Akita Husky Needs Help

[karmagl]

So I have 2 dogs Oreo is a 7 1/2 month old akita husky mix and Yogi is an 8 week old Dingo we have had from the age of 5 weeks. You would think an 8 week old puppy would be the problem but instead it's Oreo. She refuses to potty train. She is kennel trained and you can take her outside for 2 hours and she will not go until she gets back inside. now she hides her messes all over the house which you can imagine is fun when your house stinks and you can't find where. Well I am trying to live with that because we live in the middle of the mountains and the dog trainers I have talked to say potty training needs to be done in home and they can't come here. Then to make it worse she started running off. We had to buy a shock collar because she almost got hit by 6 cars. Then... I never take her anywhere because she craps in the car so I decided to give her another chance and took her with me. In the 30 min we were in the car she peed crapped and chewed the leather in my car. My husband loves her but told me I need to start thinking about finding her another home. She is such a good dog, I have a 1 year old and she is so good with her and so sweet. Is there hope for Oreo. I can't take her to the shelter who would want a 7 month old dog that isn't potty trained. I feel like I have tried everything does anyone have anymore suggestions. Also though I keep my carpet cleaner out at all times due to Oreo and last week rented an industrial cleaner. My house smells like piss. Everyday after I vacuum I spray that arm and hammer pets all over the floors. It lasts for about 5 hours does anything work better.

 

[karmagl]

So I called a dog trainer about two hours from me. She almost had me in tears. She said I wasn't trying hard enough and need to find a new home for Oreo (someone that gives her the time she deserves). She said said I'm not trying hard enough I take her outside every 20 minutes we use a timer and I set my alarm to wake up once an hour through the night. I don't work I am a stay at home mom how hard do they expect you to try. Then she said I am just doing everything wrong and eventually I would end up getting rid of her. I found a local dog trainer and am waiting on a call back. Wonder what she will say.

 

[Erised]

Do ignore what the trainer said, if she isn't willing to come to your house simply because it's too long a drive she can't be all that good to start of with or have the dogs well-being in mind instead of money. I do hope you'll have more luck with the local dog trainer. If not, it might be worth going to some pet shops and ask for advice there? Or are there any puppy training classes you could go to or call to ask for advice?

From what I've read Huskys as well as Akitas are both very headstrong and stay toddlers for ages shall we say. I haven't heard of anyone that's had an easy time with them, so I do think it's probably the breed giving you a hard time rather than you doing things wrong. There's a thread going around right now called "Siberian Husky's, Any Pic's?", I recommend you read through this if you haven't already and maybe you can contact some of the husky owners in that thread and ask them for help/advice/their own stories. Maybe changing the title of this post to 'Husky/Akita help needed' might get you some more interest as well.

 

[Canis-Equus]

Ok thing one - forget the shock collar all thats going to happen is your dog gets run over AND you paid out for a shock collar.

TO get rid of the instinct to run and run and run in a husky type dog youll have to shock her till shes pretty much dead - and thats still not guaranteed to work. Huskys canNOT be let off the lead unless there is a secure fence. End of.

As to the potty training - what you done to make her WANT to go outside (as opposed to what have you done to make her NOT want to go inside).

Ill throw in a guess here, you shouted at her and yelled to make her not want to go inside..... shes scared to go outside and now shes scared to go anywhere near you, so now she craps in the house and hides it, so you have to play hunt the doody......

Its going to be a hard job now for anyone to house train her - to do it she must NOT be left alone, you got to take her outside every half an hour, every hour, when you take her for a walk and come home, take her back outside again within five minutes..... whatever you can do to get her to go outside with you tehre to see it, you have to do it.

When she goes outside, reward her really well, her favourite treats, games, whatever it takes.

If she goes inside, say nothing - your fault YOU messed up YOU missed that she needed to go.

You may need to take some of her poo and put it outside so outside smells like her place - you may need to put up a fence and make sure no other dogs go there and its a nice secure place for her to go.

Shes probably frightened in the car which is why she messes in there - she could be excited - could be fear AND excitement. You need to show her the car is a safe, pleasant place to be, its not really exciting but its not scary either. Thats going to take work, months of it in all likelyhood - tiny baby steps - get in the car, give a treat, get out. Get in the car give a treat, sit for five minutes, get out. etc until you are going on trips to nowhere for 2 minutes, 5 minutes, round the block, etc etc. Do it slowly dont force her dont yell at her, its a NICE place to be.

