# Need help with my golden retriever puppy (11 months)



## Harleysmum (Aug 19, 2014)

Hi and welcome to the forum. I think that what you need is a crate as she cannot be trusted at this stage with her own room. If you crate her whenever you have to leave her she is unlikely to soil that area. That said you need to treat her as if she was an eight week puppy and take her out every 30 minutes. You are right to ignore her when you come home and she barks and makes a fuss. Make sure that you make no eye contact with her and just go about your business in a relaxed way. Once she is quiet and calm you can call her to you and make a fuss of her. Obviously she has not been toilet trained satisfactorily but you need to take into account that she may have been through things in her short life that are not ideal. There are other people with much more experience than me who will come here and give you excellent advice. We would love to see some pictures of your girl. What is her name?


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## Leslie B (Mar 17, 2011)

Despite what you were told when you adopted her, she is obviously not housetrained at all. One of the problems with a rescue is that misinformation is common. 

Like Harleysmum states, you need a crate and you need to use it even when you are home. 2 hours in the crate and then outside to potty. Then 30 minutes of free time as long as you are watching her. Repeat all day until there are no accidents in the 30 minutes. Expand the time as long as she remains accident free. Never leave her lose when you are gone. The crate is most likely where she has spent time in her previous life so this should be a source of comfort and familiarity for her so don't feel bad for her. Think of it as a crib or a playpen for a toddler. 

Keep her off the bed and off the furniture at least for the time being. Don't let her sleep with you. That position is for the person/dog in charge of the household and you don't want her to think she is on an equal footing with you.

Start getting her some regular exercise!!! This is more than a walk for 15 minutes. Swimming is great or running. If she will retrieve a ball or a bumper that would be the best. You can stand in one place and the dog runs a mile in the 20 minutes of playing fetch. Exercise has great effect on dogs. It will help to reduce her anxiety as well as lower her energy level. It helps her to fill and then empty her bowels and bladder. It releases endorphins that relax her. It teaches her self control as she waits for the ball to be thrown. Last it helps to build a relationship between the two of you.

As far as the neighbor goes, invite him over to meet her while she is on lead. That way she knows that he is a friend. Have him come over every few days for a while and have him give her treats. She will quickly see him as a good thing and not be afraid of him. The growling is most likely fear and not aggression.

Remember that most rescue dogs are way behind in socialization. Start slow but make sure you introduce her to new things and places. Don't overload with more than one or two at a time but every week have a new experience that is positive. 

Good luck and keep us posted.


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## nolefan (Nov 6, 2009)

You've received very good advice. I am the third vote for the crate. 42 Inch wire crate from Amazon with free shipping won't set you back too much and will be worth every penny in terms of the headache/nightmare of cleaning up yucky messes. Make sure she receives a treat every time she steps foot in it. You can even hide treats in there when she isn't looking so it's like the "treat Fairy" leaves her goodies. You'll be surprised how quickly she is checking it for goodies. If she doesn't seem interested, then make the treats better (aka tiny scraps of meat leftover from your meals).

Back up with your thinking and treat her like she is a new puppy. You might even want to go to our puppy forum and read through threads on potty training and do searches on "crate training' and that sort of thing. This will be a project for you, but the more you put into it, the more you will get out of it in the long run. Would love photos and to hear what you've named her. WElcome to the forum


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## Sweet Girl (Jun 10, 2010)

nolefan said:


> *Back up with your thinking and treat her like she is a new puppy.* You might even want to go to our puppy forum and read through threads on potty training and do searches on "crate training' and that sort of thing. This will be a project for you, but the more you put into it, the more you will get out of it in the long run. Would love photos and to hear what you've named her. WElcome to the forum


 Great advice from all - and really remember this. Don't get angry at her when she has an accident - she really doesn't know where she is supposed to go. Just starts from scratch. 

I will say, the several piles of poop in such a short time suggests to me that she could be very anxious when you are out of her sight (and so her GI track is reacting). The crate will likely help. Maybe leave her something safe to chew in her crate, too. Like a big Nylabone or something. Chewing can help ease anxiety.


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## Amystelter (Jul 31, 2013)

You got some really good advise here. Good luck -


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## Mayabear (Aug 26, 2015)

Really good advice here. To reinforce, definitely treat her like a pup and maybe not pay too much heed to her "facts" considering they could be misleading. Crate sounds like it will be your best friend and will teach her a lot of things having her own room can't.

Good luck, all of what you have described sounds solvable. Keep us posted; when I got Maya, my first golden, almost a year back, I found this site to be invaluable in terms of people's real life experiences as opposed to generalities.


