Corgi Regressing?

Penguin_Otaku

So I've had this puppy for about a year now and she's the sweetest little thing ever when she wants to be. She's a corgi and I got her because I heard they were easy to train.

Within the first year she had her accidents here and there, but overall was really, really good to the point I thought she was trained.

She was at my parent's for a while and they honestly did jack shit with making sure she was trained and initially it didn't seem like it really affected her other than wanting more people food.

Now, though, she does this thing (sometimes, not all times) where she gets all antsy and when I go to pet her she sprays a little pee on the floor. Frustrating. Initially I rubbed her nose in it, gave her a pat on the butt and took her out (of course reinforcing "NO".)

It hasn't helped and she's continued to spray. Sometimes when I tell her "No" afterwards, she'll pee more. (I'm guessing she's frightened at this point, but I don't get why. She should understand that I just rubbed her nose in pee and said No and not to do it again, but instead she continues to do it.)

I've heard nipping their ears is another way to get them to behave/realize the error in their ways but this hasn't worked either.

Oddly enough she doesn't do this when I'm not home... she won't use the restroom inside, but she'll spray a little pee if she gets excited and hasn't seen me all day. As in, I had a long work day and so my friend was babysitting her and took her out with his dog as well and she'd already eaten so I assumed she'd be ok. Nope. Went to go rub her belly, she rolls over and as I start scratching... spray.

The other day I picked her up and let her sleep in the bed with me. She, as said before, was nothing but an awesome snuggler at night. Then I woke up, used the restroom and told her it was time to go outside (whoops.) And that's how I got to wash my sheets for the second time in two days (first was just normal washing.)

This sucks, because she's a real cuddle slut and I love picking her up and playing with her, but if everytime I'm going to have to wash sheets/her blanket/clean the carpet, etc.... I dunno.

I'm not sure if I'm being too assertive with her/not enough or... what's changed with her. I know corgis are generally stubborn, but I don't understand why she keeps doing this. It's frustrating to say the least.

MushroomStick

Is she fixed?

Aoi Tsuki

Quit biting her and rubbing her nose in it. She doesn't understand why you're doing it, so you just come off as a psychopath, which doesn't help.

Have you had her checked over by a vet?

Penguin_Otaku

Aoi Tsuki wrote: »

Quit biting her and rubbing her nose in it. She doesn't understand why you're doing it, so you just come off as a psychopath, which doesn't help.

Ok, so nipping her here might not be as intuitive (though, I'm told their moms do it) but you're telling me not to rub her nose in it and tell her no? That's how I potty trained her in the beginning.

And no, she's not fixed but I plan to get that taken care of but unfortunately I'm in between jobs.

MushroomStick

Make getting her fixed a priority. That's not me getting up on a soap box about it, but because I genuinely believe that it's the most likely solution to your problem.

Look up some local animal shelters as sometimes they have low cost spay/neutering services, or at least know about some.

Esh

Penguin_Otaku wrote:

It hasn't helped and she's continued to spray. Sometimes when I tell her "No" afterwards, she'll pee more. (I'm guessing she's frightened at this point, but I don't get why. She should understand that I just rubbed her nose in pee and said No and not to do it again, but instead she continues to do it.)

If I was a dog and someone was yelling at me, rubbing my nose in urine, and biting me, I'd be pretty scared too. Maybe you should knock that off? That's a terrible way to potty train anything.

SkyGheNe

Fixing a dog for whatever reason has always helped make potty training a lot easier.

Punishing a dog by rubbing its face in crap/biting its ear does not work - it just instills more anxiety and less trust in their alpha (which typically is the owner).

I doubt mother dogs nip the ears of their children after they pee - seeing as how they pee wherever the hell they want (as long as it's sensibly not on another dog).

The best training techniques are preventative ones - when they are puppies, you need to be on your toes about letting them out right after meals and often before they even know they have to go to the bathroom themselves.

As they develop - they'll begin to realize and make connections between the door that leads to the outside and when they pee - and as they age - holding their bladder will be easier.