You are correct, if she doesnt die by being hit by a car, shes likely to die in the shelter - most people wont want a difficult mix like her and when they find she isnt house trained she will end up back at the shelter. So thats not an option - working WITH her getting her to trust you and bond with you, and sorting out her issues are IF you want to, really really want to.

 

[KathyM]

Ems has basically said a lot of what I would recommend too. It may sound harsh but it's true, and she's fab at advice on training and behaviour.

The electric collar won't work for any of her problems I'm afraid. If anything it's going to make her jumpy and nervous.

On the housetraining side of things, we had similar problems with Dharma, the key to that is tonnes of praise for getting it right, and ignoring mistakes. Ems is right that we have to write that down as our mistake for not reading their signals in time. Also, I don't know if you're punishing her for it (verbally or otherwise) but it just doesn't work.

What I found really helpful in training Dharma, and especially with housetraining, was a clicker. If you can learn the timing of it, it's a wonderful tool in training dogs. I'll pop some links up at the end for you to have a look at. Basically I put Dharma's toileting on "cue". I started with clicking and treating for going outside, then coupled that with the "cue" ("Dharma wee" or "Dharma empty" in our case, but any word for each function - wee or poo - is good. My trainer tells her dogs to go "piss piss" *lmao*). Now I just tell her "Dharma, wee" and off she goes for a wee. Same for "Dharma empty" - she has a poo on command.

I couldn't believe that dogs could do that on command, but she does. She does so because she gets a fair "wage" (ie. the click and treat).

It *will* take a while, and it *will* drive you insane, but believe me, Ems is right in that if you rehome her without going through this, she will "bounce" and either be returned to you if that's an option to her new owners or taken back to rescue. If that rescue does not have a non-destruction policy, it's very possible she could be PTS, as it will be possible if you rehome her privately.

I can't count the times I sat with my head in my hands saying Dharma would have to go back to rescue. But with the help of our trainer, we got there. It's done now and set in stone, she's fully housetrained and very dependable in that way. It wasn't easy, but it was bloody worth it!

And I also can't stress enough how important it is to stick to positive methods only - including when you pick a trainer - no yanking, no shock collars, none of that. Positive methods ensure you retain that good connetion you talk about with Oreo, and dogs of her type (and Dharma's type) do not respond well at all to more bullying methods.

Right, here are the links:

http/www.clickertrain.com/whatis.html

http/www.clickertraining.com/what_is_clicker_training

http/www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.p...amp;SourceID=47

 

[Canis-Equus]

Fankyoo for those links Kathy!

Sorry if my post is a little harsh or blunt - was in a rush earlier..... if you want any points ive made explaining further/in more detail just ask, no probs.

Em

 

[Rhiannon]

A pure breed dingo?

Do you know how dangerous they are?

They are wild dogs in Australia that live in the desert. Occasionally are pets.

I went to Ayres Rock and stayed at the Caravan Park. They just wander around all night in packs waiting for some prey.

In Australia they have killed children who were just playing on beaches, and possibly killed a baby in a tent which was one of the biggest stories in Australian history.

My nursing teacher had 3. Two males and a female. She went to work and came home and found her female ripped to shreads in the backyard. The 3 of them had been together for years and then they just turned on her.

This is one dog I would not trust.

Sorry if I sound harsh, hate me all you want, but there is no way I would ever get a dingo, especially if its going to be around other animals or children.

Plus for Oreo, I would recommend a Dog Whisperer. Fairly expensive, but my inlaws had one come out recently for their staffy and I cant believe how its worked wonders. Or puppy school. Its never to late to take them to school.

 

[madmom]

Canis has the right of it though I would call them pig headed rather than stubborn. I had 2 for 17 years and they were stubborn to the extreme. A strong fence will help but may not stop them. Mine when they foung they could not go over or through decided to dig under the fence. even with a harness and long lead they managed to unhook themselves from it. I ended up pouring concrete under the fence to stop the escapes. They should not be off leads because when you call them I swear they laughed at me. If Oreo goes in a particular spot try laying paper down and move the used paper outside when you take her out. She may smell her scent on the paper and use it outside. Keep doing it and she should get the idea eventually.

 

[zelandonia]

Are you sure there is not a medical reason why your dog is not trained to urinate outside? Some dogs can be born with ectopic ureters where the ureter enters the bladder after the sphincter that allows them to hold their urine. In this case the urine will just dribble out at all times and you will notice that the fur on the back of her legs will be wet and you may notice puddles when she gets up from her sleeping place. Please rule out any medical reasons before you conclude it is a behavioural issue.

z.