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## fostermom (Sep 6, 2007)

I am going to go in an entirely different direction and say it sounds to me like she has separation anxiety. Like you were doing at the beginning, when you get home, ignore her completely until she is totally calm. Then call her over and give her attention. Before you leave, change up your routine and don't do things the same way every time so she doesn't anticipate that you are getting ready to leave. When you actually aren't planning to leave, pick up your keys and go out the door and then come right back in. Sometimes walk down the sidewalk and sometimes go to your car and come back. Vary it every time. Also, start practicing Nothing in Life is Free. Give her boundaries and rules so she feels more structured and secure. I think with all that you will find her anxious behavior will stop.


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## bixx (Sep 8, 2015)

It reads like stress and territory marking. Perhaps it might be worthwhile to avoid leaving her on her own until she's had time to settle, and to have her walking with you at every opportunity possible, just to create a bond. Go through all the basic puppy commands and see what she does not know. It might be helpful to go to training. Perhaps it's a dog that needs long walks and lots of activities.. Also, Has she already come into heat (usually happens in the 9-11 month period) and has she been spayed? If she hasn't entered her heat cycle yet, maybe this also partly explains her behavior?


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## Anele (Dec 12, 2014)

I agree with Nolefan-- sounds like separation anxiety or a medical issue. My dog doesn't go poo 5 times a day unless sick-- so I don't see that as exclusively a housebreaking issue.

I went out with my friend last night who happens to be a vet. We were talking about a friend's dog who has separation anxiety. My friend suggested something I've never heard-- she said for a dog with SA you want them to learn to bond with MANY people. Socialize the heck out of them so they are not so focused on "you." Of course, since your girl is new I would take it very slowly at this point but something to consider. My friend also said she sees SA more in dogs who need more exercise (physical and mental). And, of course, sometimes they also need meds, but that is down the line after other options have been exhausted and with a vet behaviorist. Your dog may settle down on her own after she's grown to trust you.


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## Swampcollie (Sep 6, 2007)

nprice1203 said:


> I recently adopted a goldy puppy from a rescue. I was told that she was very calm mannored and fully house broken. Since we have gotten her, no matter how long we leave her, even if it's 10 minutes to run to the gas station when we come home she constantly barks and whines for attention for about thirty minutes. We have tried to not encourage the barking by ignoring her until she stops, but everyday its the same thing. Barking wouldn't be the biggest issue if it wasn't for the neighbors. The biggest problem we have currently is the re-occuring accidents she has in the home. Before we leave we always take her outside, and make sure she does both and leave her outside for a while longer to make sure she is done, but she still has accidents in the time that we are gone, and not little accidents, like five piles of poop accidents. She has her own room, that she is baby gated into when we are gone, so she is quite comfortable with toys, food, water, and a bed. Today when I woke up I took her outside for a walk for 30 minutes, she did her buisness, both, and I brought her inside gave her a treat and hopped in the shower. When I got out of the shower there was three piles of poop in my room waiting for me. Just now I took her outside, and thirty minutes later she jumps on my bed looks right at me and pees. I don't know what else to do. She also growls at my neighbor, even though he has never touched her. She is up to date on her shots and dewormed. Ihave checked her stools for worms, thinking that was the issue and I did not see any. Any advice? Thank you!


Whoa, relax, slow down a bit and take a breath.

The rescue group you obtained the pup from kind of dropped the ball when it came to teaching you what to expect when you brought the pup home. Even fully trained adult dogs go through a period of adjustment when they go to a new home (and you're dealing with a puppy).

Look at it from the dogs perspective. You've been snatched up, removed from the surroundings you're familiar with, by people you don't know, and dropped into new surroundings in a new location, with new rules to follow. Then on top of it, you get left alone in that new environment and are expected to know all the rules of that new environment when you haven't been taught them yet. You may as well have been taken by aliens and dropped off on another planet and be expected to know all the local rules and customs. You would be thinking this isn't fair, and it isn't.

When you re-home a pup (and yours is still a puppy) you're going to have to re-visit all of the steps of basic training including housebreaking. Things will go faster than they would with an eight week old puppy, but you're still going to have to go through the process so your dog can relate those commands and rules it learned in its previous home, to you and the new environment it now resides in. 


I'm working on the same issues right now with a dog I co-own. He came to live with me in December but the rules and expectations of my home are different the home he came from. It would be completely unfair for me to demand that he uphold my standards without first teaching him what my standards are.


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