Peeing and pooping to get attention?

[Viemarangelrock]

A dog shouldn't need your attention 100% of the time 24/7. That's just ludicrous. While all dogs need an adequate amount of attention to fulfill their needs as social animals, they shouldn't require your undivided attention 24 hours a day.
I would agree and say that some owners accidentally help to turn their dogs into attention-seekers.
Dogs value human attention and are affectionate animals. So every time your dog jumps up at you, paws at your leg, barks for no obvious reason or drops a toy in your lap uninvited, it’s easy to reward them with a cuddle or a game, but this means that the unwanted behaviour is reinforced. Do you see where I am coming from? Remember, any attention is better than no attention.
It sounds like he's into a habit of really long walks followed by playtime as soon as he gets home. He's playfully aroused and has difficultly shutting off due to intense play. When you get home from the long walk have you tried ignoring him? No play? What's he like? Do you think he's over stimulated?
My mother-In-Law has an 8 year old Jack Russel. She fusses him 24/7, constant attention ALL OF THE TIME. It's really painful to watch and I've tried to explain that's it far too much and that she's doing him and herself no favours. He's bugging her to walk/play/tug constantly. She's made a rod for her own back. He's telling her what he wants and he knows she'll give it. That's not the way it works, it really isn't. He doesn't settle either because he's into a habit that's difficult to break. She's the only one to break that cycle, but she feels like that would be mean. Trust me, it's the kindest thing to do for the sanity of them both.

 

[Oh Little Oji]

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......

Wow. Crazy! Hey, I personally would advise against thinking about letting your Dobe on the furniture or your bed. That can worsen behavior problems or cause new ones to crop up. If I were you, I'd look forward to great times with Apollo lounging on the rug near you.

 

[Oh Little Oji]

A dog shouldn't need your attention 100% of the time 24/7. That's just ludicrous. While all dogs need an adequate amount of attention to fulfill their needs as social animals, they shouldn't require your undivided attention 24 hours a day.
I would agree and say that some owners accidentally help to turn their dogs into attention-seekers.
Dogs value human attention and are affectionate animals. So every time your dog jumps up at you, paws at your leg, barks for no obvious reason or drops a toy in your lap uninvited, it’s easy to reward them with a cuddle or a game, but this means that the unwanted behaviour is reinforced. Do you see where I am coming from? Remember, any attention is better than no attention.
It sounds like he's into a habit of really long walks followed by playtime as soon as he gets home. He's playfully aroused and has difficultly shutting off due to intense play. When you get home from the long walk have you tried ignoring him? No play? What's he like? Do you think he's over stimulated?
My mother-In-Law has an 8 year old Jack Russel. She fusses him 24/7, constant attention ALL OF THE TIME. It's really painful to watch and I've tried to explain that's it far too much and that she's doing him and herself no favours. He's bugging her to walk/play/tug constantly. She's made a rod for her own back. He's telling her what he wants and he knows she'll give it. That's not the way it works, it really isn't. He doesn't settle either because he's into a habit that's difficult to break. She's the only one to break that cycle, but she feels like that would be mean. Trust me, it's the kindest thing to do for the sanity of them both.

I just want to say that on the no shut-off issue, Viemarangelrock nailed it!! Very well-stated. I was going to echo what someone else had said regarding teaching Apollo a settle command or a place command. That would be the only thing I can think to add to the advice I've quoted above!

Now I will take this time to thank you, V'rock for yet another neato British phrase (which I don't really understand but can almost hear you saying in your accent). You wrote regarding your mother and her Jack Russell: "She's made a rod for her own back."

 

[Kaiser2016]

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

Totally agree. Precisely what Kaiser does. I know for sure that he keeps a good volume of urine just in case one of us decides to take him for a last minute walk around the block. Whether it's the walk or the yard he knows he's getting his final potty break because he can sense it. Guess what he does. He pisses a lot!

 

[Kaiser2016]

Crazy thought here and I'm not saying you should do this but would he pee if you let him sleep in the bed with you??

