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Housetraining

2K views 11 replies 7 participants last post by  Sunflowers 
#1 ·
My 1 yr old GSD just got back from 2 weeks of board-and-train, and one of the things I asked the trainer to work on was house training, which he did, and he said he did well at his house. He told me to keep him on a leash at all times at home or in the crate, and take him out for bathroom breaks on a leash. I told him I did that when I trained him (ineffectively) as a puppy, but he refused to go to the bathroom on a leash. I have never, in the year we’ve had him, seen him poop. He goes at the side of our house, or in the house where I can’t see him if he gets half a chance, but never on a leash or in the yard if I’m outside with him. He will occasionally pee when I’m outside, but not on a leash. He has never peed or pooped on a walk, and he gets walked almost every day, sometimes several miles. Anyway, the trainer said he peed and pooped on leash for him.
So, we brought him home yesterday around 6 pm. He drank a full bowl of water (he drools a lot in the car) as soon as he came inside. Though I took him outside 3 times, about 10 minutes each time, starting around 9, he never peed or pooped. Then, after I’d gone to sleep, in the middle of the night, he started barking and scratching at his crate, so I let him out in the yard, off leash because I was in pajamas with no shoes on. He peed. Then, it took me a good 15 minutes to catch him again, because he refused to come inside as long as I was holding the leash. Anyway, to make a long story short, it is now almost 8:00 here, and, though he has had plenty of water and 2 meals, he has not pooped, and the only time he peed was when I wasn’t home and my husband let him out of the crate off leash and he ran upstairs and peed in a back bedroom.

What should I do? I don’t want to let him outside off leash, because I refuse to chase him all around trying to get the leash back on. I have been taking him to the spot at the side of the house where he likes to go, but no luck. We walk around, we stop and I take a few steps back, and he follows or just stands there and looks at me. I wait a couple of minutes, walk around the yard with him again, repeat.

Next I’m planning to try putting him on a lunge line (for exercising horses), which is 30 meters long (I think?) so he can wander in the yard farther from me, but I can hopefully still reel him back in. Maybe he’ll go if I’m farther away.
 
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#2 ·
Hmm, that sounds tough. Did you ever scold or punish him for soiling in the house as a puppy? If so, that may be why you’re having issues now. You may have to prepare yourself for some long trips into the yard. You have to stand there however long it takes him to pee, even if it takes an hour. If you stand out there for half an hour and he still hasn’t gone, and you absolutely have to go do something else (like go to work), he goes straight back in his crate and isn’t allowed back out until you have more time to stand in the yard. Immediately clip his leash to him while he’s still in the crate so he doesn’t have the chance to slip away. Has he ever soiled his crate before?
 
#3 ·
Yay! He pooped on the lunge line. He went around the corner to his area at the side of the house where I couldn’t see him while I stood holding the end of the lunge line, and I peeked at him and saw him crouching. I couldn’t tell if he peed (it was dark), but he wanted to go back inside, so I assume he didn’t need to if he didn’t.
To answer your question, no, I’ve never scolded him for going inside. I’ve never caught him in the act, just found the results.
I normally attach the leash before I let him out of the crate, but my husband didn’t. When I let him out last night, I took him to the door on leash, then removed it to let him out, as I didn’t want to go outside undressed and shoeless. Then he came to the door, but wouldn’t get close to me, backed away. I shut him out for a few minutes, then tried again, but he still wouldn’t come in with me near the door. I tried to lure him with beef jerky, but still no luck. I also tried hiding the leash behind my back, (works with horses), but he was smarter than that. So, I moved aside, thinking I could throw the looped leash around him as he came in, but I missed, and chased him around for 10 minutes or so trying to corner him, and finally caught him, but I was pretty irritated by then and would rather not repeat that!
The only problem with the lunge line is it kept wrapping around his legs, and was between his legs when he pooped. Luckily, he missed it.
 
#4 ·
Is your yard completely fenced in? If not, that may be a good idea if possible....