 

[karmagl]

Well we only used the shock collar once and haven't put it on her since she just stopped running. The thing is Oreo loves to go outside I ask her every 20 minutes if she wants to go and she loves it out there but won't go until she is inside. She haasn't really gotten in trouble for it because in 8 months I have only actually caught her once. We go on 2 walks a day, we have tried frequent outside use, walks, standing out with her, kennel training. I keep all the doors shut so she can only be in the living room but tonight was bad. My daughter left our bedroom door open and we went to get into bed an found a huge puddle on the middle of our bed. My husband is mad and wants her gone but I agree that no one wants an 8 month un potty trained dog. I have a trainer coming day after tomorrow but she said she has never delt with difficult potty training. I hope it works it just gets worse every day.

Ok thing one - forget the shock collar all thats going to happen is your dog gets run over AND you paid out for a shock collar.

TO get rid of the instinct to run and run and run in a husky type dog youll have to shock her till shes pretty much dead - and thats still not guaranteed to work. Huskys canNOT be let off the lead unless there is a secure fence. End of.

As to the potty training - what you done to make her WANT to go outside (as opposed to what have you done to make her NOT want to go inside).

Ill throw in a guess here, you shouted at her and yelled to make her not want to go inside..... shes scared to go outside and now shes scared to go anywhere near you, so now she craps in the house and hides it, so you have to play hunt the doody......

Its going to be a hard job now for anyone to house train her - to do it she must NOT be left alone, you got to take her outside every half an hour, every hour, when you take her for a walk and come home, take her back outside again within five minutes..... whatever you can do to get her to go outside with you tehre to see it, you have to do it.

When she goes outside, reward her really well, her favourite treats, games, whatever it takes.

If she goes inside, say nothing - your fault YOU messed up YOU missed that she needed to go.

You may need to take some of her poo and put it outside so outside smells like her place - you may need to put up a fence and make sure no other dogs go there and its a nice secure place for her to go.

Shes probably frightened in the car which is why she messes in there - she could be excited - could be fear AND excitement. You need to show her the car is a safe, pleasant place to be, its not really exciting but its not scary either. Thats going to take work, months of it in all likelyhood - tiny baby steps - get in the car, give a treat, get out. Get in the car give a treat, sit for five minutes, get out. etc until you are going on trips to nowhere for 2 minutes, 5 minutes, round the block, etc etc. Do it slowly dont force her dont yell at her, its a NICE place to be.

You are correct, if she doesnt die by being hit by a car, shes likely to die in the shelter - most people wont want a difficult mix like her and when they find she isnt house trained she will end up back at the shelter. So thats not an option - working WITH her getting her to trust you and bond with you, and sorting out her issues are IF you want to, really really want to.

 

[KathyM]

I would be highly suspicious of a trainer that hasn't dealt with house training before. It's one of the most common problems in dogs of that age.

When it comes to going outside, I don't know how difficult it is to fence your property, but you might have to consider that or fencing off an area where she can be safely offlead. Otherwise she needs to be onlead every time she's outside.

 

[Canis-Equus]

I have a horrible feeling you will be wasting money on this dog trainer - never dealt with potty training Thats just mad!

If you cant stop her/him coming now, take serious notes on what they say and let us know on here.

Weeing in the bed, thats a seriously 'anxious' dog thing to do - thats no way 'ooh i hate you' or anything like, its 'im so insecure, this place smells of my owners so now it smells of me too'....

I get the impression your OH doesnt like her - she may WELL be picking up on that too and that wont help at all.

Build a fenced area - doesnt need to be all of your garden or yard, take her out there on the lead each time.

If shes got a thing about not going in front of you, then a fenced area should mean you can put her i nthere and hide where she cant see.

It is going to take a lot of work - the other thing you can try is to have her on a lead clipped to your belt - then shes never away from you, she cant sneak off to pee!

 

[KathyM]

Fab advice there Ems (as usual!). The dog guru!

 

[Miss Wiggle]

i could well be wrong about this, i've not trained dogs before so Kathy, Em etc please correct me if i'm giving bad advice, just had a few ideas

But just to start things off she's going to have to go outside once for you to reward her so she can start to see that's where she should do it, right?

so take her outside and stay there with her, eventually she's gonna have to go, when she does then you reward her, make a massive big fuss of her etc and then go back indoors. hopefullY that would give her the start to realise that's where she's meant to be doing her business.

if others have said going on the bed seems like insecurity and wanting to make the place smell of her as well as mummy and daddy, well if you could have some sort of covered area outside with a dog bed for her, and put some of your used sheets/clothes, anythinG that smells of you basically, then maybe she'd feel more comfortable outside.

 

[KathyM]

Good advice there Alice.