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This section is answered by
The dog
behavourist, JOSIAH GAN
Question submitted by Naomi Leatham, Oxford
UK 
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I have two British Bulldogs a boy and a girl, aged 3
and 1. Since some time they are urinating in the basket and on their blankets, this happens almost everyday. I have not changed any way of handling them or changed the routines. Please help as this is unbearable. I am washing the basket everytime and wash the blankets and spray antiodour on top nothing seem to help? |
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Considering the age of your bullies, the bad news is that they have already
cultivated this bad habit. But, hang on.. they can still be trained of
cause alot harder since they are no longer puppies. You will need alot of
patience & to stay very firm in carrying out your housetraining
techniques. I think the main problem in housetraining is that owners think they have made things very clear to their dogs what is expected but the dogs are obviously confused and have picked up this bad habit. It is important for you to start from the beginning. Pretend like he has never been house trained and start consistently training where you want them to go. I will break up the tactics into 2 sections. 1st -Correction & 2nd - Prevention. 1) -Correction a) The KEY to correcting this behavior is catching your dog in the act. Not 5 seconds later but actually while your dog is relieving itself. The best way that I have found to correct this type of behavior is to startle your dog by loudly saying "AAHHH", growl as your dog is doing it, squirting it with a water pistol or shaking a pebble/coins filled can, when you catch your dog in the act. b)Soak up the puddle or pick up the waste with a sheet of newspaper. Place the solid wastes or the soaked paper wherever you want their bathroom spot to be. This will give your dog a place it can return to that is marked with its own scent and therefore safe to use as a bathroom. (keep in mind that dogs mark their territory and therefore claim their dominance as they eliminate, if another dog has been where you want your dog to go, your dog will only go there if it is of a dominant disposition and wish to challenge the opposing 'dog'.) Take your dog out every hour on the hour (when possible) to that place where you have placed its waste. Introduce the command " PEE PEE / SHH SHH / TOILET" (This command is handy, as your dog quickly associates your voice command with the act of eliminating.) As soon as it does it, still keep repeating the command untill the last drop, give it a loud & high pitch jovial praise " GOOD DOG!! with lots of pettings, hugs and reward it with his favourite treats. Remember! You want to make him feel that you are so pleased & proud of him as if he has found you a pot of gold! 2) Prevention a) Remove the whole basket and blankets totally. (Those are just their toilets now) b) Replace with a crate (for each dog) that is just big enough for him to lie down & sleep comfortably but not to move around. (Too big a crate will meand spare room to pee!) c) Stop all water supply at least 3 to 4 hours before sleep. Bring them to their toilet spot for the last pee before you keep them in the crate. (At this age, they should be able to control their bladder till next morning.) For the first few nights, there will bound to be whines & barks, but like i said..you must be firm! Just shake the pebble/coins filled can (make sure its loud & only once) & say in a very loud but low tone " QUIET! / ENOUGH! or whatever command you used in the past to shut them up. d) Lead them to their toilet the first thing in the morning and give the command pee. (Follow Section 1 tactic) It is really just all about actually catching your dog in the act and redirecting it to where you want it to be. This can be time consuming I know and some dogs and puppies will pick it up faster than others. Its just all about consistency and practice. If the odour eliminator does not really help, try mixing 1/3 of vinegar with 2/3 of water and spray on the spot after you have cleaned up the mess and leave it to air dry. Question submitted by Abriel |
| Do dogs bear grudges with another dog? My dog, Amos simply can't get along with the other, Benji which i have just adopted from my friend. Amos would deprived poor Benji of any toys and treats. Amos would growl at Benji if the latter would to near him and as I am worried that Amos might just bite Benji, I resort to muzzle him at home. But, I wonder if this is a long term solution. Please help. |
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All packs have an
order: what we had termed as the packing order. The highest rank is the