They need time to sniff around.... smell the air... WHATS THAT? I think I smell a chipmunk..... Let me run over here a bit...

OK, I guess I'll pee now.... LOL !


If you can't fence the yard, the long leash is a good idea. A 1 year old shep has a LOT of energy.... they need to run/play etc.



Our puppy training routine is to take them out every hour or so .... Seems to catch on after a few days...



With the fenced in yard, I just let them out and they go wherever ..... usually 4 or 5 favorite spots....



And I do "poop patrol" once a day.
 
#5 ·
I’m glad he managed to go with a leash on! I think it’ll just take practice and patience for both of you. You’re definitely doing the right thing in simply not letting him out without a leash/longline if you can’t catch him. I’m not saying you did anything wrong, but if my dog had played that game of not coming inside, I would have simply said, “Okay! See you in the morning!” That assumes that you have a fenced in yard and your dog would be safe out there. My dogs have learned that I absolutely do not play their games and it’s much more fun and rewarding to do what I want instead. To be fair, both my dogs hate being ignored, so leaving them out in the yard would have been a punishment. I’m not sure about your guy.
 
#6 ·
1st of all, as long as your dog is still not housetrained, you need to keep him tethered to you or your husband (whoever's the main person or whoever's training him) at all times. He shouldn't have the run of the house if he can't behave in it. If your dog is still peeing and pooping in your house, you haven't done what is necessary to get him housetrained. At 1 year old, he should've been housetrained about half a year ago.

2nd, it sounds like your dog has no structure...he's allowed to pee and poop whenever and wherever he wants. My advice...get him on a strict schedule. Feed him at the same time everyday. Play at the same time. Walks at the same time. Potty at the same time. Naps at the same time. Treats at the same time. Etc. Most dogs need the structure. Then he knows what and when to expect things. It makes your life so much easier and his as well. When your dog knows what is expected of him, then you can start giving him a little "freedom" a little bit at a time.

3rd, you need to start working on obedience, especially the "come" command. It could possibly be a lifesaving command. If the leash slips out of your hand, the leash breaks, the dog jumps over the fence, or whatever reason,...that dog's gone.
 
#7 ·
Yes, my yard is fenced. The problem with letting him off leash in the yard is getting him in again. He won’t come to us if he sees the leash.

I have also shut him out for the night, but the last time we did that (a couple of months ago), he barked for a while (exactly half an hour—the neighbor timed him) and our neighbor called animal control (who sent us a warning) and posted on the Nextdoor app about the “neighborhood dog who barks incessantly and is always outside (not true) and then gave out my name to neighbors who sent private messages to me telling me what a horrible person I am and that I shouldn’t have a dog if I can’t take care of it, etc. I had to report someone who actually threatened to take our dog. There are a number of dogs in the neighborhood who bark, and all but the neighbor who posted lived in different neighborhoods where they couldn’t possibly hear our dog, who is only outside for bathroom breaks or occasionally for an hour or so if he’s driving me crazy in the house. Anyway, our neighbors are crazy, but I’m afraid of her calling animal control again. She is clearly in need of better medication. She came over in the middle of the night the night he was outside barking (my husband had just gotten out of the hospital and was recovering from an infection that nearly killed him, which was why he put him out when he started barking in his crate and then didn’t chase him when he wouldn’t come back inside) and then came over again the next day and said she had gotten a letter complaining about the dog in the mail because someone thought it was her dog. (She also has a GSD, though I haven’t seen or heard it since this incident.) She showed me the letter (no envelope) and said it had no return address, but was postmarked from a nearby town. I’d like to know how someone mailed a letter in the middle of the night from a different town and got it to her box the next day. She clearly wrote it herself. We didn’t get a letter. She was very polite, though, just wanted us to know she’d gotten this letter. I was also polite and apologized about the barking last night. Then she posted on Nextdoor and apparently called animal control later that day.

But I digress. Anyway, he is always on leash now, and is going to the bathroom when I put him on the lunge line so he can go in private. Now if I could just get him to settle down and stop circling around on the leash or barking in his crate. He is walked every day. I want to get him into agility training or something, but he needs to be more solid on basic commands first.
 
