Dealing With A Disobedient Dog

[Noomi]

It doesn't do any good to get mad at him after the fact, and they do that sort of urination as a form of acting out.

Where do you play ball with him, and for how long?

In the backyard. We are on a full acre, so he has plenty of space to run. He'll run from one end of the yard and back and forth for a good half hour (he gets a little bored if you go any longer than that) until he sits down - he's basically saying he's exhausted. Then he'll come inside, drink, then sleep until he is ready to go again. He shouldn't have pissed anywhere because I gave him a good workout. I just don't understand what he was so angry about?

 

[koshergrl]

I don't know, it sounds like you're always angry with him. That makes them neurotic.They aren't neurotic on their own.

 

[Noomi]

I don't know, it sounds like you're always angry with him. That makes them neurotic.They aren't neurotic on their own.

I'm not usually mad at him. I really do like him, especially when he comes over for a cuddle and sleeps on my feet at night. He's a great dog and gets a ton of praise. I just get mad when he pisses everywhere because it stinks and we have to clean it up.

Now the younger dog has gotten the idea that if Cooper can piss inside, so can he. So the Jack Russell had a piss inside as well, in the bedroom this time.

Its exasperating at times, I swear! I wish we had cats, I am more of a cat person, anyway - and they don't piss inside!

 

[koshergrl]

Omg, you've got a border collie and a jack russell?

I do pity you...and cats absolutely piss inside, hahaha and it smells even worse.

I had a couple of Rottie mixes who would occasionally piss and shit on my flipping BED. It had nothing to do with them having to go to the bathroom...one memorable event took place just a few minutes after I'd let them in from outside...I let them into the house, then ran out to the car to get the groceries and guess what was waiting for me?

 

[Noomi]

Omg, you've got a border collie and a jack russell?

I do pity you...and cats absolutely piss inside, hahaha and it smells even worse.

I had a couple of Rottie mixes who would occasionally piss and shit on my flipping BED. It had nothing to do with them having to go to the bathroom...one memorable event took place just a few minutes after I'd let them in from outside...I let them into the house, then ran out to the car to get the groceries and guess what was waiting for me?

Ooh...nasty - how'd you deal with that, though? How would you punish a dog for doing wrong, and for how long afterward?

Yes, we have two Borders - Cooper and Suki, whose a female, and the Jack Russell is Trever. Cooper was the last to join the family, Suki was first.

 

[koshergrl]

I didn't leave them alone in the house, and I especially didn't shut them in the house even for a few minutes right after getting home and letting them into the house.

They were in a kennel, and we brought them in when we got home...they'd run around for a minute and then go into the house, and I had just shut the door behind me on my way out to the car to get the groceries.

I'm not big on "punishment". It doesn't work, it makes things worse. You just have to modify modify modify until you figure out the best approach...I have made a lot of mistakes down through the years, but they've all been my mistakes, not the dogs', and I don't hold the dogs responsible when I haven't figured stuff out. They're just being dogs. If they act weird, it's because they're in a weird situation.

 

[Noomi]

They should probably spend more time outside, but they have always been inside dogs. We don't like leaving them alone, but we all work and its not possible to be there all the time. A few hours away I could understand their frustration, but a few minutes?

 

[koshergrl]

Lol..they're dogs. They're reacting to something, that's what they do. You have to figure out what it is and change the situation.

 

[koshergrl]

But I know those three dogs are a serious committment, and if nobody is spending considerable time with them outside, engaging their minds and tiring their bodies, they're going to be miserable..and so are you.

 

[editec]

Well, lately he has been. He's a three year old Border Collie, and in the past two days, he's pissed on the couch. Just cocked his leg and pissed on it.

Last night he did it, and he knew he had done wrong. This morning while my mum was in the bathroom, he did it again.

We know that BC's require lots of exercise, but there are always times when you don't have time to take the dog for a walk every night. He goes around four times a week, for a good, long run. The other days he gets to play ball we tire him out.
When he goes for a walk, no matter how far you take him, he comes home and wants to continue playing. He's very demanding.

Plus, he barks to get attention, and if you tell him to stop, he humps your leg. Literally flings himself at you and batters away at your leg, and will continue to do it until you have shaken him off enough times.

He's been trained, as have all our dogs, he just seems to be going through his stage where he is disobedient.

For those who own dogs, is just a stage, like a toddler stage for dogs? He's a good dog most of the time, we love him to death, he wants for nothing, but it seems he is just ungrateful for the love we give him.

Its driving us nuts! Can any dog lovers here give us some tips on how to deal with this?

It's a freaking corder collie. They're arguably the smartest breed of dogs extant.

The poor creature is probably bored to death.

However, dogs that are pissing in appropriately may be trying to tell you something else, too.

Like for example, they have some kind of internal infection.

