Can you train a pugalier?

pipster

I've a 1yr old pugalier who still goes to the toilet inside during the night. I've been told its a dominance thing by the vet and I need to train her better so she knows who's the boss.

I have been trying and to say she is rebelling is an understatement. I have been trying to impose more manners on her like jumping up or running mad on a walk. She now won't respond to her name and won't do the tricks that she has known for 6 months.

Do dogs eventually come around and stop being stubborn?

Toulouse

What method have you used to toilet train her?

What time is her last meal?

What time is her last walk?

How long is she left overnight?

Does she pee or poo or both?

pipster

Toulouse wrote: »

What method have you used to toilet train her?

What time is her last meal?

What time is her last walk?

How long is she left overnight?

Does she pee or poo or both?

We praise her when she goes outside. We let her out last thing at night (10pm) and 1st thing in the morning (7pm). She always goes in the morning but not always before bed.
We walk her at about 7pm and let her out a few times during the evening. She is left from about 10/11 to 7pm. She does both. I thought that she didnt know she was supposed to hold it but the vet said that she should know to go outside by now but is doing this to be dominant.

cocker5

pipster wrote: »

I've a 1yr old pugalier who still goes to the toilet inside during the night. I've been told its a dominance thing by the vet and I need to train her better so she knows who's the boss.

I have been trying and to say she is rebelling is an understatement. I have been trying to impose more manners on her like jumping up or running mad on a walk. She now won't respond to her name and won't do the tricks that she has known for 6 months.

Do dogs eventually come around and stop being stubborn?

you need to change your vet for a start, thats whole dominance thing show them whos boss is long oroven utter nonsense... so id be going elsewhere if i were you.

Dogs dont rebel, they live in the moment , in the here and now, they dont do things on purpose
to annoy their owners…. so keeping this in mind you need to go back to basics…

Start by training her to sit, using a small of cheese etc. and lots of praise each week try a new trick etc…

With dogs it’s all about ROUTINE, I cannot stress this enough.

You need to feed her at the same time each day, let her out to the toilet at the same time etc., over and over again. (approx. not the exact same time each day to the minute but def. to the hour.)

What time are you feeding her at?

How often is she walked?

what are you feeding her?

Edited to say 10pm to 7am is a long time to expect a dog to hold everything in, at 1 she is still a puppy.
My cocker holds it from 7am - 6pm (god only knows how) on the days he's alone... but he's 9 and def didnt do that at 1... she is still very much a puppy, so your vet is talking nonsense.
what time are you feeding her at?

pipster

cocker5 wrote: »

you need to change your vet for a start, thats whole dominance thing show them whos boss is long oroven utter nonsense... so id be going elsewhere if i were you.

Dogs dont rebel, they live in the moment , in the here and now, they dont do things on purpose
to annoy their owners…. so keeping this in mind you need to go back to basics…

Start by training her to sit, using a small of cheese etc. and lots of praise each week try a new trick etc…

With dogs it’s all about ROUTINE, I cannot stress this enough.

You need to feed her at the same time each day, let her out to the toilet at the same time etc., over and over again. (approx. not the exact same time each day to the minute but def. to the hour.)

What time are you feeding her at?

How often is she walked?

what are you feeding her?

Edited to say 10pm to 7am is a long time to expect a dog to hold everything in, at 1 she is still a puppy.
My cocker holds it from 7am - 6pm (god only knows how) on the days he's alone... but he's 9 and def didnt do that at 1... she is still very much a puppy, so your vet is talking nonsense.
what time are you feeding her at?

I get how dogs don't think like us but she knows for certain what sit means but refuses to do it since we started being stricter with her.

She is normally holds for that length of time for the last good few months with the odd accident if you got down a bit later. These days she does it once per week and this week with the stricter behaviour, she has gone every night with a pee and sometimes with 2 poops.

cocker5

Sorry I want taking a dig out you I was just merely pointing out your vet isn’t advising your correctly that’s all. vets may know about the medical side of dogs / animals but many are total useless when it comes to dog behaviour that’s all.

You really need to answer the questions asked for us to try and help you.

What time is she fed at?

What food are you feeding her?

Have you thought of crate training her?

You must remember up until she reaches 2 she is still very much a puppy and then can go through phases, in similar ways to kids when they are growing up.

Can i ask does she cry when left alone?

pipster

cocker5 wrote: »

Sorry I want taking a dig out you I was just merely pointing out your vet isn’t advising your correctly that’s all. vets may know about the medical side of dogs / animals but many are total useless when it comes to dog behaviour that’s all.

You really need to answer the questions asked for us to try and help you.

