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I'll try to make this short...
3 months ago, we adopted an 18-mo-old female GSD from a local Rescue. They said she was good on a leash=NO. They said she was good with cats=NO. We have 4 housecats, so this was a big issue, & they weren't honest about it. Too late-by the time the cats finally came out of hiding, she'd bark loud enough to blow the fur back on their faces. But we'd already fallen in love with her - her personality is great, save for a few issues...
OK - so we have to keep her in a crate at night, for the cats' sake. She's a wild child. Before work, she gets about 1 1/2-2 hours rousing play time. We take her to work with us, where she has to be crated because she can't sit still & won't mind. She gets out 3-4 times during the day. After work, she gets at least an hour in the warehouse (all doors are closed, as her recall isn't good yet) where she runs, charges up & down the stairs, fetches her favorite ball. She gets another 2 hours of hard play (& training) at night, which includes a walk.
We'd had her about 3 weeks when we decided upon a Board & Train to help give us a "jump-start" to training. Before anyone yells at me, we honestly thought this could give us a start - they were going to work her in Basic Obedience & with cats. She was there 3 weeks (with allowed visits from us). She came back with her old habits plus 2 new ones: peeing in the house & doing drive-by's on her turds...gross. A second trainer's time was ended abruptly after we realized she was way too rough with this young dog, but now she mouths my calfs & knees. She's gained 10 lbs with us - way too skinny at first. But, at 81 lbs, those "mouthings" hurt. But, that's another question...
Yesterday, she was out all day: back door wide open so she could go out when she had to pee/poop. She did GREAT. Until I took her to meet our oldest cat, Oliver. I've been doing this gradually in an attempt to get her used to the cats. The others take off, but Oliver is 14 & a love. He's also crippled (too big for mama's womb, he was born with bilateral hip dysplasia & cauda equina. 3 surgeries fixed the problems as best as possible, but he can't jump-we have stools all over the house for him. And he can't run-he hops.)
Anyway, she was, as usual, very excited to see him. She's learning the "leave it" command & it went OK. Until 2 minutes later...
We took her back to the family room, where she promptly started making circles. Oh, oh, I knew she was gonna pee. I was too late - she did exactly that on the carpet. The door was still wide open & she'd been going in & out all day when she had to potty. To us, this was an obvious move to mark her territory after seeing the cat. As I reached for her collar, she nipped. (Thank you, Trainer #2).
I know how to potty-train a puppy. I have no idea how to stop the marking being done by a 22-month-old dog. The other behaviors notwithstanding, how do we stop the marking? This is now the 5th time she's done it & it is maddening.
Help!
Becky:help:
3 months ago, we adopted an 18-mo-old female GSD from a local Rescue. They said she was good on a leash=NO. They said she was good with cats=NO. We have 4 housecats, so this was a big issue, & they weren't honest about it. Too late-by the time the cats finally came out of hiding, she'd bark loud enough to blow the fur back on their faces. But we'd already fallen in love with her - her personality is great, save for a few issues...
OK - so we have to keep her in a crate at night, for the cats' sake. She's a wild child. Before work, she gets about 1 1/2-2 hours rousing play time. We take her to work with us, where she has to be crated because she can't sit still & won't mind. She gets out 3-4 times during the day. After work, she gets at least an hour in the warehouse (all doors are closed, as her recall isn't good yet) where she runs, charges up & down the stairs, fetches her favorite ball. She gets another 2 hours of hard play (& training) at night, which includes a walk.
We'd had her about 3 weeks when we decided upon a Board & Train to help give us a "jump-start" to training. Before anyone yells at me, we honestly thought this could give us a start - they were going to work her in Basic Obedience & with cats. She was there 3 weeks (with allowed visits from us). She came back with her old habits plus 2 new ones: peeing in the house & doing drive-by's on her turds...gross. A second trainer's time was ended abruptly after we realized she was way too rough with this young dog, but now she mouths my calfs & knees. She's gained 10 lbs with us - way too skinny at first. But, at 81 lbs, those "mouthings" hurt. But, that's another question...
Yesterday, she was out all day: back door wide open so she could go out when she had to pee/poop. She did GREAT. Until I took her to meet our oldest cat, Oliver. I've been doing this gradually in an attempt to get her used to the cats. The others take off, but Oliver is 14 & a love. He's also crippled (too big for mama's womb, he was born with bilateral hip dysplasia & cauda equina. 3 surgeries fixed the problems as best as possible, but he can't jump-we have stools all over the house for him. And he can't run-he hops.)
Anyway, she was, as usual, very excited to see him. She's learning the "leave it" command & it went OK. Until 2 minutes later...
We took her back to the family room, where she promptly started making circles. Oh, oh, I knew she was gonna pee. I was too late - she did exactly that on the carpet. The door was still wide open & she'd been going in & out all day when she had to potty. To us, this was an obvious move to mark her territory after seeing the cat. As I reached for her collar, she nipped. (Thank you, Trainer #2).
I know how to potty-train a puppy. I have no idea how to stop the marking being done by a 22-month-old dog. The other behaviors notwithstanding, how do we stop the marking? This is now the 5th time she's done it & it is maddening.
Help!
Becky:help: