Help with getting along with other dog and housebreaking

[azpetlover]

Hello all. Well it have been awhile since I have been here. I have my pound puppy for just about a year now. She is a sweet dog. I have a couple of problem areas. She does not get along with my male dog. He is crated in the house. She run free. She has got a little better but she still likes to start a fight with him. He trys very hard to get away from her. This also causes problem with my other dog that is Snowflake buddy. They are both 11 years old and Doe Ray is about 6 years old. The other problem I have is her hours are different from ours and she has ruined my carpet with pee. She is housebroke but if you are not around to see her she goes on the carpet. Do you think it would be late to try and paper train her. I cannot have a dog door where I live because of the wild animals that come out of the desert in the neighborhood. I do not want to crate her and the people at the pound told me that she will not do good crated. She is comfort in the bathroom when she spend alot of her time because that is the coldest room of the house in summer. I live in the Arizona Hell of Summer. So what about lock her in the bathroom when we can not be around?

[Michael Romanos]

Your male dog may display resentment only known by your pound dog and that may be a reason your pound dog reacts the way she does. Your male dog won't feel good being confined to a crate while the upstart walzes around inside the house.

Don't get into paper - be very aware when you should be giving her a toilet walk and act upon it. With other dogs around, it could be that she smells their personage and that causes her to urinate in the house. You can purchase a spray bottle of stuff that cleans the carpet of dog urine and/or removes dog urine etc odor (odour in NZ). I had a recent thread on this stuff.

If she is causing stress and problems with your other dogs, is she right for them and you? You could discipline her more carefully and act upon her bad temper with your other dogs, using the praise and reward treatment and the confinement to a quiet place treatment.

[Peggy]

Originally Posted by azpetlover

I have a couple of problem areas. She does not get along with my male dog. He is crated in the house. She run free. She has got a little better but she still likes to start a fight with him. He trys very hard to get away from her. This also causes problem with my other dog that is Snowflake buddy. They are both 11 years old and Doe Ray is about 6 years old.

Chances are that since you've had her for a year and the dogs are still not getting along, they're not going to. Unfortunately your choices are either going to be learn to live with keeping them seperated or find her a new home. (And yes, I have experience with dogs not getting along.)

The other problem I have is her hours are different from ours and she has ruined my carpet with pee.

Why are her hours different from yours?

She is housebroke but if you are not around to see her she goes on the carpet.

If she's peeing on the carpet she is NOT housebroken. And yes, paper training at this age would be very tricky. I suggest you start over as if she were a puppy. Take her out very frequently and limit her water at night. Take her out last thing before bed and first thing when she gets up. Praise her like it's the best thing she's ever done when she potties outside. Maybe a treat too.

Keep her confined, maybe an exercise pen or a crate. (And she might be ok with a crate now. Could be she was upset or confused in the shelter or the shelter person didn't like crates.) Or tie her to you with a leash. Then you'll know when she needs to go out.

She is comfort in the bathroom when she spend alot of her time because that is the coldest room of the house in summer. I live in the Arizona Hell of Summer. So what about lock her in the bathroom when we can not be around?

Yes, that should work but she won't learn that she shouldn't potty in the house. A crate works there because dogs don't like to soil where they sleep. Or an exercise pen. You could use a housetraining pad in the pen and she might get the idea to use that instead of the floor. Put some heavy plasctic (old shower curtain or a tarp) on the floor under the pen.

And another thought, could she have a bladder infection? I suggest you have the vet check that out too. Could be why she can't hold it long enough.

Peggy

[HuskerSMJ]

I have a similar problem. We have one male Corgi, almost 2 years old, and we just got a female Corgi, just barely 6 months now. They actually get along pretty well most of the time except for two situations:

1) When one has a chewy or toy. The female will growl at the male whenever he comes near her when she has the toy/chewy. Sometimes she'll run him off, other times they'll get into it.

2) When we are holding one of them and the other comes up...sometimes they get all growly with each other.

It's never serious fights...just alot of growling and posturing. No hair up on the backs, they never bite at us as a result, and they always stop when we get in between them. But I don't want it to get worse.

And any other time they run around and play with each other without problems. They'll run around in the back yard playing tag with each other or lay next to each other in the sun. It's like they are jealous of the attention the other gets or something. Any advice?

[Peggy]

Originally Posted by HuskerSMJ

I have a similar problem. We have one male Corgi, almost 2 years old, and we just got a female Corgi, just barely 6 months now. They actually get along pretty well most of the time except for two situations:

1) When one has a chewy or toy. The female will growl at the male whenever he comes near her when she has the toy/chewy. Sometimes she'll run him off, other times they'll get into it.

Give them any "high value" treats, chewies or toys by themselves. In crates prefrebly or in rooms seperated by baby gates or closed doors.

2) When we are holding one of them and the other comes up...sometimes they get all growly with each other.

Yes, that's jealousy.

It's never serious fights...just alot of growling and posturing. No hair up on the backs, they never bite at us as a result, and they always stop when we get in between them. But I don't want it to get worse.

And any other time they run around and play with each other without problems. They'll run around in the back yard playing tag with each other or lay next to each other in the sun. It's like they are jealous of the attention the other gets or something. Any advice?

You need to get this under control before it does become serious and either the dogs or a person gets hurt. It can esclate quickly.

If they're not altered, that's the first thing I'd suggest. Removing hormones always helps. If they are, great!

Here are some articles on agression in dogs. The first on is about Pems from someone who has done a lot of training and knows what she's talking about.
Emrys Pembroke Welsh Corgis
Articles Menu
Possession Aggression
Dr. P's Dog Training Library - Behav. Probs.
A Behavioral View on Dog Aggression

Also try the Nothing In Life Is Free prgram with them.
Nothing in Life is Free
Nothing in Life is Free Gaining control of your dog humanely

If they've not had any obedience training now is the time to start, and right away. Enroll them in classes. If they have some obedience training brush up on the exercises and reinforce who's in charge here.

Good luck!

Peggy

[MyPemCharlie]

When you say you "just got" the 6 month old, do you mean last week, last month, or four months ago? If you just got the new puppy in the last week or two, the dogs are going through a fairly normal process of establishing their pack order.

You and your spouse are always #1 and #2 pack members, followed by any children in #3, followed by your dogs. Your dogs are competing with each other for rank. Pay very close attention to which dog is "winning" and reinforce that pack order when interacting with your dogs. If the 6 month old establishes a higher rank, then you need to always feed her first, give her toys first, give her affection first. Even though that sounds "unfair" to humans, it is perfectly logical to dogs and will keep them from getting confused and having to constantly compete for rank.

One mistake a lot of people make is to try to decide "for the dogs" which one is alpha. The dogs will decide with their instinctual cues, and you have to reinforce. Not letting any major fights break out between them is a part of your role as Alpha.

Peggy's advice is also very good...great articles and recommendations.

[Michael Romanos]

It is common for dogs to want to protect their own special given things - especially "live" things like meaty bones and chew bars and the like. My suggestion is make sure thay these items are in different rooms or areas of the house and outside the house so that each knows where their own possessions are. Don't feed the Corgis together or have their food and food bowls in the same room.
It is unusual for BOTH Corgis to react the same way when you or your other family members are giving them special treatment such as fondling and holding.
But because it is only at a superficial level, I would expect this kind of behaviour to wear away sooner rather than later. It all depends on the human mannerisms in regard to body language and vocalising and things like patting both at the same time or getting another member of the family to caress one while you are caressing/handling the other.

[HuskerSMJ]

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. Ein is the older male, and Suki is the younger female. To answer some of your questions, yes, they are both fixed. She was just recently fixed...about a week ago. We bought Suki about a month and a half, two months ago.

I'll take a look at some of those articles and see if they can help. I appreciate everyone's help! I'll let you know what progress we make!