What time is she fed at?

What food are you feeding her?

Have you thought of crate training her?

You must remember up until she reaches 2 she is still very much a puppy and then can go through phases, in similar ways to kids when they are growing up.

Can i ask does she cry when left alone?

No probs.
We feed her at 7am and 6pm every day. Sometimes 8am at weekends. We feed her Canine pug food. We had her in a crate at the start but the crate was too big and she went anyway. She can get left alone but say if she heard the front door she would cry as she is happy if you are in the house.

So just to explain a little bit more. She sleeps in a section of the kitchen behind a baby gate. I used to let her out into the kitchen in the morning and open the back door for her and go upstairs for a shower. She used to go out the back fine and then stopped and started peeing inside even if the weather was fine. Now I put her out in the garden 1st thing, wait for a pee/poo, praise her and bring her in.

cocker5

ok so firstly if you are going to try and crate train you need to get her a crate for her size as you already said one that’s too big they will go anyway, so firstly id invest in a smaller crate, the correct size for her breed.

Can you feed her earlier in the evening?
Reason I ask is a few times now I’ve fed my guy in the evening he’s been bursting to go at like 2am… now he cries to go out and I come down and let him out etc., but could u feed her earlier? this may help?
Now I just leave my guys food down all day and he helps himself it works grand for us. if not feed her more in the morning and less in the evening etc.

sorry for too much information BUT could you bring her for a quick walk just before bed, like 10 mins around the block?
Reason I ask is walking / new smells encourages a dog to go to the toilet.

when my guy was a puppy he would go through phases of not coming back when called (he had “selective” hearing I used to say)…. other times he wouldn’t come in at 10pm at night etc… he calmed down, be persistent. it’s a puppy thing they don’t all behave well all the time, it’s all a learning curve for owners and puppy.

There’s no point in getting mad etc. they can sense your frustration. (easier said and done I know)

You need to be completely consistent with training or it won’t work.

have you thought of using a phrase when she goes to the toilet?
Sad I know but I say “poos” to my guy and when were out on a walk if I say it a few times he will do his poss. (yes I know Im sad but it works), but you need to say the word EVERY time they go and then they will see it as a que word – if you know hats I mean.

is she destructive at all? shredding things etc.?

pipster

I can't feed her earlier I'm in work until 530. Pugs are gluttonous so she hoovers food in when she gets it so she wouldn't pick it during the day.

If i bought a crate, would she not still go when she is out of it or does she always sleep in it?

I am trying to use a word for it when she does it but she is stubborn with other words these days.

When I let her out in the evening, she doesn't seem to go to the toilet anymore, she prefers to bark at nothing.

Tranceypoo

She's not coming into heat is she (I'm assuming she isn't spayed)?, not sure if this would explain it I'm not an expert but I know it can change their behaviour and they can seem more moody and, as you say 'stubborn', for want of a better word!

pipster

Tranceypoo wrote: »

She's not coming into heat is she (I'm assuming she isn't spayed)?, not sure if this would explain it I'm not an expert but I know it can change their behaviour and they can seem more moody and, as you say 'stubborn', for want of a better word!

No she just finished heat a few weeks ago. She was moody then too but this is slightly different rebellious behaviour. We will be getting her spayed in the next month.

borderlinemeath

As others have said, the dominance thing is all rubbish, there's something else perhaps that may be making her go. She might have a touch of separation anxiety, if she's alone and knows that you're only in bed, she could well be upset that she can't see you and when dogs get anxious they wee or defecate. The best way to find out if this is the case is if you could set up a webcam (have you one on a laptop?) and see just when she goes. If she goes fairly shortly after you've gone to bed, within the first half hour/hour then it could be anxiety. If she holds it, and holds it and only goes at say 5am then she's just having trouble holding it, and you may need to get up in the middle of the night to let her out.

You say you're being stricter with her for her commands. Do you mean strict in the literal sense or are you being persistant? Dogs don't necessarily do what you want if you're being strict, they just get confused and wonder why your tone of voice is a bit scary. Persistence with treats or motivational toys is the way I would work the retraining of commands.

For bedtime I always use the same command phrase and when they come in after doing their business they get a treat for getting into bed. They know at this point that it's lights out til morning and settle down to sleep.

Even though you can't anyway, I wouldn't advise feeding any earlier. In fact I would feed most of her dinner at 6pm and then the remainder at going to bed time, and I agree with an earlier poster 10pm is very early to be putting her to bed for the night. Also dogs can be a bit sickly if there's nothing in their belly and she would probably settle better with something in her stomach rather than it empty.