Toileting Help Needed!

[Sammie Dunn]

Hi all,

Didn't know which section to post this thread in so I posted it in Chit Chat.
I have been taking my puppy Coco out in all weather as you are meant to do. However, this morning it was sunny as anything so Coco was more than happy to go out. But this afternoon the heavens opened and it was a down pour. Unfortunatly, I had to take Coco out then to keep in with his schedule. He decided that he didn't want to go out. He was trying to run back to the car and hide under trees where it was dry. No matter what I do he doesn't go on command so I stay outside in the rain with him until he goes.

Does anyone else have this problem? If so, how did you overcome it???

 

[Dlilly]

I don't have this problem.... This probably won't be too helpful, but who knows. Maybe you can hold an umbrella over him? Or, maybe you could find a spot where you are covered by trees and it is dry?

Sorry my advice isn't so great.

 

[Sammie Dunn]

Hi Dlilly,
I have tried the umbrella but he just tries to jump up to chew it haha I thought that that might have worked though so I was shocked and upset when it never... :/ As for an area covered by trees, I live in the city centre and the nearest park, although it is a 5 minute walk is not too great as there are only the odd one or 2 tree
Thanks anyway though. x

 

[running_dog]

What about a coat for him? If it is really pouring with rain the drops actually hurt a thin skinned dog.

Zac loves his rain coat, and his warm coat, and his buoyancy aid, and his dressing gown... . Some dogs hate coats though so you'd just have to try one and see, a good pet shop would let you try one on him in the shop and see whether he looked comfortable. The best rain coat I had for Zac was cut down from and old mac of mine, most coats are insulated and this can make them a bit too warm for active dogs, that said I've never felt too warm wearing a coat in a genuine Scottish downpour .

 

[Sammie Dunn]

Haha I know Only problem with Scotland is the rain. Luckily today though it is bright and sunny
I will go into the pet shop and try a coat. I have never seen a Staffy cross wearing a coat. People can't tell he is crossed. However, his jaw and head aren't as wide and he is almost as tall as a fully grown staffy and he is only 5 months!

Another problem I am beginning to have is him mounting people and other dogs in the park :/ Do you know how to overcome these. We don't want to get him neutured just yet as we want him to have a litter with my brother's staffy when he is around 8 months - 1 year... Any help on preventing it would help! xx

 

[running_dog]

I this problem might be because Coco is getting over excited at the whole idea of action after so long when he couldn't move around, Also he's missed out on really important socialisation. Also he's not sorted out that people aren't dogs and he's meeting dogs that like to mount and that let him mount them.

Mounting behaviour is often increased by neutering.

What stopped Zac was his first attempt to mount the other lurcher we had when he was a pup. She went ballistic! Zac now goes ballistic any time a dog tries to mount him .

Working on the idea that with Coco it has at least a little to do with over excitement... Does a good loud sharp "HI!" shock him? You might be able to just use that to startle him out of mounting. What about letting him play and say hello briefly then taking him away before the problems start? What about limiting Coco's play to dogs which he'll play with acceptably? I have to do this with Zac. With people what about sit to greet? And again don't let him get too excited? Or give him a different way to express himself when he is excited? It isn't a problem that will just go away but it IS possible to train him not to behave like this.

I'm sure lots of other people will have better ideas.

 

[Sammie Dunn]

Thank you. I will try some of these things. Yes I was thinking that the cage might have something to do with this as it was a long period for a puppy. :/ There are some dogs he won't even attempt to mount so I can try with them first and then try with some friend's dogs that he does want to mount.
As for people I will tell them to try and do that and try to get his attention on a toy maybe. I even have considered buying him a large dog teddy to take his sexual frustration out on but I think that that might make him mount dogs more :/ But I'm not sure.

 

[running_dog]

I don't think this is sexual frustration, any encouragement will make him worse. Dogs really don't need to mount each other all the time. At the moment what he needs is a dog like Zac to thoroughly tell him off! Then he'd start to learn that there are limits and you can follow up and show him that it isn't acceptable with the other dogs and people too. It might be a long job because some dogs only learn this one dog at a time.

Zac doesn't mount but he does get excited and bully other dogs (runs alongside and growls and barks in their faces) with these dogs at first I had to keep him leashed all the time (any interest was checked with an explosive "Spaniel! pack it in"), then off leash but close ("leave it, spaniel"), then off leash but if he goes to play it's a warning "steady, leave it" and if he persisted and explosive "No! Spaniel!" I still make sure he meets these dogs at a walking pace and if I release him from heel it's with a warning to "steady" and any trouble and it's "HI! Pack it in!" and straight back on leash if necessary. On a good day he sees spaniels coming and comes back to me straight away, I've seen spaniels come up and pester him to play and he turns his head away and walks off... on a bad day... well... the less said the better!

