Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
My wife and I rescued a 6 month old cur mix that was left outside of a foreclosed and vacant house. We used the crate method with my 1 yr old cur mix and had great results. The new dog however literally hates the crate and will go crazy every minute she is in it. We can reward her well when she goes outside, but she continues to go inside as well. Before bedtime we take her out again and she will lay down and almost refuse to go.
By Ben B
You need help on this as there may be several reasons for her behavior. Please take her to your vet now to rule out any medical problems. Your vet can also help with suggestions for training in other ways for proper urination in the house.
How would you like to be stuck in a crate? Pets are not toys that you can just put away in a box when you are tired of playing with them. I commend you for having the compassion to adopt the poor dog but maybe a different home would be best if you can not let the dog be a part of the family, free to move around.
There is nothing wrong with crate training if done properly. However, this dog may have gone feral after being abandoned. You may be pushing the changes too quickly.
Do you have a large yard where you can build or buy a good doghouse and let him be an outdoor dog for now? It sounds like he may be uncomfortable being in the house right now and also being so close to people.
We got our 6-year-old Minpin Zippy almost a year ago. She's a puppy mill rescue and we knew immediately she was abused. In the past year she's learned some things and has gotten to be more of a normal acting dog, but we don't know how to potty train her.
We've been using puppy pads and we've tried putting her outside on a schedule multiple times a day, but she will still come in and pee on the carpet almost immediately after coming back in. We've been told to not even try a crate from the woman we got her from because she associates it with the fear and abuse she went through her first 6 years before she came to us.
I would gate her in the kitchen. It is less restrictive than a crate. Take her out at the same time each day. Take food away between meals and feed her the same time each day.
Being that your dog was an abused dog and is now 6 years old it may take a well thought out plan to overcome whatever fear is causing this behavior. I feel sure it will take some time and patience also.
You did mention that she goes potty on the carpet.
Would it be possible to bring her into a smaller area that does not have carpet? Such as a laundry room?
I have had to retrain a puppy and I used a kinda sneaky method.
I let him into a kinda confined area with newspaper on part of the floor. After a while the puppy would go on the newspaper.
I just kept moving the newspaper closer to the door every day or so. I soon had the newspaper at the door and eventually moved it to the outside of the door on the small porch and finally into the yard. He was finally weaned and I was able to stop the newspaper routine but it was a very slow process.
This may not work for you but I hope you can find a solution soon.
I recently took on a severely abused Chihuahua. At the time I got her I didn't know her owner had abused her. She is three years old and has had two litters of puppies. When I took her home she was covered in fleas. I was finally able to get rid of her fleas then I noticed that when she went to go potty she had tapeworms. She acts like she is terrified to eat and shakes all the time. She will go out and potty when I take her outside, but as soon as I bring her in she does it again like 3 or 4 times.
I don't get on to her because I don't want her to be afraid of me. How can I house train her while I'm trying to build trust? She is a very sweet dog and she lays on me all the time. She doesn't appear to be afraid of me, but I don't know what to do. Can you please help me?First off, you need to get rid of the worms. The worms can cause accidents and malnutrition which can cause the shaking.
First, you have to get rid of the worms. They can cause heart problems, malnutrition, nerve damage and accidents. They are also painful when she eats. It will go much smoother after she is wormed
So my fiancé and I just adopted a dog. I got him from a co-worker who said their family could no longer care for him. He is 1yr old and a Boxer Lab mix. He is the sweetest thing on the planet. However I was not told he was abused. It wasn't till I got him and seeing how he interacts that I see all the signs of an abused animal. I was told he isn't completely house trained. Since I have had dogs all my life, we always crate train. But with him (Liam) it's not possible. They must of kept him or punished him with the crate. He refuses to enter one at all.
