Lexi's naughty behavior

I just wish that she didn't have all these potty issues! Is it normal for her to go out 20-30 minutes after she went out the first time and pee? It's just so hard to tell because it's one of two things. Either she has a UTI (or some other issue like that), or she's too smart for her own good and she knows that her job when she goes outside is to "potty".

If I could eliminate the "she has to go out" possibility, then I could treat it as a 100% behavioral issue and make some progress.

Wonder if it would help to teach her to ring a bell or something when she has to potty? Or just confuse things?
 
My dogs pee when ever they first go outside even if they were just out. I think they were conditioned that way as I wouldn't let them play until they did their buiness as pups.
 
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Justicemom said:
My dogs pee when ever they first go outside even if they were just out. I think they were conditioned that way as I would let them play until they did their buiness as pups.
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Yes, that was my thought as well.

Maybe we'll just have to start with the squirt gun. And I think you're on to something...she doesn't know how to play by herself. She'll get a toy if I ask her to, but rarely picks one up on her own.

It's also worse because she isn't getting as much exercise since it's so hot out. Plus, walks don't tire her much anyways :rolleyes2:

I love her but sometimes I think she will be the death of me!
 
Trainer's response

I emailed our trainer for advice, and I thought I would share what he said--it's fairly interesting:

"I predicted this might happen when we kept her. I don’t think it is a good idea for a dog to bark at you when they want out.(of course we had to give her some leeway with the UTI) I completely understand why this worked well for you at first.

It sounds like barking at you is working out really well for her i.e.-toys, rawhides,kongs. (She is training you) This breed is very good at this.

2 options to fix this:
1) Ignore her completely when she does it(no eye contact). It will eventually go away after it gets worse. Google “extinction burst”

2) This one is very effective: when she barks at you, you say “oh, do you want to go to your crate?” and then take her there. Or you can say “oh do you want to your tether?” and then take her to a place where a leash is tied to a door knob.

*Leave her in either of these locations for about 10 minutes. This way she gets the opposite of what she is trying to gain



It should get better relatively soon."

I find it very interesting that you can use her crate as a training method, but without giving it a negative connotation. So it's not a punishment, it's just what I think she wants. So she learns "oh barking doesn't get me what I want, I better stop". We're going to try it and see how it goes!
 
I had the same thought about Lexi being conditioned to pee every time she goes outside.

I suspect that what she's really doing, as you already know, is demanding attention. My boys will do this occasionally. They will come up to me in my office and bark as if to go outside. When I get up to let them out, they trot happily along beside me, then stop at the door with such a look on their face. I think they are you saying: You idiot! Can't you tell the difference between "I want to play" vs. "I need to pee"

I don't think I would use the trainer's crate advice (it turns the crate into a negative) but going to a tether is an interesting option.
 
Interesting advice from the trainer. Snap can be an attention barker as well.

If he barks while I'm preparing his dinner, then I immediately leave the kitchen and close the door to the laundry room / mud room behind me. I give it about 10 seconds, then return the kitchen. Even this short period of time of ignoring him / leaving him seems to help.

Now if I can just figure out what to do when we are on the agility / rally field doing walk-thrus.... where he barks incessantly when I leave him !

I'll be interested to hear how this progresses.
 
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