my wife is having a problem...

[RowdyDogs]

It doesn't really sound like separation anxiety to me, unless she is exhibiting other signs of anxiety that you aren't mentioning. If it isn't a management thing (and if the puppy is playing hard all day, it could be--perhaps the puppy is not drinking enough water during the day and gulping it down at night, making her have to urinate frequently, for example), then I suspect it's more that your puppy doesn't realize the rules are the same when only your wife is there.

From your posts, I'm guessing that you have done most of the training with this puppy? Dogs don't always generalize very well, and it's possible that the pup has connected the housetraining behaviors (alerting you when she needs to go, going right away when you let her out) with you specifically.

I would recommend having your wife take a more active role and basically start from scratch with housetraining when you aren't around. Your wife should treat the puppy like she's brand new to housebreaking, putting her on a leash and taking her outside each time, praising for eliminating outside, etc.

Also, what does your wife do when she sees the puppy start to eliminate inside the house?

[heavymetal21192]

It's what I do. She doesn't hit. She will point her nose towards it. ( not in it). Tell her no, and outside. Then bring her out. She doesn't really drink much water at night due to her sleeping in her crate. If she is thirsty she will wake me up and ill bring her to her bowl, but I won't let herself fill herself on it. But she normally sleeps for a solid 8 hours every night. I appreciate your advice. I'll let the wife know to just start from scratch. Thank you.

[martemchik]

Originally Posted by heavymetal21192

It's what I do. She doesn't hit. She will point her nose towards it. ( not in it). Tell her no, and outside. Then bring her out. She doesn't really drink much water at night due to her sleeping in her crate. If she is thirsty she will wake me up and ill bring her to her bowl, but I won't let herself fill herself on it. But she normally sleeps for a solid 8 hours every night. I appreciate your advice. I'll let the wife know to just start from scratch. Thank you.

If your wife doesn't catch her in the act...its useless to point her towards it and say no. You have to catch her in the act, tell her no, pick her up, and take her outside immediately to finish. Once they've done their business, they don't understand when 5 minutes later you find it and point to a random area and tell them "no." This is why we're telling you that she needs to either be harnessed to your wife, or contained in an area with your wife. That way your wife can always have an eye on her. Without this, you're greatly extending the time that will be needed to potty train as every mistake she makes is a gratification for her that it's alright to do it in the house.

[RowdyDogs]

Originally Posted by martemchik

If your wife doesn't catch her in the act...its useless to point her towards it and say no. You have to catch her in the act, tell her no, pick her up, and take her outside immediately to finish. Once they've done their business, they don't understand when 5 minutes later you find it and point to a random area and tell them "no." This is why we're telling you that she needs to either be harnessed to your wife, or contained in an area with your wife. That way your wife can always have an eye on her. Without this, you're greatly extending the time that will be needed to potty train as every mistake she makes is a gratification for her that it's alright to do it in the house.

Totally agree. When I am housetraining a dog, when an accident occurs, what happens is...the dog begins to eliminate in the house (this can be anything from sniffing around in a preliminary way to actually beginning to pee or poop). I have leash on that dog, so I immediately tell them once firmly "quit it!" (or whatever "no" command you use), and take them outside, and they might still be going, but we're still heading towards the door. As soon as we get outside, whether they've laid a pee trail along the path or whether they stopped and take a few minutes to start peeing again, I praise them as soon as they eliminate outside, even if it is like 2 drops.

If the act is already done, even if only seconds have passed, the dog doesn't associate the correction with the act. The rule of thumb in training is 3 seconds (as in, the animal does something wrong, you have 3 seconds to correct it), and honestly I think that is generous. I will correct my animals, but IMO it has to be simultaneous with the unwanted behavior for it to be reliably effective. Correcting the animal after the fact does nothing, and simply scolding the animal without teaching them what to do also does nothing.

Incidentally, I suspect that the last bit (scolding the pup but not teaching her what she should do) is probably the root of your problems. If your wife takes a more active role in training and housebreaking the pup, I would bet these problems disappear.

[doggiedad]

i think your wife should take the pup out more often
and stay out with the pup during it's break. when
your wife can't watch the pup crate the pup.

[harmony]

you know shepherds and mastiffs are two complete different dogs right? Is your wife pregnant? Or you have to learn how to make it all better

[harmony]

I have meet a lot of trainers and I can count them on one hand that train mastiffs

[harmony]

Can we see a picture of your dog , please.