Puppy is Being a Booger

[shipperx]

Okay, so she's sweet and adorable.  She's also a booger.

The other night she started fussing at 4am.  I ignored it, not wanting her to get into the habit of going out at 4am.  But then she promptly peed at 6:23am before I could get her to the door.

So last night when she began fussing at 4am, I thought, well, hell... I better take her outside.  (And it's a sign of just how freakish our weather has been that I was standing in my back yard at 4am in the middle of February in nothing but a t-shirt, panties, and flip-flops, and it was perfectly comfortable temperature-wise.)  Anyway, so the little booger was off leash in my fenced yard... and decided to slip beneath my fence directly into my neighbors fenced yard... at 4am... and was ignoring my pleas that she come back.   I pleaded for about ten minutes thinking "Oh, shit, I'm going to have to wake up the Hortons at 4am to ask them will they please let me into their yard to retrieve my dog."   

Zoe did eventually heed my pleas... by crawling through the mud beneath the fence, leaving me to wash the belly and feet of the puppy at 4am.  And now each time I take her into the yard, she makes a bee-line to the fence in an effort to reach that forbidden wonderland of the Horton's yard beyond the wall. 

I mentioned she was being a booger, right?  Good thing she's really, really darn cute. :)

Comments

[petzipellepingo.livejournal.com]

Well, she does have to get you trained properly...

[pamsblau.livejournal.com]

LOL while I was reading your story I thought " What a familiar scenario!". Not because I experienced the same(well I kinda did with my doggie but we don't have a yard :D) but because I just imagined Klaus in the first episode of season 3 coming and saying "I promise I'm not a serial killer."

[usedtobeljs]

Every sympathy for puppy madness.

[nutmeg3.livejournal.com]

You need to block the fence. Lay bricks or bury chicken wire or something. And do not give in at 4:00 AM. Take her water away around 8-9:00, walk her last thing before bed (as late as you can stay up) - and until you get the fence fixed, take her out in the yard on a leash - and if you crate her at night (which you may want to do until she's reliable through the night, even if you don't keep it up), carry her from the crate to the yard in the morning. Be consistent and you'll get there.

[rowanswhimsy.livejournal.com]

LOL! She has spirit. :-)

[txvoodoo.livejournal.com]

Aww. Yeah, she's a booger. She's also a puppy. Welcome to the life of a dog mom.

I've been cleaning mud off dogs in the middle of the night all week.

P.s. While I agree that she needs to learn eventually that she has to last the night, she's a little bit too young right now. You said she's 4 months, right? They don't get fine control over their system until at least 6 months.

What IS good is that she's letting you know she needs to go right now, and you want to encourage that.

I do agree that you need to go around your fence and block any escape routes.

[annapurna-2.livejournal.com]

Oh, dear. LOL! My sympathies. I used to have my own adorable little booger. Heh.

Totally agree with txvoodoo (and nutmeg3, if she's old enough). Crate training has worked wonderfully for me with two little boogers.

Something that might help when you really need her to come to you is "loading" your command. Get something she really, really, really likes (cut-up hot dogs or chicken or whatever extremely tempting treat you want to use). Come up with a word or two that you wouldn't normally say around her ("over here" or "this way" or "respond" etc.) then repeat it over and over again while giving her those nummy treats. And make sure that's the ONLY time she gets those nummy treats (when you're saying it while teaching her and then later each time she responds to it).

Once she's conditioned to that and makes the connection, if there's an emergency and you need her to really listen to you, just use that phrase and she should come running!

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

Hee. True.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

So she promises not to be trouble?

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

Puppies have so much energy!

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

The problem is that section of the fence is necessary for drainage, so it cannot be blocked with bricks. It'll have to be wire or something.

And I know it takes time for her to learn. Repetition will get it eventually. And the water thing was totally my fault (as was my not taking her out directly this evening after I returned home). It'll hapen. But it's got a frustration factor, not that there's anything the poor dear can do about it. She's doing the absolute best she can (and she is both smart and sweet. It just takes time).

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

She does! She works on two speeds -- all out or passed out. :)

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

She's actually been good at holding it over night, except when I've screwed up and forgotten there's a water bowl out after 9pm. I knew 'uh-oh' as soon as I saw her slurping up a bowl that I hadn't known was on the porch at the 11pm pee.

She just turned 5months. And I know with repetition she'll eventually get it. I just need to keep better track and discover her pattern. She is a good girl, she's just a puppy. She and I haven't figured everything out yet.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

My only probloem is that she's never upset except when I place her in a crate. So right now I'm trying to teach her to not hate the crate and I've been reducing the size of her fenced area around the crate smaller by the day.

She'll get it eventually. It just needs more repetition so that she and I know the pattern.

[nutmeg3.livejournal.com]

It does take time. They truly can't control their bladders when they're little. But if you take away the water, do a late (midnight or 1:00) pre-bed walk, then set the alarm for 6:00, she should be able to make it through the night.

And ITA with annapurna_2 about finding a really high-value treat and jackpotting her when she comes. Kaiya has a pretty iffy recall (typical Shiba), and it's the one thing I think I may go the private-trainer route to work on. If you can get Zoe locked in now, you'll be very happy later, I promise you.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

SHe does well most nights as long as I take away the water by 9pm. I take her to pee about 10:30 or 11pm and she usually makes it to around 6am. My primary problem is that she doesn't eat in the morning so if I leave food she goes potty before my mom can swing by around 11 or so. However, this weekend, I noticed that even with free access to food, she doesn't eat early in the morning. So now I'm trying not feeding her in the morning and allowing mom to feed her when she comes by at 11.

The part that's frustrating is the one (i've had happen and mom had happen today) where she was taken outside. Then it was when she came inside, 10 minutes later, that she decided to go. She hasn't quite gotten the connection yet. (but reading the 'loving method' of training, sometimes it takes a month to do so. So, more repetition. I'm sure that sooner or later she'll get it.

[pamsblau.livejournal.com]

LOL could be, the late night scene, your outfit just reminded me of that scene ;)

[annapurna-2.livejournal.com]

Whups! I just found this while clearing out my In Box.

That's definitely a challenge. Sounds like you're on the right track though. Hope it's going well!