If you haven't read about crate training - or done it and STUCK BY IT which many people fail to do when a puppy whines - then you should, as it is a huge help.

Aoi Tsuki

Penguin_Otaku wrote: »

Ok, so nipping her here might not be as intuitive (though, I'm told their moms do it) but you're telling me not to rub her nose in it and tell her no? That's how I potty trained her in the beginning.

And no, she's not fixed but I plan to get that taken care of but unfortunately I'm in between jobs.

The rubbing and biting aren't making the dog understand that the pee isn't supposed to be there; even the smartest dog won't make the connection between something she did in the past, and what you're doing now. She has no clue why she's being punished, so you're just terrorizing her, which makes her likelier to lose control of her bladder.

And yes, get her fixed ASAP. Look into low-cost spay/neuter clinics or special events near you.

ihmmy

It sounds like excitement peeing to me, which is entirely different than any issues with housebreaking

http://www.trainpetdog.com/dog-nervous-behavior.html has some good tips by the look of it. In particular:

Dog owners who are too dominant and strict will reinforce submissive urinating. So, calm down and be gentle and kind with your dog... Never scold or punish for excitement or submissive urination.

Siska

It sounds like your dog is incontinent. Punishing her for loosing control of her bladder when she is scared or excited will do nothing. She is not peeing on purpose. Also, stop rubbing her nose in it. When you can afford it take her do a vet to rule out any underlying medical issue. For now try take her outside for potty breaks more often. She is less likely to "explode" if her bladder isn't full. And avoid intentionally exciting her except for when you are playing with her outside.

Penguin_Otaku

Well I guess I was off on rubbing her nose in it, that was just always the advice I was given before and like I said it had worked up until this point.

As far as nipping her ears (guys, I appreciate the help, but the amount some people read into things... gah) it's not something I've done throughout having her. It was only when she began to get excited and pee on the carpet that I tried the nipping thing. And yes, I realize that her mother wouldn't have just nipped her for taking a piss...

Before I read that @ihmmy that was the approach I decided to begin to take and she seems responsive (but it's been less than a day.)

Thanks for all the advice so far and that to come. Much appreciated.

RenegadeWombat

you may also want to look in to seperation anxiety. which kinda falls into that excitement catagory. i've always crate trained my dogs and when my wife's pomchi was getting bad seperation anxiety we re trained her in the crate so she wouldn't pee in her immediate area after seeing us.

emp123

How long has the dog been back with you? It could just need time adjusting. When we first got one of my dogs she would pee whenever someone approached her (it was either due to excitement or fear, she was a rescue) but over time she got used to us and is now super chill.

I dont really know how much adjusting corgi's need since my male corgi basically doesnt give a fuck about where he is, he just assumes its his (hes not territorial, hes just super okay being wherever), but that could be because hes male, or because hes a giant corgi, or because his kind of an asshole (not in an agressive manner though).

ihmmy

piiiiiictures btw. Corgi's are adorable. All pet threads require pictures!

Penguin_Otaku

Most recent. She was coming back with me, you can tell she's pretty happy.


She's a boozer. Not really.


Dirg.

Dr. Frenchenstein

If she is peeing often, it's possible she has a UTI. My dog gets them a lot.

Also, unless you catch her in the act, rubbing their nose in it/scolding them doesn't do anything but confuse them, and i'm not convinced rubbing their nose in it does anything except scare them. If it's submissive peeing, you shouldn't scold her. if it's just excited peeing, take her outside IMMEDIATELY when you get home. Like, open door, grab leash, outside. She'll get the message pretty quick. When she gets all antsy, and you ultimately take her out, does she pee for real? if so she is probably trying to let you know she has to pee, and not "pet me".

amateurhour

I want to hijack this thread for just a minute to ask an honest question about scolding pets when they pee or poop in the house. When did the general consensus change from smacking the dog with a rolled up newspaper when they did wrong to dealing with it in other ways?

Growing up and having several dogs in the 80's and early 90's that was pretty much standard practice, and now it's like a forbidden thing.