#9 ·
Yes, my yard is fenced. The problem with letting him off leash in the yard is getting him in again. He won’t come to us if he sees the leash.

I have also shut him out for the night, but the last time we did that (a couple of months ago), he barked for a while (exactly half an hour—the neighbor timed him) and our neighbor called animal control (who sent us a warning) and posted on the Nextdoor app about the “neighborhood dog who barks incessantly and is always outside (not true) and then gave out my name to neighbors who sent private messages to me telling me what a horrible person I am and that I shouldn’t have a dog if I can’t take care of it, etc. I had to report someone who actually threatened to take our dog. There are a number of dogs in the neighborhood who bark, and all but the neighbor who posted lived in different neighborhoods where they couldn’t possibly hear our dog, who is only outside for bathroom breaks or occasionally for an hour or so if he’s driving me crazy in the house. Anyway, our neighbors are crazy, but I’m afraid of her calling animal control again. She is clearly in need of better medication. She came over in the middle of the night the night he was outside barking (my husband had just gotten out of the hospital and was recovering from an infection that nearly killed him, which was why he put him out when he started barking in his crate and then didn’t chase him when he wouldn’t come back inside) and then came over again the next day and said she had gotten a letter complaining about the dog in the mail because someone thought it was her dog. (She also has a GSD, though I haven’t seen or heard it since this incident.) She showed me the letter (no envelope) and said it had no return address, but was postmarked from a nearby town. I’d like to know how someone mailed a letter in the middle of the night from a different town and got it to her box the next day. She clearly wrote it herself. We didn’t get a letter. She was very polite, though, just wanted us to know she’d gotten this letter. I was also polite and apologized about the barking last night. Then she posted on Nextdoor and apparently called animal control later that day.

But I digress. Anyway, he is always on leash now, and is going to the bathroom when I put him on the lunge line so he can go in private. Now if I could just get him to settle down and stop circling around on the leash or barking in his crate. He is walked every day. I want to get him into agility training or something, but he needs to be more solid on basic commands first.

Aye yai yai...



I really think you need to develop a closer relationship with your dog....



I also think he needs more exercise.... Maybe find a dog park in the area...


He is bored. These are high energy dogs.



Thats probably why he doesn't want to come back inside... and when he IS inside he "drives you nuts"





Sorry to be blunt but in all seriousness, If you don't have the time to work with this dog Maybe find a good home for him and get yourself a little lap dog.



If you DO put in the time, You will have a loyal friend that will never want to leave your side.



Best of Luck
 
#8 ·
I may have missed it, but why can’t you just open the door and let him come in? Why does he have to be leashed before coming in?
 
#10 ·
I am a bit confused too, but hmm I think...

- No more pee and poop in house! Whatever that takes - so he is tethered to you or in his crate, not allowed to wander off into a backroom with nobody watching...he is a big guy, no more excuses!

- Regular potty trips to outside, on a schedule i.e. right after eating or after you get home from work, etc

- Letting him trail a long line is a good idea, until he learns to Come In when called! Even with long line on, practice by calling his name or whistling, reeling him in, then giving him treat/praise once he is in house...so he learns, coming in when called, that's good stuff!

In the past he may have gotten anxious about going to bathroom within sight of you so maybe that's why he wants to do it out of sight and doesn't want to do it on leash (because you can see)? I'm not saying you punished him or yelled at him...but even if they feel some faint "vibes" from you, they seem to know...

Sounds like you are making progress, anyway!
 
#12 ·
The lunge line can also help you with the “ come” command.
WHen he is already coming toward you, say “ Come,” and with the lunge line, make sure he gets to you. Then, treat with super high value treats and praise like crazy. Make sure it is worth his while to come to you. Do not call him unless you are sure you can make him follow through. Calling him when you can’t reel him in will teach him that it is possible to ignore you, which is unacceptable.
 
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