I do live in a large condo, so I cannot leave him outside. Also he is very scared to eat, which I have never seen before. I don't know if he was punished for eating or what. I did put a little wet food in with his dry to help. But he is still very scared of eating. I know we have taken on more than we intended to. But he is family now and I want to make to sure he lives a happy and full life now. I need any help, advise or tips how I can either house train him or get him adjusted to a crate again. And any help on getting him to eat.All I can say is that any dog I have had from a happy home as a puppy I have not had any problems with. The Rescue dogs I have had act out for a reason, if they are fearfull of the create it is for a reason only known to them. I have a 6 year old rescue Beagle, was used on a puppy farm for breeding so does not understand about realationships with people.. I am just working on building a relation ship of trust, he wees and poos indoors,, he is shacky and cowering until I clear it up, I speak to him as though nothing has happened and he settles down. I have had him for 3 months now, started him off in a covered crate with an open door but I had to cover the door with a towel when I fed him or he would not eat. He has been out of the crate for 4 weeks now in his own bed, he is much the same when I am around but when I came home from work the other day he came rushing down stairs to his bed in a pannic he seems to have been lying on some clothes outside my bedroom door with my other rescue dog who is a totally different kettle of fish, (she will still flintch if she knows you are going to touch her but she is happy in every other way and even a bit demanding if she feels it is time for a walk).
So I do not know if this helps but we have a rescue Yorkie that was in a puppy mill caged for 5 years and we also cannot house break him. We did take him to school like we did our other Yorkies but they said they could not use the same methods because he had not been socialized. I am about to give up on the house breaking and belly band him so he can have some freedom and run around but I wanted to comment on the eating issue.
I recently adopted a 1 year old female Aussie/Border Collie mix. She has spent most of her life chained to a tree outside. She is very loving and will let anyone pet her if they sit down next to her, but she is very skittish around everyone, but me. She just recently started peeing and pooping on the sofa if I leave the room and don't let her come with me. She sleeps under my bed and is crate trained. She won't mess in her crate, during the night or even when I'm home. But let me walk out of the room and bam, I have a mess.
I take her for walks, have a fenced-in yard, and let the dogs out frequently throughout the day. I sometimes have to put her leash on her to get her to go outside. We also have a Chihuahua, they mostly just ignore each other, and a 1 year old Aussie rescue I adopted as a puppy. He is fine and they get along great, but I can't have her pooping on my furniture. Any help or training suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.By Dawn
Your dog is a beta or possibly an omega and needs you to take a stronger leadership role. Start by not allowing her on your furniture. The floor is fine for dogs. Furniture was created for humans.
Your dog sounds insecure and possibly anxious. Not surprising with her breeding and background. I would work to build her confidence. Agility training is wonderful for this. Best of luck to you.
My Poodle Bishon mix is almost 2. I have had her since she was 5 months, she has always been afraid to potty but especially poop. She almost runs away as she is popping. I've always praised her and given treats when she goes on her pad. She is deathly afraid of men and brooms or anything with a long stick on it.
My boyfriend has lived with me for about a year and his 16 year old son moved in about 6 months ago. She has gotten a lot worse since then, I don't know what to do anymore. I can't raise my voice to her, she has been beat so badly. A bad person cut half of her ear off, I'm guessing a male because of how she reacts to men. I'm thinking she got beaten when she went poop and potty. I just want her to be happy. Please help us!
By Sarah Ann
2/23/11 Mallinoislover on related info just above. " Training a dog that was abused " Information doesn't get any better than that. I would also suggest lots of holding, comforting, lap sitting and hugs. Do hope your household is calm with no arguments or shouting. The 16 year old needs special instructions. Do hope he has been understanding and kind to your little one.
I have a very abused white poodle, and my husband and I have had her for 2 years now. I kept her in an open wire crate when we were gone and she still goes to it even though the door is always open. It is her safety zone. If you reach down to touch her she pees out of fear to this day so I decided to go outside with her to pet her and that works great.
When she wants to get attention or go outside I go with her and pet her as she pees and then I play with her outside. Outside of the pee problem she is a very happy dog and will choose her time to get attention like coming to sit in my chair with me .
I also have a dobie that was severely abused and now has cancer that I have had for 8 years and neither one of them tell you when they want to go potty except to stand a look at you and go to the door. Pay attention to her actions and you can tell what she is telling you. My husband misses it because he won't pay attention when they go to the door and back to tell him.
It also sounds like the boy you now have living with you is doing something to her when no one is looking and you may have to make a choice between the dog and the boy.
I have a rescued Pit Bull who is about 1 yr old. When I first got her she would poo in the house. Fine, we got her on a better food, she had stomach issues because she didn't have shots, got that all situated. We are a month passed that. I've never had issue with her peeing on anything in the house. Now she pees on beds that are on the floor, including her own, never when we are awake or home.
