Any suggestions please... My friend has two bichons, brothers, just a year old and they are always peeing, everywhere in the house. They are ruining her house, curtains, furniture etc and no matter how many times she picks them up tells them off puts them out they still go back and do it. She said it felt like the final straw the other day when one of them jumped up on the back of the sofa to bark at the dog next door and peed up the curtain at window height!!! She is trying to keep them in the kitchen and dining room but then they whine and bark at night because they are blocked off by a baby gate from getting up the stairs to her. They also bark all a lot, so the neighbours are complaining. They are like the dogs from hell, but they look so cute. Naughty boys.....
Really recommend that your friend checks out - Ceasar Millan, the dog whisperer has sound and excellent advice - if she can't find 'her' problem on the website, then submit a question via the contact page. He is also on Sky alot.
I have tried his techniques on dogs in homes where I do home visits - works every time, and often the owners want me to move in as they can't believe that simply being assertive with the animals can have such an effect!
Our Border collie (now 10) went through a period of inappropriate peeing when she was little, but soon stopped when we upped the exercise and stopped making a fuss of her. We confined her to the kitchen/washroom (basically these floors were easy to clean). Never made a fuss of her if we were about to leave the room/go out/go to bed. For the first year, she slept in a cage in the kitchen. Once she knew it was her space, she went to it with no questions asked. Now, there is no cage, just her beanbag, but she automatically goes there at bedtime or if we are leaving the house.
Have the pups been spayed yet? This may help, as will dog obedience training.
Funnily enough, this evening's Dog Whisperer on Sky3 featured a little dog (dyed pink would you believe!) that peed when it greeted a special person. This was due to overexcitement. The dog also yapped a lot. I really think your friend has to watch or look up Cesar Millan's website as the whole thing is to do with having calm, submissive, balanced dogs and for the human to be pack leader. Obviously at the moment, your friend's dogs are in control. When your friend picks up the dogs when they pee, she is giving them affection and they therefore can see nothing wrong with what they do. Likewise if she 'tells them off' all they hear is 'blah blah blah'. They're not human, they're dogs. They don't speak human. All they know is that they're getting attention. Where's the incentive to stop?
Sorry, I'm not even a dog owner myself but I love watching the programme and I'd love to be able to try out the techniques on a dog of my own.
Edit to say I was typing this while Jabba posted the above. Great minds etc...
xxx
Your friend needs to take them out every hour so that they associate being taken out with going to the toilet. Have they been properly litter trained?
Also, telling them off is pointless, they have no idea what it is they are doing wrong. She should just clean up the mess without saying anything to them at all.
With whinning; they obviously have some separation anxiety, so a flower essence to help them with their anxieties would be beneficial.
Hopefully she realises the the dogs haven't got the problem; rather she has; and once she understands their needs, peace will ensue.
From what I saw on The Dog Whisperer (and this guy is seriously good with dogs; he's also well into 'energy' etc, quite spiritual in fact) I would say this kind of peeing is not so much to do with needing to pee but is caused by over excitement. Plus the barking is part and parcel of the whole excitement/anxiety thing. Cesar also recommends that dogs should be walked for 45 minutes a day. Maybe not so much for smaller breeds but it's apparently important that it should be a focused walk with the dog not going at his pace but at his owner's (pack leader's).
I think this is possibly more down to behavioural issues than toilet training.
Are the two boys neutered? If not I'd arrange it as soon as possible if they were mine. Neutering is not a miracle cure but IS a step in the right direction with these issues. That said, even neutered boys will lift their leg, especially if neutered late.
It sounds as though peeing in the home has become a habit, there are two male dogs living in the same home who feel the need to mark their territory in order to try and maintain top dog status.
More exercise would help with separation anxiety, also ask her what food she feeds them, many commercial foods are full of additives/colours and make dogs hyper.
Another thing she must not do is allow them to follow her continuously when she is in, this only makes them more emotionally dependant.
They should be segregated from her for increasing amounts of time each day while she is in the home.
If she wishes to try Bach flower remedies let me know and I will suggest one or two, pointless doing so if she is not interested 🙂
These remedies are easily bought form Boots or health food shops.
Crate training can be really beneficial in cases like this a web search will give info. If things don't improve I really advise she asks her vet to put her in touch with a dog behaviourist....a good one is worth every penny 🙂
Hope this helps,
Barbara x
Thanks for all your advice everyone, they are not neutered but the arrangements are now being made. Also the programmes are being sky+ so that she can watch them. She has got a crate which she is going to put in the kitchen to put them in if they are barking, I was there one day and put them behind a gate in the kitchen every time they barked and that worked but she never kept it up. Anyway now she is going at it with a vengence and will keep it up until they are 'cured'.
That's excellent news, Susannah. Basically, it will probably be hard work to begin with - and she certainly must be consistent and keep at it - but it will be so worth it if she ends up with a pair of balanced, calm, submissive dogs. It will empower her too to become 'pack leader'. Please keep us posted as to how she gets on.
Please tell her not to use their names, or get into 'discussions' with them - a click of the fingers and a flat hand towards them will usually get them to shut up if they are barking - and stand right up close to them!