I start all the rescues that come here on crate training and housebreaking, then once they've got that down pat, start allowing some freedom in the house supervised and so on. The crate seems to help with letting them adjust to things too and keeps them safe when I'm gone out. Every dog who's come here seems to have a fit in the crate when I leave, but it's better than them freaking out in the dog run and howling the whole time like the foster who is here now did when I went across the street to drop something off. 

She may be uncertain but some alone time safe in a crate with a good chew item will help her settle and relax and not become velcro dog who eats the house when you leave her alone.:uhoh:


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## Karen519 (Aug 21, 2006)

*TarasMom*

Tarasmom

I was going to suggest crate training, too! Dogs won't mess in their crates unless they are sick.

Thank you for adopting Tara!

*Some others above have offered good training suggestions*and I googled crate training, so here is more info:
http://www.google.com/search?source...4TSNA_enUS370US370&q=hOW+TO+CRATE+TRAIN+A+DOG


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## Sally's Mom (Sep 20, 2010)

I got my "stud fee" puppy back when she was 8 1/2 months old. She had been living I believe, mostly in a kennel situation. When I picked her up, I was told "we let her out a lot." I later learned that that was code for "she's not housetrained." My dogs as pups never defecated in the house, this one did. And she wouldn't hesitate to pee in the house either. My yard is not fenced in, so initially I had to be attached to her with a leash which she was not used to. To this day at dog shows, she can be impossible about peeing on a leash. All of the rest of my dogs are taught on a leash, "go pee" "go poop" and they do. The hardest part is that she was adult dog size, but not adult dog brained. Sooo my recommendation is to treat your new dog like an 8 week old pup. Which means confining the dog to a small space when you can't attend her behavior. Have her on a schedule. If you can't watch her, use an x pen or a crate(I have gates up everywhere). Look for the signs that she is going to "go" in the house and get her out. With a young pup, anytime they wake up from sleeping, anytime they get excited, anytime they play hard, they have to pee. Assume that an older untrained dog will do the same in the same situations. I actually don't let my dogs tell me when they have to go out. I get them on a schedule, but as they get older, cut back on how frequently I take them out. Having said that, if there is urgency on their part, they will tell me they have to go out. With an 8 week old pup, you could go out to pee every hour, every 10 minutes, or every 2 hours. The key is keeping an eye on the dog in a small space where you can watch her.


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## Sally's Mom (Sep 20, 2010)

I'd also nip that shadowing you thing in the bud. Where it is flattering to be loved unconditionally, goldens can have big separation issues. You need to work on down stays and sit stays with you in her presence.. then when she is confident at those, you increase the distances and the time she does them. Eventually, you work it so that you can leave the room and she stays. Also be careful with your comings and goings and greetings. you should leave your house matter of fact and come in matter of fact. Ignore her when you walk in the door, etc.


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## RedDogs (Jan 30, 2010)

If she's getting distressed when you leave, seriously consider a consult wtih a board certified veterinary behaviorist. It's a challenging problem to deal with and the longer it goes unaddressed, the less likely you will be successful with addressing it.

Temporarily, do everything you can to be sure she's not alone and in situations where she may get distressed.

Get her food puzzle toys (kong wobbler, kibble nibble, etc), and get her LOVING those when you're present.

House training: She should NOT have full run of the house until she is h housetrained. She should be on leash/in the same room as you unless you're $100 sure she is empty. You SHOULD be going out with her every time she goes out. Idealy, reinforcing her with food after she goes. You should also keep a chart of how often you take her out and how often she goes.


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## TaraMom22 (Mar 11, 2011)

Okay - so much great advice.
We have a vet appt today with an awesome vet. I was going to wait until we saw her to buy a crate, just so I had a clue how to crate train without making Molly more anxious.