We normally kennel her when we are gone more than an hour which is rare; there is usually someone home. The second we leave she peed on it. Now she's doing it at night. We just recently started leaving her out of the kennel at night. I'd like her to have the run of the house and help protect the house at night. I'm just not sure what to do.She is expressing her displeasure at being left alone, which is not acceptable. She will need to be crated until she can show you she knows the proper place to relieve herself. Praise her when she does.
This is Bud, a German Shepherd Husky cross. I need training tips! He came from a very bad home and I rescued him. I've worked very hard on potty training him and he still goes in the house when he feels like it.
I've done the crate training and the praising, but I'm lost for options!
You have to focus on positive behavior and not punish unwanted behavior. Give rewards when he does the right thing and try to ignore the behavior you would like diminished.
My boyfriend and I recently bought a dog. He is French Bulldog/Boston Terrier mix, he is a total sweetheart, but we are having some issues with him. He is a total people person and like others dogs.
He is peeing and pooping in our place. We take him out and keep him on a schedule, but he keeps doing it. He does it at night when we are sleeping. We were told what kind of food that the second woman had given him, but now he is puking. After he does something like making a mess, he starts shaking and runs away and hides.
This is his 3rd home and he just turned a year old in July. We don't wanna give up on him, but we need help because we are at our wits end and it's causing issues between me and my boyfriend.
This is something I keep reading over and over again.
People get dogs that they know have been abused and have issues and didn't do well in other homes. Maybe you felt sorry for this dog.
I have to ask: Would you have agreed to foster a child that had not done well in two homes, or would you have put a lot more thought into that?
In general, only people who have a lot of experience with dogs of all types should attempt to rehabilitate a rescue. You also need to have plenty of time available to retrain the dog. You need hours a day.
If you feel you do have this time and want to do this, start researching. You'll need to study this breed and also this dog's particular problems.
Look up both breeds- French Bulldog and Boston Terrier. Learn what you can about them. Here are a couple of links to get you started: www.frenchbulldogrescue.org/
www.dogbreedinfo.com/
Next, Google something like "rescue dog peeing and pooping in house" and read everything that comes up.
Last, you'll need to train your dog in order to bond your dog to you. Because the dog was mistreated, you'll need a positive training system. Here are a couple of links to check out.
Choose ONE training system and do all of it- not just the parts that specifically address certain problems. That doesn't work.
Finally, if you do not feel you can take this on, find a French bulldog or Boston Terrier rescue and hope they have room for one more dog. A breed-specific rescue is always a better bet for rehabilitating a dog.
I adopted a dog who was severely abused and she is kind of potty trained. She'll walk from door to door when she needs to go out, but she'll make you take her out two or three times before she'll go or she'll end up just going in the house.
So I guess my question is how do I get her to not go in the house and what do I do when she does go in the house? She cowers a lot and won't even let you put your hands on her back without her freaking out because she thinks you're going to hit her. We cannot get her in her crate. We've tried and she just won't do it. She gets so freaked out and looks terrified and won't let you go near her for a while. So how can I teach her how to speak when she needs to go outside and what do I do when she goes inside?
I recommend clicker training for any animal that can't take any kind of negative reinforcement. There are books, videos, etc. Start here:
www.clickertraining.com/
We adopted a 2 year old female 5 weeks ago. We are doing crate training and, for the most part, it's going well. She does not pee or soil in her crate, and is wonderful about doing these when we take her outside. However, when we take her out of the crate inside for short periods of time (always when we are in the room and watching her), she often pees on the floor.
This is often in response to us talking to her. We never yell or scold. Is she just over-reactive to human voices, due to her prior experiences? What can we do to give her more freedom in the house without her peeing? Thank you.By Chris
Yes, she is over responsive to being spoken to.The solution is not to speak to her. Dogs don't communicate by speaking anyway. They communicate by scent and body language.
When you go to get her food, she hears and smells it. Do you have to tell her it is time to eat?
When you get down her leash and your keys, she knows she is going out. You don't have to tell her.
If you need to call her from the other room, use a light whistle. Dogs can hear better than you can.
This is going to be hard, but you're pretty much going to have to ignore her for a while. And by a while, I mean months. Just feed her and take her out without speaking. Have short play sessions without speaking. Otherwise, just pretend she isn't there.
Any attention you turn on her, no matter how positive, is just not wanted right now.