You might want to consider taking him to the vet just to check that out.

If you could give your dog some job, he'd probably stop driving you nuts.

Border collies LIKE to have something REAL to do.

Border Collies seem to have some kind of protestant work ethic.

Give that dog a creature to guard and boss around and he would probably be as happy as a border collies can be.

Great dogs, ya know?

 

[koshergrl]

Plus I imagine the JR is driving everybody nuts, just on principle.

 

[tinydancer]

Boy I chewed thru this thread. First thing I'd wrap your brain around Noomi and this is not a criticism but to change your thought process as a human.

He's not being disobedient. He's misbehaving. I'm not giving him a pass on his bad actions here, just trying to put it in perspective.

Think about it. Disobedient is when a command is given and not obeyed. This is misbehaving, but I bet dollars to donuts he doesn't see it that way.

You and your mother sound like awesome dog owners but you're just having an "issue" with this beastie. And from what I've read in this thread you've had him checked out so this is not an issue for the vet.

First thing I would do is deny the dog access to the couch. Stop the bad behavior. And if the JRT is now doing it, this boils down to marking.

In one of your posts you stated that this dog is like "supreme marker" beyond when you go on walks. My Bad Ass was that way. I swear to the good Lord above I've never had a dog who could squeeze out one last drop to mark where my neighbour's dog had whizzed.

I think that's where you have to start from. It's not about urinating on the couch, it's about marking the couch.

So temporarily deny him that access. Next up, nice and simple here, make the couch so unappealing that he never wants to mark it again.

You have to descent the couch. And make it not desirable to be marked.

Now you could put up a photo of Amy Winehouse.... keeeeeeeeeding but the easiest dog repellent ever is chili powder.

All natural and I've even been able to drive skunks and cats out of a garden with it.

Because this is a piece of furniture in your home, here's how to do it. Take masking tape and make a giant loop and tape it to the corner he prefers.

Then spread the chili powder on the masking tape. Now he's going to get the sneezies, but it won't hurt him. And you won't stain the couch.

Oh and a quick note before you start the chili powder, descent with hunters descenting products. There are so many on the market that are excellent I won't recommend one over the other.

But get that indoor fire hydrant aka your couch to not be a sniff/marker haven.

I understand other people posts and agree with the recommendations of more "working moments" but I think the marking is a completely different issue. And in my humble opinion I think that's the problem.

I bred some of the hardest working dogs on the planet. Catahoulas can do a swamp for hogs and can do a cattle roundup all on the same day. I love working dogs.

Here's a pic of the male I was talking about who had marking issues when he was a puppy. This is him as a young pup. This is my American Bad Ass. He was one fine beastie. I miss him so.

 

[koshergrl]

^^^^AWESOME^^^^

I've never heard better advice.

Keep in mind, any time you spend with the dogs teaching them something is "working" time. Your dogs will gobble up the attention, and you will be AMAZED at how different their behavior is if you just spend any time at all teaching them something. Don't wait until they do something destructive, recognize behavior and then work on changing it.

You'll also be amazed at how amenable they usually are.

That doesn't mean you won't meet with resistance and the occasional flash back, but it's the interaction. They will love the stuff that TD suggests, they'll be all interested in it and fascinated. They might not GET it at first, but just keep at it, eventually you can make your desires understood and they will abide by them.

It is a work in progress of course. In my house things are going along just swimmingly, when suddenly my saint's sort of cute vocalizations become straight up barking, loudly, repeatedly, at me, when I'm in bed. At about 9 pm and hey at 3:30 in the morning! Woo hoo!

You gotta just roll with it, lol. I roll with the fact that my house smells slightly (ok, very) doggy and there is dog hair and drool on every surface, including walls and ceilings. Do I like it? No, not really. Did I plan for it? Uh, nope. But I love the dog and he's part of our family.

 

[koshergrl]

OOOh.....dog pics...

 

[koshergrl]

Klaus is on the ground..the other (shaved) saint belongs to a friend of mine who came to visit for a few days. I was skeptical about the whole shaving thing but he said that the dog just couldn't handle the heat of New Mexico and has an incredibly bushy coat. He's older than my boy. The groomer left his tail long because they rely on that brush to protect/swish their butt (and I won't go into details but that's important, lol. It has to do with poop and glands and such).

Yes, that's my living room. It's like a comfy kennel that we are allowed to share.

 

[koshergrl]

Recent of Klaus and my son's rednose, Snoop. Snoop had a lot of fun this day, but the next day he was stiff...

 

[koshergrl]

 

[koshergrl]

A friend's heeler pup...

That pup with his mom

This is the pup, I can't remember what his name is...Bill, I think. ^

They're out there working, but I only see one by the horse in this pic...

 

[koshergrl]

 

[koshergrl]

My son was the victim of a vicious attack: