# Breaking Bad Habits



## shel6270 (May 18, 2008)

Hi, adopted a 2-year old Golden Retriever a couple of months ago. He has had a rough life I think. He has a few bad habits I need to see if I can break... any advice would be great! 

I feel that he might be sort of claustrophobic. I feel he was somewhat abused in his early years... He will not go into narrow areas. The main thing that bothers me right now is that he picks up a mouthful of his dog food out of his bowl from the kitchen and carries it to the carpet where we walk on dog food all day long and then tries to eat what he can hold in his mouth. By then he has a trail of food all over the place. This is getting very annoying!!!:bowl:

Second problem... he is a very good dog and is trained very well in being house broken and going potty outside. But ocaissonally he has a problem that I can not seem to figure out. I would take him outside of a morning first thing, he would do his thing, and come running back to the door and I let him back in. I would then run and get in the shower, come out of the bathroom and smell and see "crap" next to the door that he goes out to potty. This all happens within 15 minutes of him going outside in the first place. Why didn't he do all of his business 20 minutes prior? He always lets me know when he is ready to come back in the house so I do not understand why he does that.

Any help would be appreciated!

Shelly


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## Jersey's Mom (Nov 25, 2007)

I'm sure you'll get much better answers from those who are more experienced, but here's my best shot:

1) I'm not sure from your post if your dog is free feeding or eating on a set schedule. I personally prefer a set schedule, and in your case I would feed the dog in his crate (I'm assuming he has one... if not then this suggestion isn't going to help you at all... I'm not sure if you'd even be able to get him into one with his fear of tight spaces, but if you're interested there's tons of advice on this board on how to get a dog to like his crate). If you don't have one, consider baby gating him into one room. 

2) Try reworking your schedule a little. Instead of a quick stop out to pee first thing in the morning, try making it a 15-20 minute walk. That should allow him to do ALL his business, and allow you to shower without finding a "present" afterwards. If the problem persists even after that point, it's possible that from some trauma in his past the sound of the shower (or some other silly thing) is actually frightening him. I'm not sure what the best way to handle that is, but I'm sure someone could help you if that turns out to be the case.

Good luck with your pup... I'm sure that over time living with you and experiencing the love you have to offer he will begin to come out of his shell and be a more confident and trusting dog. I have lots of respect for those who take on rescues. Welcome to the forum!

Julie and Jersey


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## RileyStar (Mar 24, 2008)

Ya know, Caesar Millian tries to say that dogs live in the moment, and don't remember their pasts. I have to disagree, I rescued a pound puppy who had been abused and for the next 3 years she would shutter when you would go to pet her on the head. That has stopped now. 

I'm not a trainer or anything, but just a thought...

When you feed him, maybe try acting like you're eating it too? Kneel down and make eating noises and perhaps he will try to eat it before you get it. If you don't mind me asking what are you feeding him? Maybe a switch of food might help? Also maybe he won't take it out of the room if you mix some water in it, but if he does then you'll have a bigger mess! Maybe I just don't understand because my dogs canvas the floors for any SPEC of food they can find! So before I mop I let the pups in to sweep! LOL

As far as the narrow places a few of the trainers here gave me a suggestion that I'll pass along:

Get him on a leash and walk briskly thru the narrow spot, making this whole thing very positive. Tell him good boy and every time he walks thru the spot with no problems give him a treat. This might take numerous times so don't get frustrated, and hopefully with time he will associate the narrow places with treats and positive experiences.

As far as the poopie problem, I can't really give any suggestions. I've heard that if you try to take your dog out to go potty and they don't go but then they go 30 seconds after you let them in, that you just need to start taking them out bring them in and then put them back out 30 seconds later and repeat until they go. Maybe try to feed him at the same times everyday so he will poopie around the same times and you can assign a command for going potty ours is "Hurry Up" the pup will understand the command pretty quickly if everytime you see him go, and say "Good boy, hurry up" 

I think my neighbors think I'm pretty weird I stand out in the backyard at 12 am saying "Hurry Up" and pointing to the ground 

Hope this helps, and good luck with your little boy!


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## Debles (Sep 6, 2007)

Jersey's Mom gave you great advice!!

Obviously, in the past, he was not safe eating at his bowl. felt he had to move elsewhere in order to eat safely. The gate idea is great. Maybe over time he will feel safer.

The longer time outside and walk is a great idea for him to have time to do his business. Obviously he didn't have to poop right after he peed and thought it was time to come in! My dogs need alittle exercise to poop. The short walk should do the trick!


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## shel6270 (May 18, 2008)

Thanks for the great advice! My husband and I were just talking about maybe feeding him outside at a certain time and putting him on a schedule. I don't have a crate at this point so, I will have to improvise. The only problem I have with feeding him outside is that everytime it rains, he likes to find every single mud puddle and gets nasty. I had to bathe him like 3 times this past week. He is such a lovable dog, I can't understand why someone treated him badly while he was a pup. When I first brought him home, I set his dog bowl in the kitchen on the floor. There is a barrier between the wall and where the kitchen counter bar extends out to the dining area. There, is where the carpet and the tile meet. Buddy would not cross over the carpet and enter the kitchen on the tile to get to his food. He would whine, pace and move back and forth on the carpet like he was afraid to enter. I do know that the previous owner had just laid new carpet down in a certain room and he was not allowed in that room at all. I feel he must have been really mistreated in his short 2 years so far previous to us getting him. He flinches, you can't make any certain moves, it scares him... but yet he loves you and greets you at the door so happy to see you.


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## laprincessa (Mar 24, 2008)

This just breaks my heart and I wish you the best with helping him out. 
And I'm glad we have no close neighbors, I take Max out and tell him to do the poopoos, and he does. Who says they don't understand English?


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## BeauShel (May 20, 2007)

I wanted to say welcome bless you for rescuing that sweet boy. It does sound like he has had some major problems in his past but hopefully with time they will lessen with love and is confidence getting better. 
I agree with Jerseys mom and going for a walk or staying outside for alittle longer in the mornings. Bama hasnt pottied on the floor but always seemed to want out again after coming out for his morning pee and then goes potty. Now I get up and take them all out and get some tennis balls and throw them for him around the yard and he goes running for them. After about 5 minutes he then goes potty. And I come back in and fix breakfast for the kitties, come online for a few minutes and after he has chilled out then I fix the pups their breakfast. Maybe a longer time outside will help him.


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