HELP! PLZ! 4 mo old puppy probs!

We just got a 4 month old puppy about 2 weeks ago. She's really cute and sweet. We think she was abused by the previous owners. she shys to us really bad. we don't use violence whatsoever. when she pees we rub her nose in it and say bad girl and she pees even more. she pees when shes scared, happy, sad, we even call to her and she shys and pees. we thought it might be a weak bladder but we don't think so. she refuses to play or head our commands. we've tried several different methods and she doesn't respond to any of them. she also nips at our faces -chomp- she's a german shepherd mixed with something. we've tried praising her when she's good with love and treats. but those don't work. what can we do to get her to be a normal puppy?

 

me again forgot this

oops i forgot to put this up there too, also whenever she pees she licks it up...... all of it. anywhere she pees she licks it up....is there a solution for these problems we are having?

 

I wouldn't rub her nose in it, doing that will probably make her more fearful of you. Try saing "no" when you catch her and picking her up and running outside to let her finish. It will take time for her to trust you. Also, I would go out and get a kennel, it will help with the training.

 

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we already have a kennel. and rubbing her nose in it is the best we can do. i telling you NOTHING works.

 

First of all, congratulations on your new pup.

I have a question, what do you think is happening to her, what is she thinking when you rub her nose in her pee?

Pleeeeeeease do not rub her nose in her urine....its an old 'method' that has proved over and over again that it doesnt work, the puppy will not relate this to not be allowed to pee in the house, all your doing is making your puppy more nervous....which in turn will cause the puppy to pee more, if shes already shyíng away from you that will also get worse.

Have you looked into crate training? This would be a better way to go, also you need to start from scratch with the housetraining.
First of all, you need treats, make it something very tasty, usually chicken or bologne or something works, peices dont need to be any bigger than your finger nail....I know you said she doesnt respond to love and treats but bear with me....

Take the pup outside, on a leash to an area where you want her to pee/poop (better to start this after she eaten), stand there with her, keeping your tone calm and soft tell her 'go potty' (use a key word for this....doesnt have to be go potty but just stick with whatever word you choose), keep saying it to her, when she starts to squat or get in the position then tell her 'good potty'...keep saying it while shes going, just as she starts to stand up again, very calmly/happy give her praise....'good potty' (again), offer her the treat, pet her.

Im thinking from what you say that she may be the kind of dog that too much excitement might scare her which is why Im saying to keep everything calm, you need the positive tone though....if she can handle a little more excitement from you without getting scared then by all means increase the excitement in your voice....its important that you dont overdo it though.

At 4 months old she should have control of her bladder and while I think that the problem you have is that she hasnt had any training before (or had the wrong training) and I think its submission based, could be that shes scared, nervous, or by peeing when you get close to her she is letting you know that she is not a threat to you....she respects you.....dont punish her for this itll make her worse. I would think about having your vet check her out though and make sure she doesnt have any kind of a bladder infection or something, this pretty much will make the housetraining impossible and its painful for her.

Back to the housetraining, like I said, go back to basics, young pups need to go pee after eating and drinking, after playing, after waking up, before going to sleep, take her outside about every 2 - 3 hours, be patient with her. If you see her start to squat in the house, a stern NO (keep in mind her fear issue....you need to get her attention, not freak her out even more)...so a quick stern NO, and take her immediately outside....you already know that she needs to pee/poop so be patient with her....most pups, by the time you get them outside theyve forgotten that they need to pee so give her some time, (make sure you have the treats ready), dont leave her by herself or let her run around, its vital that you are right there to give her the command and then the praise...at the right time.
If you dont actually catch her in the act of peeing/pooping then there is absolutely no point in reprimanding her, she wont associate your anger/diapproval with the peeing and pooping.

As for the submissive peeing, the best way to deal with this is look for the triggers that make her pee, if its every time you go near her then your going to have to do some attention withdrawal and 'play down' some interaction....kind of 'its not a big deal' type of attitude, keep all interaction low key for now, no rough games, not too much excitement when shes around....when she is relaxing then you want to praise her.

