Peeing and pooping to get attention?

[Viemarangelrock]

My hint is normally a nose poke or this...

 

[Apollo's Dobermom]

Hmmmm that's interesting.. will he nap at all? Even after exercise? Is he able to focus during training?

I am saying this with 120% honesty. I got him when he was 12 weeks old and now he is 1 year and 1 month old...in all the time that I have had him, I have MAYBE only seen him nap TWICE outside of his kennel when he was around 3-4 months old. Other than that, he has never ever fallen asleep or even seemed remotely tired when he is not forced to be in his kennel. I can say with certainty, if I did an experiment of letting him roam free for 48 hours with exercise and activities, he will be awake for the full 48 hours. We can literally come back from a 2 hour walk/hike or a full afternoon at the dog park and the moment we get home, he's like "so what are we gonna do next?" I have never seen him tired. The longest he can sit still for is around 30 seconds to maybe a full minute.

 

[My2Girls]

Does he pace back and forth in his crate, when he can't settle? And can he focus during training or is he distracted?

I'm asking because a trainer I was working with was helping a client with a dobie that could never settle nor focus. I know she started to use a thunder shirt and was looking into calming supplements. (Then I switched trainers so I don't know what happened). Do you think it's just puppy energy or something more?

Does he come from working lines?

 

[Viemarangelrock]

Have you tried to train him to self settle? It's a must I think with a high energy breed. It'll help to keep you sane! Lol

You can use a mat, or a bed. Reward good behaviour and ignore any hyper behaviour.

 

[WiglWerm]

moment we come back inside, he will load up on water and drink his entire bowl before going back in his kennel.

Take up his water a few hours before bed so he can't fill up

 

[Rits]

Have you tried having him outside right before bed for longer than you do now? If he only pees a little, that sounds like a mark pee, and not a truly fully relieved pee. I would wait him out until he pees for a longer duration.

 

[WiglWerm]

Although it may feel like it, dogs do not think like humans. He is not holding some back to save it for later. This is very frustrating I'm sure ( I have been dealing with a puppy myself). Go back to the basics. Leash him to you when he is uncrated. Take him out every time it crosses your mind, even if it is 30x a day. Praise like nobodies business when he goes... TREAT every time he goes. I know its exhausting and you thought this phase was over but START FROM THE BASICS. He'll get it (again)

 

[Tropicalbri's]

Some may think I am a silly old woman but when I leave the house without the dogs and crate them I put on a CD of Indian flute music (similar to relaxing spa music) that an d slow jazz is like giving them a sleeping pill. They calm down and do not stress. My two have incredible energy and stamina and want to go, go, go all the time so I found this by accident when I was meditating and stretching. I usually play calming music just to take the edge off me. It worked for them too.
At this point anything would be worth a try.

 

[Tropicalbri's]

Take up his water a few hours before bed so he can't fill up

This is an absolute must at my house otherwise they will be waking me up at 1am to go outside!

 

[My2Girls]

Some may think I am a silly old woman but when I leave the house without the dogs and crate them I put on a CD of Indian flute music (similar to relaxing spa music) that an d slow jazz is like giving them a sleeping pill. They calm down and do not stress. My two have incredible energy and stamina and want to go, go, go all the time so I found this by accident when I was meditating and stretching. I usually play calming music just to take the edge off me. It worked for them too.
At this point anything would be worth a try.

I leave the TV on for mine usually HGTV nothing with too much excitement. I think it buffers them from every little sound that they might react to in a silent home. And they aren't so reactive to the doorbell.

 

[Kaiser2016]

any time he is out, he needs to be playing 24/7. He doesn't ever stop moving. he never settles down and can never just "chill". He always needs to be doing something.

He sounds like a crazy Euro...is he? And I ask/say that as a Euro owner who is super thankful that my boy DOES have an off switch!

 

[Kaiser2016]

shoes if I left the house without enough play time.

Haha, my solution to that issue was to take that shoe and smack him with it. I had to do it just the one time. It wasn't hard but it did disturb him because I'm ordinarily pleasant with him. I think he likely sensed my anger more than anything. It was way back when I did not love the donkey like I do now But I still love my shoes, so he better not test me!

 

[Kaiser2016]

I didn't even know a dog could be vindictive?! Surely not??

I know what happened They googled "dog revenge poop" and billions of people firmly believe in doggy potty revenge and shared their stories. It can be very convincing. But I agree, revenge is not a dog thing. They just have remarkable timing haha.

 

[Oh Little Oji]

That's exactly what I do...that is the problem. I take him outside to completey empty himself and he will purposely pee a little and not all of it to "save pee for later" when we put him away. Or he will empty himself and the moment we come back inside, he will load up on water and drink his entire bowl before going back in his kennel.