I'm not looking to debate one side over the other, I'm just wondering when that consensus changed and what articles or veterinary/animal behavior and development studies proved it wasn't a good way to do things?

If I need to post it in D&D or something I can.

Dark_Side

amateurhour wrote: »

I want to hijack this thread for just a minute to ask an honest question about scolding pets when they pee or poop in the house. When did the general consensus change from smacking the dog with a rolled up newspaper when they did wrong to dealing with it in other ways?

Growing up and having several dogs in the 80's and early 90's that was pretty much standard practice, and now it's like a forbidden thing.

I'm not looking to debate one side over the other, I'm just wondering when that consensus changed and what articles or veterinary/animal behavior and development studies proved it wasn't a good way to do things?

If I need to post it in D&D or something I can.

I can only speak anecdotally from my own experiences, as I can't really quote any studies. But it seems to be a general progressive change in dog training opinions over the past what, 10 years? towards positive training and behavior modification from the older style of negative reinforcement. Really..you can get results with either positive or negative reinforcement, but I like positive reinforcement for training because frankly...it's easier and less stressful for both owner and dog. But I did have an american bulldog who could be such a handful at times that I resorted to negative reinforcers like prong collars and so on, on the advice of a dog trainer.

As to house training, the dog doesn't know why you're mad at it unless you catch it in the actual act, as their memories are pretty short term. So any scolding after the fact does nothing. Though eventually I imagine a dog will figure out the connection, you have better luck just taking them outside all the time and rewarding them if they go to bathroom. When treats are involved...my current bulldog will do amazing things.

Burtletoy

Dark_Side wrote: »

amateurhour wrote: »

I want to hijack this thread for just a minute to ask an honest question about scolding pets when they pee or poop in the house. When did the general consensus change from smacking the dog with a rolled up newspaper when they did wrong to dealing with it in other ways?

Growing up and having several dogs in the 80's and early 90's that was pretty much standard practice, and now it's like a forbidden thing.

I'm not looking to debate one side over the other, I'm just wondering when that consensus changed and what articles or veterinary/animal behavior and development studies proved it wasn't a good way to do things?

If I need to post it in D&D or something I can.

I can only speak anecdotally from my own experiences, as I can't really quote any studies. But it seems to be a general progressive change in dog training opinions over the past what, 10 years? towards positive training and behavior modification from the older style of negative reinforcement. Really..you can get results with either positive or negative reinforcement, but I like positive reinforcement for training because frankly...it's easier and less stressful for both owner and dog. But I did have an american bulldog who could be such a handful at times that I resorted to negative reinforcers like prong collars and so on, on the advice of a dog trainer.

As to house training, the dog doesn't know why you're mad at it unless you catch it in the actual act, as their memories are pretty short term. So any scolding after the fact does nothing. Though eventually I imagine a dog will figure out the connection, you have better luck just taking them outside all the time and rewarding them if they go to bathroom. When treats are involved...my current bulldog will do amazing things.

I assume if you walked up to a dog and started eptting it then it started peeing, you probably caught it in the act.

Dark_Side

Burtletoy wrote: »

Dark_Side wrote: »

amateurhour wrote: »

I want to hijack this thread for just a minute to ask an honest question about scolding pets when they pee or poop in the house. When did the general consensus change from smacking the dog with a rolled up newspaper when they did wrong to dealing with it in other ways?

Growing up and having several dogs in the 80's and early 90's that was pretty much standard practice, and now it's like a forbidden thing.

I'm not looking to debate one side over the other, I'm just wondering when that consensus changed and what articles or veterinary/animal behavior and development studies proved it wasn't a good way to do things?

If I need to post it in D&D or something I can.

I can only speak anecdotally from my own experiences, as I can't really quote any studies. But it seems to be a general progressive change in dog training opinions over the past what, 10 years? towards positive training and behavior modification from the older style of negative reinforcement. Really..you can get results with either positive or negative reinforcement, but I like positive reinforcement for training because frankly...it's easier and less stressful for both owner and dog. But I did have an american bulldog who could be such a handful at times that I resorted to negative reinforcers like prong collars and so on, on the advice of a dog trainer.