I agree with you 100% - that IS a crazy thought! He will piss all over her while she sleeps!

 

[Kaiser2016]

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.

Remove that water bowl. There should be no drinking before bed. He won't dehydrate and once the pee problem is solved you can reintroduce the water bowl if it's that important to you. For now, you have to set him up for success. Also, do you know Dobermans are nervous drinkers? Is Apollo is nervous about bed time?

 

[Kaiser2016]

He has really bad staph infection right now so I am scared to let him sit in anything dirty or it might get worse.

This! What if his staph and/or allergies are causing him to pee? What if the excessive laundry washing of his bedding is contributing? What detergent are you using? Scented products irritate human skin, maybe he's having something similar? Strong scents might also upset his nose. Remember their sense of smell is much stronger than ours. Maybe that's why he hates the crate?

Lots of speculation here, but they are all very real possibilities, especially if you did have him successfully potty trained previously.

 

[Kaiser2016]

have MAYBE only seen him nap TWICE outside of his kennel when he was around 3-4 months old. The longest he can sit still for is around 30 seconds to maybe a full minute.

By doing so many activities with the dog, you are buiding up his endurance and stamina. It's easy to want to keep playing if that's what he's indicating, but you have to start to reject him. It cannot be about him 24/7. Fixing this issue will be a very tough one though...one battle at a time!

 

[Kaiser2016]

A dog shouldn't need your attention 100% of the time 24/7. That's just ludicrous. While all dogs need an adequate amount of attention to fulfill their needs as social animals, they shouldn't require your undivided attention 24 hours a day.

Thank you for figuring out how to say this! I commented on endurance before seeing this post but this is exactly what I was wanting to say. And the Jack Russell is a perfect example!

 

[Oh Little Oji]

Oh yes. On the constant energy problem: I guess I've not experienced anything too similar to what Apollo does because I have just, from the start, shut them down. Yes, of course give them as much exercise and stimulation as they need – or at least what you can manage – but do not let them pressure and force you.

With Oji, I have worked his whole life to keep him calm. He is so excitable he could be maniacal much of the time. When he petitions me and it's not activity time, I have arrived at an actual "command" for it: (Picture the Soup Nazi from Seinfeld). "Nothing for you!" I have never used a "place" command, but I do use "settle" with Oji. It is not something that I enforce if he does not comply, but he knows it means I have nothing for him and he should just lay down.

This said, I'm not ruling out that Apollo might have a higher than normal energy level. I don't want to blow off that possibility. The advice stands though.

 

[Kaiser2016]

I think I am finally all caught up on this thread! Sounds to me like multiple battle fronts here. The peeing, the energy, and then there's some allergies cropping up as well...which may turn out to be diet related if not laundry related.

 

[Tropicalbri's]

laundry related.

I use a totally organic, scent and softener free detergent for my laundry. I put white vinegar in the rinse cycle. So many dogs are allergic to laundry and cleaning chemicals but people just don't realize it.
These smelly beads you put in the wash so your clothes smell good for 12 wks?!?!
Trust me my clothes will not smell good for that long because they are worn for work everyday and no amount of smell good stuff will outlast a day of working in this heat.

 

[LifeofRubie]

Phew! I actually think we may have lucked out on Rubies ability to be calm and chillax when we're ready. I will say, though, that if we're on the couch relaxing and she's up there being a psycho, she get's the 'off' command. She's only allowed on the couch when she's being calm.

Sometimes when she's super riled up, we'll go through our list of commands (sit, stay, down, touch, paw, find, and now our make-shift agility set-up) for a few minutes to get her focused and maybe follow-up with a peanut butter kong. Then she's usually ready to relax with a bone. But again, she already has relaxing down pat so not sure that helps your situation, much. It does sound like you're doing a lot of physical exercise with him. Does he get mental stimulation, too?