Alpha, with the lowest as Omega. Growling doesnt mean aggression, contrary to common belief, it is an essential part of canine communication. Amos is in the pack before Benji, therefore assumes the higher rank in the packing order, he has a right to protect his resources (i.e. toys & treats); Benji is deemed as a potential threat (i.e. a potential usurper of existing resource). In growling, Amos is warning Benji to stay away from his resource. To adopt a new dog with an existing dog in the household, you must be absolutely certain about your position in the packing order: only the Alpha can accept a new dog into a pack. To determine if you are the Alpha, you need be sure that you own everything in the house (i.e. den) in an absolute manner: i.e. the dogs does not own anything, you own his/her toys, treats and food; these are resources to the pack, and controlled and allocated accordingly by the Alpha. It is absolutely impractical and inhumane to keep your dog muzzle for a long period of time, as it will affect the health and well-being of the dog. Best way is to keep your pair supervised until you can sort out your packing order. If you cannot keep them supervised, seek out the services of a day-care or a dog walker. Question submitted by Dryip |
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What
can I expect from a 5 month bulldog puppy? Should he be housetrained yet?My pup still urinate on the carpet in the living room.I have tried to scold or look upset but he still does it. He also urinate in his crate and his sleeping box which is cushioned.I heard that dogs dont urinate where they sleep but mine does.any suggestion on this?Whats the best way to train him to urinate where I want him to? (which is the yard or bathroom which he always has access to). |
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Do you cut off all his water supply at lest 4 hours before sleep? This is help to lessen his urination at night during sleep. Puppy usually pee once it wake up from sleep thus it is important that u empty his bowel right before & after sleep. Lead him to the place that you want him to pee & keep repeating the comand to pee eg: pee pee, shh shh, toilet..etc until he does it. Once he is done, immediately shower him with lots of praises & give him a treat. Then lead him back in the house & play a short while to make him feel happy & bright. This is to let him associate with treat, play & praises will only come if he pee the the right place. I advise that you do not introduce him any bed at this moment as it will only means extra cleaning work & this bad peeing habit will just continue. Let him sleep in a dog pen with a pee tray layed with urine absorbant pad added with drops of puppy trainer (available in pet shops) to stimulate him to pee on the pad. U can put his toys or chew stuffs inside the pen to make him want to stay inside & rest. Ensure that you remove all the urine odour in the wrong places that he has urinated before with an odour eliminator (available in pet shops) to prevent him from picking up the old odour & urinate at the same wrong spot again. Questions submitted byBelinda. |
| How do I correct my dog from nipping at my visitor's feet from the back? |
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It seems
your dog has a natural herding instinct. This is a natural
behavior with especially the shepherd breeds; for some it is more
pronounce than others. A shepherd dog or a cattle herding dog will round up the stock at farm or a ranch, and will use nipping to control any stock animals from straying. To control this behavior, it is important that your dog is proficient and reliable in obedience; particularly the stays exercise. Before your guest enters the house, put your dog on a down stay. Invite your guest in, only when your guest settles in a resting place (e.g. settled in your couch), you can release the dog from his/her down command. When your guest is ready to move around again, put your dog in the down position. |
| My dog would not eat by himself from the bowl, I have tried being more stubborn than him for 2 days, refusing to feed him by hand. He will just walk away or sit there not eating. |
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In the wild,
dog packs can survive for about 2-3 weeks without food. It is
important that you teach your dogs to eat off the bowl and not off your
hand, lest you become the foodsource, and he/she will guard you as such
instead of respecting you as a pack leader (i.e. he/she may become
aggressive with other dogs approaching you). Set a time limit when
you put the food down to the time it is removed, usually 15mins.
If your dog doesnt take the food, remove the bowl after 15mins. No
treats or in-between meals until the next meal time. It is a
battle of the will here, you need to have a stronger will than your dog,
some dogs will go hungry for a week before they change their routine.