 

[Dodge]

why do you want to breed from him
I know pups are utterly adorably cute,but the one reason I had Dodge's fury plums off was to never add to more heartache for any doggies that will no doubt find bad owners somewhere along the line,through no fault of your own,just that some people will get bored of them once pups are not pups no more,all of a sudden there are full adult dogs that will need so much more than most people are prepared to give to a dog . . . . sorry,just my oppinion

Mounting will not stop or get worse when neutered,its not always a sexual thing,its showing dominance. Tell the humans to turn and make like a AH AH kind of noise,the more boring and unpleasent experience humans will make it,the better,jumping around sounding all embarressed and "Oh NOOO,so sorry OOOh nOOO stop IT!!!" will not teach him to stop it,it will turn it into a fab game for him,and quite frankly,the dogs will tell each other when to get off

Anyway,for the rain,Dodge used to hate it real bad,he would hold his wee untill 3 o clock in the afternoon,snoozing the rain away
I got a coat for him,put wellies on and jumped from puddle to puddle and made it the biggest fun ever he s ok now,not overly excited to go out in it,but not that badly bothered and if it means a run at the park . . .well,no trouble whatsoever
Good luck with the rain,and please rethink breeding more pups even though he s a right goregeous little cutie pie

 

[goingnowhere]

could you maybe attempt to condition him to like (or at least tolerate) the rain? I imagine you could do it just like you'd condition a dog to like nail trims, or their crate, or loud noises. I had my first foster puppy over the fourth of July weekend and we spent the evening playing fetch and keep away in the backyard so he would learn to associate the noises with lots of exciting things. Your dog already has an aversion to rain, so it will take a little longer, but unless he is literally terrified of raindrops, I don't think it will be hard to desensitize him. If he loves going for walks, you could take him out on walks when it's a little drizzly out because he might be excited enough about getting out to see the other side of the fence to care about the rain. For really heavy downpours, yes, a coat would be a good idea, but for light drizzles or otherwise not heavy rain, I would imagine that he can learn to like it just fine. Once he's decided that the rain isn't so terrible, then you can stand under your umbrella while he frolics.

 

[Sammie Dunn]

Coats are not working with Coco, he doesn't like them and will still not move. He actually moves more without the coat. I tried holding my umbrella over him and this didn't work either. Dodge, like I said on the other thread, I will NOT put wellies on him as I feel that this is a form of cruelty as dogs are not meant to wear shoes! And I am also breeding him once because my close family and friends are all interested in getting puppies and I know for a fact that they will not be abusive or give him/her away. They have all had dogs before of the same breed, different ages and even when they got ill and such they never gave them away or sold them on. I know you are just telling me your opinion but I have decided that Coco is able to have 1 batch of pups with my brothers female staffy and that is that. After that batch he will be neutured.

 

[running_dog]

I think the wellies were for you Sammie - while you jumped in all the puddles!

So Coco is one of the dogs that hate coats, what a nuisance. We had one like that.

Here's a few more random ideas then. Could you try playing with him in the shower or with a sprinkler so he can run in and out of the wet for treats? Or in and out of the house door while it's raining? What about taking him out for a few seconds and then gradually extending the time in the rain (forget about toileting for now) until he's happier in the rain? Make drying him off at home a super fun game? Give him a special treat that he only gets when he's out in the rain (some of tx's liver cookies?).

 

[Dodge]

just to clarify again for other members reading this,the wellies ARE NOT FOR THE DOG
Running dog got it first time I think

 

[running_dog]

Running dog got it first time I think

I've got a non-park compatible dog so I've done so many long all weather, all terrain walks, in leaking shoes, wet to the skin, mud to the waist, chilled to the marrow that the wellies were self explanatory. Dog walking in the rain reminds me of a corny song that begins along the lines of,

"If it wis na' for yer wellies, where would ye be,
ye'd be in the hospital or infirmary..."

Okay mega thread derail over, back to dogs and rain now...

 

[GeorgiPeorgi]

The best thing is to keep your dog happy when he is out in the rain, Try with his fav Toy play with him, show him that you can still have fun in the rain!!! and he should soon forget about the rain and not be botherd by it =D This is what we did with our puppy he hated the rain too used to cry! Bless him but he is not botherd anymore and once he over comes his hate for rain he should go Toilet without a problem. Hope this is helfull for you