# Problems with my "new" dog



## tedsmom (Oct 5, 2013)

Hi everyone,

The new in the title is in quotes because Ted (mini poodle) is not really new, but he has become a new dog in the past month. I got him when he was 12 weeks old. No problems - he was a wonderful puppy and fully housetrained in about 5 days. Since he turned about 8 months old, so many things have changed about him. He started marking in the house and now he not only marks in the house, but he also "officially" pees in the house. Twice today I was outside with him and my 3 dachshunds and Ted went in the house through the dog door, peed and came running back out. Don't know why he is doing this. Since he started marking, I have been keeping a belly band on him when we're indoors. He pees right in them, so that doesn't seem to be helping

Also, I have socialized him like crazy and he was so good with people, other dogs and generally loved everybody. Suddenly he is spooked by everything and very shy. I don't think anything happened to cause this.

One other thing. He hates the food I give him now. It's the same food I've been giving him for the past six months. He used to love it, but now eats a little and doesn't want to touch the rest of it. He still is very food motivated when he is training, but acts like he'd just as soon go without his meals.

I guess my question is - Has anyone had a dog change so drastically when they enter adolescence? I'm not sure what to do about any of this. I've had only dachshunds and I've had them for over 30 years. This is a whole new experience for me. Sorry this is so long.

Thanks.

Sue


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## brownlikewoah (May 3, 2012)

I would suggest seeing a vet to rule out any sort of medical condition that may be causing him to need to potty so often, but most likely it is due to hormones from him becoming a little man... perhaps it is time to neuter? What type of food is he on?


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## tedsmom (Oct 5, 2013)

I have an appointment at the vet tomorrow for a pre-neuter exam. I wanted to wait for neutering until he's a year old. I will be doing agility with him and I wanted to wait to make sure his growth plate is closed. But with the potty problem, I don't think I can wait. This is very disappointing. I thought the housebreaking stuff was behind me.

I have been feeding Ted a mixture of Grandma Lucy's freeze dried raw chicken and Orijen chicken kibble since I got him. He loved it and now doesn't seem to like it all. I tried some Nature's Variety chicken raw premix last week. I feed that to my other dogs. Ted didn't like that either.

I hope things change. This is all very frustrating to me.


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## Rachel76 (Feb 3, 2014)

As far as the fear goes I think in adolescence many dogs go through a fear phase. Just keep socializing him, lots of treats. ....I'm sure you know the drill.  .

For the urinating and marking in the house I would treat him as though he wasn't house trained. Again lots of kenneling and potty breaks and treats for going outside. 

I am anything else but an expert and I hope this helps. I will have an adolescent before I know it.


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## patk (Jun 13, 2013)

i think that most of the advice i've seen at pf in cases of this kind boils down to 1) make sure there is no medical issue then 2) go back to step one re house training. make sure you use an enzyme neutralizer first to rid the house of any left over "invitations" to use the home for urinating. besides the crate, keep the dog leashed to you when he is not crated so that you can interrupt any mistakes and take him out right away. 

picky eating: don't overfeed or overtreat. it cuts their appetite. measure out his food correctly then use some of it for treats. save the best treats for the best behavior! (oh, yeah, my dog has put me through some of that, too, and the worst part is that he is very food motivated, so you know how far off the rails i have been.)

hope his vet exam goes well.


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## spindledreams (Aug 7, 2012)

Grin welcome to the teenage time. A couple of nice articles that may help... 

What Alien abducted my dog be warned there are a lot of ads but it is a good read 
and this one from Service Dog Central

They can help give you an idea what is going on in that silly little brain but the reality is each dog is different and yep each hour is different. Sigh last week Phoenix could not remember his name let alone what sit meant. He FAILED the Star Puppy test, Sit HUH mom what does that mean? Of course he learned sit his first week home! This week he aced it and has now earned his Star Puppy Certificate  but last week... I honestly don't think he knew his name. Marking yep we are fighting it so is another owner in our puppy class with her 8 month old toy. 
Make sure there are no physical reasons for his peeing then start over with crate training/house training. I was told treat them like little puppies and keep working on training them but take in to account the even shorter attention spans then they had as a puppy and be prepared for the on again off again understanding. You can see the confusion in their eyes some times...


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

Sophy never left my side as a pup, and came running gleefully if I so much as whispered her name. Then came adolescence, and she was off! Remember that it is not just hormones - the brain is also rewiring. There is good news, though - the positive results all the work you did on socialising and training will re-emerge in due course if you can weather this storm, and dog adolescence is much, much shorter than that of human teenagers!