As for the going potty inside... we've not had that issue but I do generally agree that dogs are not spiteful. What's your reaction when he does this? Maybe ANY reaction from you is satisfactory to him. When potty training Rubie, if she had an accident inside, we promptly removed her from the situation without fanfare (which can be very difficult to do!) and took her directly outside, only giving her attention when she pottied outside. Maybe you could start from scratch, again, like someone mentioned. That being said, even my sisters male dog will still OCCASIONALLY mark in the house at 5-ish years old.

 

[Tropicalbri's]

even my sisters male dog will still OCCASIONALLY mark in the house at 5-ish years old.

Bogie was marking in the house at Apollo's age. It was very trying for me. I would leash him up and walk him outside to every spot he peed in the past. He has 4 favorite spots. I made sure that he emptied his bladder and I do not allow water after 6pm.
If he started to sniff in the house, outside we went again. I used Nature's Miracle and Block Out to clean the pee spots. I was blessed with them not ever having an accident in their crate even when they were shipped to me.

 

[WiglWerm]

No accident tonight but geez,

So one night with no accidents a Great start. Keep up the unending potty breaks, this won't last forever.

 

[Regalis]

Is he on any medications for the staph? Specifically, any steroids?

Steroids make them pee. A LOT. Like, a ton. It's a normal side effect. Even with being concious of water intake, my old lab peed every half hour on Prednisone. Sometimes more. I'd take his water bowl up in evening and he'd still pee every half hour. Then he'd get so thirsty he would get into the toilet, then the sink when I started closing the bathroom. Needless to say, it was a trying time BUT medications have side effects that our pups simply can not control.

Beyond that - it sounds like you walk him a lot, but what else? I know for my boys, just walking is not enough to wear them out. They need time to really run and a fair bit of mental exercise as well to really chill out.

Lastly, Apollo is still for all intents and purposes a puppy. Teaching him to chill out is a must. Personally, I don't allow play indoors. At all. No toys. Chew bones only and only when I give them. They are not left laying around. If they want to play and rough house, I require them to settle then we go outside so they can blow it off.

Oh, and dogs don't do things out of spite. They don't think like that. They're dogs, not humans. Even wicked smart dobermans are still dogs.

And music - YES! I leave the radio on when we leave. I can't stand quiet, it drives me nuts. As much as I know dogs aren't humans, I can't imagine total silence is comforting to them. Especially since total silence is a myth. I use the radio to help drowned out noises that would otherwise wind them up. Nothing super loud or crazy, but just something. Even a fan would work.

 

[Apollo's Dobermom]

Well, we had another accident the other day but tonight is night 2 in a row without peeing in his blankets! I used baking soda to wash his blankets the last time he peed so I'm wondering if that was the secret to getting all the pee smell out of it?? In terms of him being crazy with so much energy, I've been trying to ignore him more. I will walk around the house on purpose and he will jump up nonstop next to me as I walk trying to get me to look at him and I won't pay any attention to him unless he sits. The moment he sits, I praise him.

 

[Viemarangelrock]

Baby steps, that's the way to do it. It's amazing how many different uses there are for baking soda.

You are doing great with his attention-seeking. Reward him when he's in a calm submissive state. Don't reward a busy mind. Be consistent and you'll tackle this undesirable behaviour.

 

[GOD'S GRACE]

This is a pee question...with a set up...I've had male dogs that take their time peeing all over the yard, marking everything...but all my girls would just do their business in one spot as they left the steps...Grace is acting like a male, marking by the gates and by the fence...she marks 4-5 spot every time she goes out.

Ever had a female who marks?....Please don't tell me Grace has a gender identity problem!

 

[My2Girls]

This is a pee question...with a set up...I've had male dogs that take their time peeing all over the yard, marking everything...but all my girls would just do their business in one spot as they left the steps...Grace is acting like a male, marking by the gates and by the fence...she marks 4-5 spot every time she goes out.

Ever had a female who marks?....Please don't tell me Grace has a gender identity problem!

Princess does this but not on our property. Mostly when we are walking in the fields/Park. It’s like she has to pee where other dogs have peed. I noticed she started doing this after she turned 2+ yrs old.