Dogs are known to ration out their pee in order to be able to mark territory later.

The tanking up on water before going back into his kennel is super easy to solve: Don't have the water bowl down! The very oft-repeated "provide plenty of clean water for your dog at all times" does not always apply, to say the least. You can control the water intake! Just make sure your Dobe is getting approximately the right amount of water per day.

 

[Oh Little Oji]

I am saying this with 120% honesty. I got him when he was 12 weeks old and now he is 1 year and 1 month old...in all the time that I have had him, I have MAYBE only seen him nap TWICE outside of his kennel when he was around 3-4 months old. Other than that, he has never ever fallen asleep or even seemed remotely tired when he is not forced to be in his kennel. I can say with certainty, if I did an experiment of letting him roam free for 48 hours with exercise and activities, he will be awake for the full 48 hours. We can literally come back from a 2 hour walk/hike or a full afternoon at the dog park and the moment we get home, he's like "so what are we gonna do next?" I have never seen him tired. The longest he can sit still for is around 30 seconds to maybe a full minute.

Well my goodness. That is so weird! Not normal! Dobes are high-energy for sure, but it is also normal for dogs to lay down and chill and sleep a lot of the time!

 

[Oh Little Oji]

Some may think I am a silly old woman but when I leave the house without the dogs and crate them I put on a CD of Indian flute music (similar to relaxing spa music) that an d slow jazz is like giving them a sleeping pill. They calm down and do not stress. My two have incredible energy and stamina and want to go, go, go all the time so I found this by accident when I was meditating and stretching. I usually play calming music just to take the edge off me. It worked for them too.
At this point anything would be worth a try.

I've thought about trying this too. I've also thought about leaving the TV on when leaving him crated in the house since I have the TV on much of the time after my wife goes to bed. So my little bud is pretty used to the TV.

 

[Kaiser2016]

I was advised to leave her until she would have been coming out otherwise, but if I notice she did it at 1am I cant leave her in that until 9 am! Ill leave her for half an hour or so then clean up. Its gotten better since then. She's realized she doesnt like having to stand- other option being laying in her own urine, which obviously she doesnt like either.

It speaks to your kindness to only leave her in it for a short time before cleaning it up, but I think she figures this is a way to get out.

Kaiser has proven to me time and again that he doesn't like to soil where he spends time, so when he did do it once in his crate, I left him in it. It was hard. He was stoic as he lay there right next to his wet pile like as if he were trying to mentally escape the situation he put himself in. (Wet pile was normal for him back when he was on kibble so this was not a diarrhea situation.) It seems cruel but it's not. He has now grown into a big boy that enjoys being clean. He doesn't even like his Kongs to be sticky on the outside (from banana and PB), he will actually reject those until he's out of his crate if they are sticky. Now I make sure they're not sticky after I make them and he's fine to lick away at it in his crate...he only licks on the plastic tray though...never on his bed inside the crate. Finicky, right? That type of spoiled doggy is ok by me

This dog, and our leadership of him, revolves around this: The longer a behavior is in place, the harder it is to break. This line is pretty much the only valuable thing I learned during my days of reading millions of generic dog articles (prior to joining DCF). I keep this in mind everytime I see some behavior I don't want.

I wasn't intending to give such a long response (especially not seemingly directed at you), but the story seemed to fit in nicely here.

 

[Apollo's Dobermom]

He sounds like a crazy Euro...is he? And I ask/say that as a Euro owner who is super thankful that my boy DOES have an off switch!

He is not a Euro! He is an American Doberman but yes he definitely acts like one. He does not have an off switch at all. Only time he does is when he is forced back into his kennel at the end of the day and he has nothing else to do other than to finally sleep.

 

[Apollo's Dobermom]

Well my goodness. That is so weird! Not normal! Dobes are high-energy for sure, but it is also normal for dogs to lay down and chill and sleep a lot of the time!

I took him out for a 2 hour walk around a lake today, came home and had 1 hour of play time/free time, then took him outside again to walk around the neighborhood and that lasted 1 hour and a half - after those 4 and a half hours of nonstop activities and play, he was still at maximum energy afterwards. This time I REALLY stood outside for a good 15 minutes with him before bed to make sure his tank was empty and finally put him back in his kennel. No accident tonight but geez, the whole unlimited energy thing is a different story. Oh and I will try to take away his water before bed now. I just always read they get dehydrated and I would never want that.

 

[Apollo's Dobermom]

It makes me so envious when I see videos and pictures of dobies cuddling up to their owners on the couch to watch tv together or on the bed. I have never experienced that.. It's a struggle between wanting him to have the freedom of being out of his kennel for as long as possible and not being able to give him 100% of my attention 24/7 because he needs that if he is out. I hope this gets better once he ages more......