The nipping, you need to stop this now, shes going to get big and the situation you have right now is your going to end up with a large skittish fear biter. If she nips at you then use the attention withdrawal again, turn away or move away from her, dont say anything, dont even look at her, just carry on about your business and ignore her....when she stops trying to mip at you then calmly praise her.....as far as her playing with toys, have you tried things like a kong toy with treats or peanut butter in them....the not playing is not unusual for a lot dogs, especially if no one has ever played with them before, you have to teach her. I think the longest it took me with one dog was about 6 months...he was a street dog until I rescued him and no one had ever bothered to play with him before...sad huh! Just be patient with her, its not her fault. Also keep in mind that she is teething, she will be for about another 3 months, there are dog teething toys that you can put in the freezer, just like for human babies....a lot of the larger pet stores sell them (dont get a human baby one, theyre not strong enough for dogs)

I know you say youve tried different methods to train her but to be honest, youve only had her for 2 weeks, you dont know what shes been through before you had her and shes going to be stressed just by the moving around....I would take one step at a time right now, start with a visit to the vet (if you havent already) just for a general check up and mention the peeing and that you want to make sure she doesnt have an infection (she probably doesnt but its better to check), then work on the housetraining with her, try and encourage her to play a little with a ball or something but dont push her too much....then if you can, in about anther 3-4 weeks you should get her signed up for a puppy obedience class if possible, this should help with her confidence around people and will give you some good guidance in how best to interact with her.

Hope that helps a bit. Good luck.

 

Heres an article on crate training.

http://www.hsus.org/pets/pet_care/our_p ... ining.html

 

I agree with everything Dela said.
It does sound like she is peeing through submission and this happens alot in some dogs.

Never rub there noses in it as this does not teach them anything apart from fear of you and also increases chances of them catching an infection.

Rubbing there noses in there own pee can cause damage to the nose.
You have only had the pup 2 weeks and will take it some time to trust you and everyone that comes into your home fully.

Sounds like she may have suffered abuse from a previous owner as dogs do not naturally fear people something needs to happen to trigger this.
Give her time do not push her to much as she will never trust you and will only make matters worse

Mike

 

I agree, don't ever ever ever rub the nose in pee. That is useless! I think it is abuse.

 

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i apreciate the responses but get off the rubbing the nose is abuse thing please. i am offended and obviously know i did wrong. it's not like i beat her to death geez, condsidering rubbing the nose is not abuse. you have your opinions and i have mine.

 

Sorry you were offended, what your seeing is just reaction to the idea of a dog having its nose rubbed into the floor. Dogs noses are a lot more sensitive to ours and urine contains ammonia which is caustic, its an irritant so if the dog breathes in through its nose while its being rubbed into it, at worst, if done often enough then who knows, it may cause damage and at 'best' it smells nasty and stings.

When I was about 8 years we got a puppy, both my parents 'solution' to accidents in the house was to rub the pups nose in it, I felt sorry for the pup so started taking him out more just to get him out of the way, I had no idea at the time that taking him out more would reduce the amount of times that he peed in the house...end result was the dog got housetrained....both my parents were conviced that he wasnt peeing inside anymore because he didnt like getting his nose rubbed in it. They were wrong....and Ive told them so many times over the years, their last 2 dogs (only other dogs they had after Snoopy...my pup) never had their noses rubbed in it.

Its one of those things, like I said its an 'old method', sometimes the old ways are still considered the best ways or the right ways and unless you ask and someone tells you otherwise then how are you supposed to know any different, none of us are born with the knowledge we have, weve all had to learn from someone else or from our own experiences.

So again, I am sorry you were offended, there are just some things that will cause a 'knee jerk' reaction/response and this is one of them.

I wish you the best of luck with the housetraining and I hope yourself and your pup are doing well.