Small Dog Headaches

Posted on Aug 03 in Small Dog Behavior, Training A Small Dogby Jeff K.Print

photo courtesy of frankjuarez@flickr.com*

Here is a situation described by a reader in response to my article on Anti-Bark Collars. As you will see, she is experiencing multiple problems with her pack of small dogs. There are a lot of object lessons in this story. My reply comes after her story.

Reader’s Comment:

“I have tried the shock collar and also have mixed feelings, as well as mixed results. The collar does not even phase my Shi Tzu, it may be that he has too much hair in the way, not sure, only know that it didn’t slow him down at all. Given how expensive they are, I returned it to the pet store for a refund. A previous collar did have a positive affect on one of my yorkies. After he wore it for approx 1 month, he never had to wear it again; he learned to stop barking. Unfortunately, the first chance he had to chew it to pieces, he did and I had to through it away. I have 4 dogs (2 Yorkies, 1 Shi Tzu and 1 Bullmastif) The 2 I mentioned are horrible barkers (after 6 months without the collar the Yorkie is barking again). I am very sensitive to how my neighbors feel, I believe we are all entitled to peace and quiet in out own homes. I am so upset about not being able to change their behavior, I have considered trying to find them new homes, but I just can’t do it. I can not keep them in the house while I am gone because the Yorkies are rotten and pee on everything. They pee on their food bowl, on each others beds, on their toys, on my furniture, they are just rotten. Contrary to EVERYTHING I have read on the pee problem, potting training them is not the solution, it hasn’t worked a bit. I have tried it all; we will be outside to pee and 3 minutes later inside one of them will lift a leg on some random corner. They have full access always to the yard and when one of them does pee inside they both assume a very submissive stance as they are aware that it is wrong. Funny thing is, they appear to be well behaved (it’s always when I am not looking and I don’t know which one it is so it’s very hard to punish the right Yorkie). So the peeing is one problem, the barking is another. The solution I am looking at now is building a 6×10 dog run at the back of my house, hoping they won’t be triggered to bark as much if they don’t see people on the road walking by and also hoping the house blocks most of the noise from reaching my neighbors. Its a long shot but may take care of both the barking and peeing… as I type this I realize that my solution does nothing to train them to stop, it just hides the problem as they will pee all over the dog run. I may just go back to the shock collar after all. By the way, I tried the noise collar and all it did was add to the noise disturbing the peace…first a bark, then a piercing whistle, bark, whistle, etc. If it works it means my sanity, my neighbor’s sanity and I will have more time and energy to enjoy my little pets. The Bull Mastiff is a normal dog, no problems with him.”

My reply:

My heart goes out to you on your problems with your Yorkies and Shih Tsu. Let me talk about your barking Yorkie first. Experience has shown that once you put an anti-bark collar on a dog, it has to stay on for the dog for the rest of the dog’s life. Your Yorkie started barking again 6 months after the collar was removed because one day it experimented with barking and noticed there was no longer any consequence for doing so. It is not that the collar needs to stay activated, it just needs to remain on the dog as a reminder not to bark. Although, if you do keep the collar on, it is better to keep it active so it responds to any experimental barking.

Regarding your Shih Tsu: I am 95% certain you are correct when you said the collar was ineffective because your dog has too much hair. In order to be effective, the probes on the anti-bark collar must remain in direct contact with the skin of the dog’s neck. At Kelsey’s Dog House, we are routinely asked to shave a small spot on the neck of dogs that wear shock collars so the collar’s probes will make good contact. In fact, our customers have told us when the shaved area grows out and the probes are no longer in good contact, their dogs begin to bark again.

With regard to your Yorkies peeing in the house: Know that this is a very common problem. We see it all the time at our boarding facility. Dogs will watch to see when owners are not looking, and then mark territory. Rest assured, this habit of peeing on objects in your house has nothing to do with a full bladder, or with housebreaking. That is why your dogs will pee inside right after going outside. The problem is compounded by the fact that you have multiple dogs in your house. Dogs in packs naturally compete with each other for resources and space. Marking territory is part and parcel of that competition.

Here is what I suggest. As long as you are willing to spend money on an outdoor dog run, you might try spending a little money on another less expensive, easier to apply tactic first. The clue to this tactic is in what you said: “They pee when I am not looking.” If your Yorkies take advantage of your inattention, you need to take that advantage out of the equation. Shop for a video baby monitoring system that has a small camera and a simple black and white monitor. Don’t go for anything elaborate or expensive. Confine your Yorkies to an area of the house that can be completely covered by the camera’s view. Ideally the area where you confine your dogs should also have a door to the outside of your house. Place the monitor in an adjacent room where you can watch your dogs. Now take a seat in the next room and watch the monitor to see what your Yorkies do. The second you see either of your dogs lift a leg or squat to pee in the next room, run into the room clapping and shouting a nonsense syllable: “Yah! Yah! Yah!” or “Nah! Nah! Nah!” I don’t like using the word “No!” repetitively because it is an important command that I don’t believe should be worn out with repetition. In any case, the key is to take your dogs by complete surprise with shock and awe. As you rush into the room, head straight for the exterior door and chase your dogs outside.

It will probably take many repetitions of this exercise before your dogs get it, but eventually they will begin to believe there is no time when you are not watching their behavior. The act of rushing them outside should build a strong relationship between the act of peeing and going outside. I would also suggest getting a small dog door to the outside to make it more convenient for them to go when they need to, provided that door leads to a fenced area. Lastly, I would suggest, if you have not already done so, thoroughly cleaning with a strong cleaner any areas your dogs have already marked. Cleaning up marked spots is equivalent to you reclaiming your house. Once your dogs have laid down territory in your house by marking, they will continue to reinforce their boundaries. Removing their markings tells them they have no claim, and you set the boundaries, not them.

My last suggestion is, if you have not already done so, start teaching all your dogs basic obedience work. You can either do this job yourself or hire a trainer. If you decide to do it yourself, I strongly recommend reading “Let the Dog Decide” by Dale Stavroff. It is the best training guide I have read and applied. Yours sounds like a situation in which your dogs have taken advantage of you. Getting your dogs to respond to you through obedience work puts you in charge, and will have benefits that extend to all areas of the relationship between you and your dogs. Your dogs may seem rotten, but they are just taking their natural dog behavior to its normal limit. Unfortunately, that limit does not fit in your household and it needs to be reigned in.

Please let me know more about your progress as it happens.

Sincerely,

Jeff Kanarish

*The opinions in this article are strictly my own and do not necessarily reflect those of the provider of the attached photo.

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