You just need to be consistent . It also helps to have a bit of
competition, a 2-3 dogs household usually have less feeding problem than
a 1 dog household. However, you can also leave your dog with a dog
day-care centre with a program with strict lunch routine. It is also important that you ensure that it is not because of medical problem the dog has with the neck; it is always good if you can raise the feeding platform. Questions submitted by Jane Wong. |
| Why my dog licks her paws all the time & how can I stop her? |
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Usually
when dogs becomes bored or stressed, they developed some habits to
keep themselves occupied or calm themselves. Licking of paws is one of these habits. You will want to, however, ascertain that it is not a medical condition. Check for cuts or bruises on the area where she is licking. It can also be due to parasitic infection, check with your vets for advice. If the licking is due a habit, the way to stop it is to break the pattern: i.e. keep your dog active. There are many ways to do it, we believe is to let her attend a day-care centre with activities planned. |
| Why my dog ran away from home twice? |
When a
dog decides to run away from home, it is usually the following
reason:
It is also important that you introduce your dog to obedience training. The point of obedience training is to teach the dog to always pay attention to you as a pack-leader, when the dog acknowledges and respect you as the pack leader, he will never run away. The natural instinct of survival of dogs is to belong in the security of a pack under a strong leader. |
| Why my female dog only hums at my son's leg but not myself or my daughter's leg? |
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The
behavior of mounting another dog usually have very little to do with
sexual. To the dog, all humans are members of the pack, and in a pack, there are clear hierarchy (we term the top ranking dog as Alpha and the lowest ranking dog as Omega); all dogs will want to rise to the rank of Alpha (where the control of the food and resources are in the pack). To mount another dog (can be a human) is to exert dominance over the other dog, thereby raising themselves up the rank. Therefore, in this situation, I can guess that your son would probably be younger than your daughter or probably not home as often as your daughter. In any dog household it is important to let the dog understand that he/she is ALWAYS Omega, to have better management at home. |
| Why my dog wee on the newspaper but poo elsewhere? |
| Dogs will
always seek the most absorbent ground to urinate; but it is
unnecessary for them to see an absorbent ground to defecate. The
dog can be taught to go to a toileting spot, however. It could also be
due to your not changing of the urine soiled newspaper that
deters the dogs to step onto it to defecate. Thus, pls also ensure
that you change your newspaper immediately once they pee on it. |
| Why my dog doesn't allow other dogs to go near her? |
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When a dog
is not exposed or socialized from young with other dogs; it is
normal for them to be develop fear and aggression towards other
dogs; it will be worse if they are a high-ranking member of the
pack. In dogs world of etiquette, there are no mannerism and proper ways for greetings like the human worlds; all dogs need to be taught, just like a human child needs to be educated. The dog has a tougher job than most human, they need to learn to survive and live in both the human & dog world, but usually most little time or resources are allocated to them, if any. Question submitted by Sandy. |
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I have a 2 yrs old female
dog. One month ago, I adopted a female puppy aged 4 months
plus of the same breed. However, my older female has grown a dislike
for this puppy. She will just growl and sometimes snarl at the puppy. Please advice what i can do to alleviate this issue. |
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Hi Sandy Most puppies are boisterous and have burst of unlimited energy and can become a nuisance to some mature dogs. For most parts, the puppy is doing what a puppy should be doing learning by playing, and sometimes need to be discipline. Let the puppies play together, away from the adult dogs that may be resting. Eventually the puppy would be worn out, and it is possible to put the puppy and the adult dog together, that will build the bond. Growling and snarling are perfectly normal in dogs vocabulary:
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| Hello, I have 4 dogs. 3 of my dogs are very obedient towards me. Only 1 which loves to bark & when I tell him to keep quiet or shake a pebbles can , he growls. He will hide under the couch or some under some unreachable objects and continue to bark, growl & refuse to come out. At this moment, my maid will have to coax him to come out. Once he is out, I will leash him up & gave him time out alone in the back garden ignoring him for 20 minutes or more. Am I doing the right thing? Do you have other reccomendation for me to curb his unruly behaviour? Thank you. |
The objective
of the pebble can training is to create a distraction, and when he is
quiet, he is rewarded immediately for keeping quiet. However, in
this case, he is obviously frightened by the sound of the pebbles
which is already contrary to objective of the training. To
correct the dog after the event is to create more confusion.
This is the sequence of thoughts your dog would experiencing
Barking is a behavior that is natural to dogs: there are several trigger to dogs barking
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