As to house training, the dog doesn't know why you're mad at it unless you catch it in the actual act, as their memories are pretty short term. So any scolding after the fact does nothing. Though eventually I imagine a dog will figure out the connection, you have better luck just taking them outside all the time and rewarding them if they go to bathroom. When treats are involved...my current bulldog will do amazing things.

I assume if you walked up to a dog and started eptting it then it started peeing, you probably caught it in the act.

Depends on the situation really. Sure, you caught the dog in the act. But if the underlying reasoning for the peeing is a medical issue, fear, anxiety, or some other kind of stress...it doesn't take a canine behavior expert to realize scolding the dog may produce counter-intuitive results.

Derrick

Rubbing the dog's nose in it is fine. Frankly, dogs are not stupid, and they remember when they've done something wrong. My girlfriend's mom likes to take out an old year book that her dog chewed up years ago. Doesn't say anything; she just brings it out. The dog immediately acts ashamed.

Now, what's happening with your dog is that she's overly excited and doing some submissive urination. It's more common than you think. How much time do you spend with your dog? Do you take lots of time out of your day to just play with her? Rough house, let her knaw on you a bit? She's gotten uncomfortable with you, and you need to fix that.

Also, I can't recommend crate training enough. Get one and stick with it. Don't let the dog sleep with you, either. Especially not until her problem gets taken care of.

Penguin_Otaku

She's done much better the past few days. My demeanor has been a little less harsh/aggressive for the past few days but I don't think that was it really. I'd only get upset with her when she was chewing on something she wasn't supposed to, barking non-stop or taking a leak on the carpet. Nevertheless the relaxed thing has rubbed off on her I think.

It had been raining her the past week so all I could really take her out for was for walks and trying to get her to chase a ball around the apartment but she didn't seem interested in that and wanted to go for her walk.

Anyway, it's been gorgeous the past few days and she's got a baseball game this afternoon she gets to frolic at so I think she'll be plenty happy.

Penguin_Otaku

So far she's been really good about not peeing where she shouldn't be so I appreciate the advice that came.

Now she's chewing everything up. "Get her toys" she has them but won't play with them unless people are around. She's had two rawhide bones and one she chewed on for a bit and then ignored for a while until I gave it to her in front of people. She's had another one in her puppy bed that she won't touch. I came back today and she'd successfully chewed through an old flip flop (which admittedly I left for her) and my iPhone charge cable. She's never chewed wires before but this is the second time she's done it in two months (another was when she chewed through my friend's charger while he was puppysitting her)

I don't know what to do. I play with her, take her for walks but she dictates when she wants to play. Say I'll take her for a walk with her tennis ball and she'll see me with it but it's completely hit or miss if she wants to chase it or not.

naengwen

Rubber chew toy. Doesn't have to squeak, but you can get a dog to fall in love with that, it'll do the trick.

No idea if kongs are still a popular thing, but I'd imagine that would work pretty well. Another thing is to try different kinds of bouncy balls. My corgi doesn't go for the tennis ball all too much, but he'll go nuts for the green rubber bouncy ones.

MetroidZoid

Also, those tied rope toys. Sure she'll trash them eventually, and it will make a mess. But it will only be a $5 mess, and won't have disconnected any of your electronics.

emp123

Just a warning, but if you dont want her to eat through your shoes you probably shouldnt give her old ones to gnaw on.

Penguin_Otaku

Fair enough. I'll try to get her a rubber/tied toy and hopefully she'll latch onto it. I hate for her to be bored while I'm at class which is probably why she's responded this way.

Two other questions. I've had the lady friends over before and sometimes it's casual sitting on the couch and snuggling, but occasionally I get a hit and things progress from there. That's when she gets really needy and attention wanting and wants to sleep on the bed all of a sudden. I don't have an issue with this but she pisses the bed in the morning when I have to pick her up and put her down on the ground. And also she kinda ruins the mood when we're trying to do the thing and she's sitting there whining.

godmode

Does she have a crate, and is she crate trained?