We rescued a Chihuahua from my sister and brother-in-law, who adopted him from a shelter. He is about three years old. When they first got him, he seemed like a good dog. I went to their house to babysit for a few days and he was also part of the babysitting.
He would growl at my brother-in-law whenever he walked into the room and he would cower behind my legs or whatever else he could fit behind. My fiance and I offered to take him off their hands. We brought him home to our kitten and 2 year old Pit/Lab mix. The Pit mix dog is very friendly and loving. He has gotten rather territorial since the new dog got here, mainly with food, but we are working on it.
The Chihuahua, Ned, is a good dog. We know my brother-in-law abused him. He growls at any man that walks through the door and hides in his kennel or whatever he can get behind. He never lets me know when he needs out. I can take him out six times an hour and he will do nothing until he gets back inside, where he will both pee and poop on the floor.
He is a very skittish dog. You can get up and walk across the room without even acknowledging him yet he will shoot up from wherever he is laying, bolt behind something or make sure that whatever direction your back is, he will be behind you.
He gets along great with our other animals and our 1 year old baby. If a man is around, he growls. If a man tries to pick him up, he snaps at them. My fiance was walking through the living room the other day, Ned freaked out and started growling at him and nipped at his foot as he walked by when my fiance wasn't even paying attention to him. He just did it out of fear for the guy that abused him. Then he ran away and pooped in the other room without a sound or whimper to go out.
Even when he is not feeling scared or threatened because a man is near, he will still not let you know he needs out. I have no idea what to do.
By Sarah E.
Good for you for giving this dog a 2nd chance. Sure sounds like he needed it. You have an unusual situation here, and I think you will need to really search for information on working with abused dogs. Maybe start with Cesar Milans' site, I am sure there are more on the internet. It is specialized training, but I am sure you could figure it out. Good luck to you.
9 months ago a stay Lab, mixed with something else he is not a full blood lab, with a tag and collar was found outside our house. The phone number and address had been scratched off leaving only his name available. He has not been allowed inside the house. My father doesn't like dogs inside. He has been outside the past nine months.
I am moving and would like him to be an inside dog. He is very hyper, but I believe that is because he has been attention starved. I would rather not kennel him because of how large he is. I forgot to mention that while he has been outside no one has struck him and only given him love so he is not as skittish as he used to be. I have read not to make him smell and not to spank him. I wouldn't want to do that anyway for fear of bringing back it's skittishness. How could I go about potty training?
By Duster
I have a one year old rescue dog that I'm having trouble house training. He was kept in a kennel his entire life so he just messed and peed in it, he had no choice but to. So using the kennel method is out. He's just now coming around and getting more comfortable here with the help of our other dog. He doesn't know any difference about outside or inside when it comes to pottying. He messes/pees anywhere in the house, including his bed. I need some help on this one. We have always used the kennel for training. Please help.
By Estea S.
I recently adopted a girl Shih Tzu mix. She was badly abused. I've been trying to take her outside every 3 hours, but I still find poop in my boyfriend's kids bedroom, on their bed, or on my bed. When she poops in the bed I call her a bad dog and I will flick her on the nose. I also put her outside thinking she will learn her lesson, but it's constantly going on.
If she is not pooping in the bedroom or on our beds then the she is peeing in the bathroom on the floor mat. I don't know what I can do, but I keep trying. When I do take her outside she only pees, but when she does poop outside I give her a Milkbone as a reward. Please help me potty train her.By Bajanbeauty
I just moved back in with my parents to help them out, but their dogs (a Beagle/Pug mix and a Chihuahua/Pug mix) pee in the house. They were both adopted and we suspect an abusive past. Plus they aren't the sharpest tools in the shed. I potty trained my Dachshund, but he's picking up bad habits from them. I've tried all the methods I used with mine (treats after going outside, going out with them, a schedule, etc.), but it's not taking.
By Shara
This is a page about training a dog that was abused. Training an abused dog often requires special steps even before the actual training begins.
ThriftyFun is one of the longest running frugal living communities on the Internet. These are archives of older discussions.
I, too, rescued a dog. I have had him for a little over 2 months and he is about 11 months old. He was in a crate for most of his life I believe and not treated well.
My dog is a Silky Terrier. He is almost 2 years old and afraid of everything. We rescued him from being abused.
