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House-breaking a rebellious young female dog
Dr Sing Kong Yuen, BVMS (Glasgow), MRCVS
Date:
19 April, 2010 |
 toapayohvets.com
Be Kind To Pets
Veterinary Education
Project 2010-0129 |
The brown and
white Cocker Spaniel, adopted 3 months ago, would
bark when left alone in the balcony. Neighbours
might complain. So she was let into the house in
the first week. She was then 4 months old. Now,
she would pee anywhere in the living and dining
room and seldom on the newspapers in the balcony.
"What can I do?" the busy journalist who was
referred to me to certify the height and weight of
the Cocker Spaniel for licensing purposes, asked
me. "My maid or I take the dog outdoors 6 times
per day to let her pee outdoors. Yet she continues
to urinate inside the apartment."
"This seems to be a case of urine marking rather
than being a case of not house-broken?"
"She is a female dog," the lady reminded me.
"Some dominant female dogs do urine mark," I said.
"Where does she sleep at night?" I asked.
"In my bedroom."
"Does she pee inside the bedroom?" I expected a
positive answer.
"No, no," she replied.
"Since your bedroom door is closed, she might need
to pee and would then do it on the bedroom floor."
"No," the lady laughed. "I left the bedroom ajar
so that she could go to the balcony to pee."
Is there any permanent solution to this problem?
Each case is different as each dog has his or her
own personality.
"In my opinion," I said. "You are not firm enough
with your dog and so she takes advantage of you.
In the first week, you permitted her to go indoors
when she ought to be confined in the balcony all
the time unless supervised, to be paper-trained.
She tested you by barking and you just let her in.
Now, she is 7 months old and her mind is not easy
to train. She is equivalent to an adolescent -
rebellious as she is no longer a 3-month-old puppy
with a blank slate in the mind and therefore
easily trained."
"What should I do?" she asked.
"Spaying her may or may not help to prevent urine
marking. Start being assertive," I said to her.
"For example, grip your dog's muzzle when she
barks, give a light tap and say 'no barking' in a
very loud and firm voice."
"She is such a lovable dog," the career lady said.
"Yet she is a wolf in sheep's clothing and has had
manipulated you. She has little respect for you.
So she urine-marks."
"In the dog's hierarchy," I explained, "There is a
leader in a pack of dogs. This leader can be a
male or female. The leader bites the subordinate
dog if the subordinate goes out of line. The
mother gives the pup a nip if the pups misbehaves.
In your apartment, you did not display that
leadership quality. So, the dog does as she
pleases and urine-mark the floor to show you that
she is the leader."
"I am firm towards her," the lady asserted.
"Not firm enough as this is your personality," I
had observed her to be a non-confrontational
personality type and asked her companion whether
my observations were correct. The companion, a
lady friend who was with her nodded her head.
So, what do we do to solve her problem?
1. Barking. Use the muzzle tap and voice command
to stop her barking. Muzzle the dog when she
barks, but for a short time of 5 minutes.
2. No water to drink after dinner at 8 pm.
3. Confine her to the balcony where there is
newspapers for her to pee.
4. Positive reinforcement training. Give a food
treat when the dog pees on the papers in the
balcony or stop barking on command. "My dog is not
interested in food treats," the lady said. "Well,
the ones you give her may not press her buttons,
but try and find one she is crazy about. Or reward
her with play."
5. Negative reinforcement training. Many newer
puppy books are talking about positive
reinforcement training. But in this grown up dog,
a light tap on the muzzle to stop barking or a tap
on the back together with firm voice commands may
be the answer at this age of rebellion. Before it
is too late. Will the lady do it? It is hard to
say.
6. Leash her to the dining table so that she can't
urine-mark anywhere she likes. The lady had not
thought of that.
7. Give her a routine daily as regards feeding,
drinking and exercise. Go outdoors three x per day
to pee. Not 6 X.
8. Neutralise the urine-marked spots with a piece
of rag plus white vinegar at 1 part to 3 parts
water. Now, the whole apartment is full of urine
smells but the dog can smell it.
9. Neuter the dog. But she looked so pretty and
breeding would not be possible.
There are so many suggestions I made. Since she
did not take notes, as I imagined a journalist
would do so, I presumed her mind would remember
all. It takes a lot of time to talk to her about
her dog behaviour problem. Weighing and measuring
the height of her dog took less than 5 minutes.
Well, I was free on this first Sunday I started
work after a break in Perth, Australia. She seemed
quite happy and later told my referral that she
was very happy with my service.
Puppies at 4 months of age can be paper-trained
effectively if the lady owner is the strong and
firm type. After talking to this journalist, a
couple came in with a 4-month-old brown Cocker
Spaniel for the 3rd vaccination. The wife looks
"fierce" and appears the dominant party of the
couple from my interaction with her. So I asked,
"Is the puppy paper-trained?" "No problem,"
she said. "The puppy goes to the newspapers every
time."
Success in house-breaking depends so much on the
personality of the trainer who is usually a lady.
Most lady owners are the nuturing kind type and so
that is where failures in paper training in an
apartment arise.
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Project 2010-0129 |
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