Molly isn't very motivated by food. We had to bribe her to eat when she first got here. Now she eats fine, but still doesn't seem fixated on it. Prior owner left kibble down all the time, so we are doing that too and she doesn't eat it. I was worried about her not eating enough so I now give her 2 meals each day that I make interesting with 1/5 can of food, green beans and cottage cheese added to a cup of kibble. Sometimes she only eats part of that. So, I can't put kibble in a wobbler - not interested. I do use a kong, but she won't eat it if I put it in the back yard with her when I have to go out. Once I get the crate, I am sure she would eat the kong or other treat if I was in the room near the crate, but if I am not in the room I think she would be to anxious to eat. So, is it okay to start crate training by putting the crate in my office and putting her in the crate with a kong while I am working nearby?

I will work on stay. She is super smart and wants to learn, so I know with some work she would get that. 

Another question... She will NOT go potty if I am not out in the yard with her - well for at least 10 minutes. She gets so anxious that she runs from door to door instead of doing her business. I don't really want to go out in the back yard at 6am when she wakes up, but I think I am making her more anxious about the whole thing the 2 times I put her out and watched from the window (she can't see me) until she goes pee, and then let her back in. Should I just go out with her every time (it is getting old you know).


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## Bender (Dec 30, 2008)

I would stop leaving the food out all the time. Do one or two meals, put the food down, wait 20 minutes, put the food away. You want to do training with her and have her motivated, so save the 'goodies' for that. Plain boring kibble for meals, cooked lean meat bits, cheese, dried liver and so on for training. 

If you want to 'train' her to use the kong to keep her amused, put the kibble in there, mixed with the canned food or cottage cheese, and give her that instead of the meal. Or get some raw bones for her to work on outside, she might like those better.

I don't go out with the bigger dogs to potty, and it might be good for her to be doing that herself too. Just watch to make sure she goes of course then let her in for a short time. With puppies they'll stand at the door, then run out and pee because they know I'm not letting them back in until they've gone - works well in the winter.


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## iansgran (May 29, 2010)

Yes, go out with her everytime until she is trained. Think of her as that 8 week old puppy whom you would not let out alone at 6 in the morning. One thing that also might work is take her out in the front to go potty and the back to play. That way she will associate the place with what you want her to do. And I bet you can find some food she will go nuts over, stinky cheese, real chicken, puperoni, something and use that as the reward for doing her buisness--plus lots of praise.


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## iansgran (May 29, 2010)

By the way, you might want to check out the April puppies 2010 thread. We all have pups about Molly's age and well, it is a long story and you might want to start reading at the end.


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## TaraMom22 (Mar 11, 2011)

I need to get a good picture and post it. I love seeing everybody elses cute puppies. Molly is beautiful (if I say so myself) so I want to show off what a lovely rescue doggy we lucked out to get. Though I feel really bad for the prior owner who is fighting cancer and is really sick right now, so didn't have the energy to keep up with Molly.


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## Karen519 (Aug 21, 2006)

*TaraMom*

TaraMom

If you want to post a pic of Molly and don't know how,
you can email me with her pic and say who you are and I will post her pic for you.

[email protected]


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## TaraMom22 (Mar 11, 2011)

vet visit today went great EXCEPT vet said her vulva was sort of large so she may be ready to go into heat. Ugh. We are still adapting to everything else. I wasn't so excited to hear we may get to experience our first heat ever (DH and I both had all dogs spayed before they went into heat, so this will be a new experience for both of us - one that I thought it would be nice to avoid).

So, does it sound right that prior owners said she had her first heat in November, and now she is getting ready to go into heat again? (maybe I should post this on the regular forum???)

Cross your fingers for me that it is a false alarm. If she doesn't go into heat then she will be spayed first of April, otherwise we wait 2 months.

I am just glad that she is otherwise healthy. You never know with this type of rescue if the prior owner was handing her off because of a health issue they didn't want to pay for. We will get through it all. She is healthy, happy, sweet, and smart. The rest is just the small stuff.


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## Karen519 (Aug 21, 2006)

*Tara*

TARA

I know nothing about heat at all, all of our dogs have been spayed and neutered immediately after we got them.

I would guess many on here would know.


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