On the food, it is possible that the amount he needs has reduced now that he has finished growth spurts - I found I needed to reduce the amount I fed my toys by around 20%.


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## Lou (Sep 22, 2012)

When I first read this thread I was like "yeah...... I think we went through something like that..." Because it was a while back and it went away quick so I almost forgot about it ! 
sorry to hear this has been hard on you, but I believe it will pass soon. I got Lou at 3.5 months old and she was perfect (she is perfect again now too Hehe) but around that same age she she got so skittish, like for instance she would jump like a bull trying to get out of her leash at any loud noise!! Acting terrified! Also she was socialized a ton, and all of a sudden when someone reached to touch her head she'd move her head quickly out of the way and like "gently" mouthed people , acting like "please pet me, please don't" wagging tail, confused happy but anxious and worried... And sometimes I'd call her and she would ignore me... But

I honestly didn't even really think too much of it at the time, I kinda just reacted on instinct and pushed passed the frustration thinking "this just has to work out!!! I love her too much now, she is my kid and she will get better" type of attitude 
and tried to reinforce everything I taught her all-the-time.
And A LOT OF PRAISE when she got it RIGHT. I started spending A LOT of time outside on the porch (it was an apartment complex) and everyone that walked by I asked (silly I know) could u say hi to my puppy she is super sweet but shy and I'm training her to be more confident (or something like that) people were like "Sure!!!! She is so cute!! She won't bite though right?" And I know Lou wouldn't bite we just had to go slow so she'd chillax and figure out the "everything is ok" And my way of telling her the person was "a friend" was saying "hiiiiiiiiii!!!!" A high pitched happy hi ... That was the cue that let Lou know it was ok and she started figuring out and feeling more confident letting people pet her etc...some people would hang out for a little while and Lou would lay down (I felt so proud  ) that was one of her main "this is not my dog" type of behaviors of adolescence, and everything is fine now. So hang in there , it will pass. But just for a little while dedicate yourself into your puppy and start from scratch.

Hope you will update us on your success soon!!!!  all the best to you.







Sent from Petguide.com Free App


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## Shamrockmommy (Aug 16, 2013)

Sounds like my Jack 3 months ago! At 9 months he went from fully house trained and sweet and a good eater to a picky, skinny, marking/peeing in the house turd! 

I put him on leash and he was tethered to me the entire time he was out. He no longer got full house privileges. He also peed in front of me twice and I made it very clear he was NOT to pee in the house. Ever. I used a very BIG booming voice, the likes of which he had never heard. Then I took him outside and when he peed praised and loved on him a whole bunch. So far so good. He's back to full house roaming BUT it took me baby gating him to one room, then two and so on. 

I am waffling on neutering still. There is SO much conflicting information out there and I don't want to do him harm.

He spent this week annoying the heck out of me and my PWD girl, Echo. Now Echo has been spayed for years! She developed an abscess on her back which was full of blood and pus (which is not unlike the odor girls in heat get) and he was absolutely convinced she was in season and ready to be bred! He has spent the last week humping her head, her butt, licking and sniffing her abscess, following her constantly, licking her ears (courtship). Today her abscess is about 90% better but he is still checking it and I just redirected him so he would stop licking her ears and sniffing her scab. 

SO, on the one hand, he's 12 months tomorrow, and technically old enough/mature, but then I read all the scary things about being prone to more cancers, ligament issues, temperament issues (especially since he's a spooky dog, I wanted that testosterone to give him a little bravery to get through his spooky stage). I don't want him to back pedal with all the progress we've made trying to get him to not be so scared of life! 

Then I read about not neutering and the enlarging of the prostate and that sounds like no fun! Nor do the perianal fistulas and such. Ew!

My first dog was male and neutered at 9 months. He was a minpin and completely full of himself. Even after neutering, he never stopped peeing in the house. He was still aggressive with other dogs, especially intact males. He even bred and tied with 2 bitches in season! He apparently did not get the memo. 

So, still, I don't even know what direction to go with this guy and his breeder is ok with him being left intact so I don't even have a contract to force me LOL.


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

I understand why you were hoping to wait on the neutering, but it is more important to have a dog that can be a happy and well integrated member of your household (i.e. no peeing in the house allowed). If you vet appointment rules out medical issues then you are left with behavioral matters--adolescence, etc., in which case an earlier neuter along with starting from scratch with your housebreak training (no unsupervised time loose in house, lock the doggie door, etc) should get you where you need to be. I had Lily spayed before she had her first heat since my other dog is an intact male. I waited until she was closer to 18 months old to start agility equipment training, so that she was skeletally mature. In the meantime there would be plenty of foundation training you could do to get your pup ready for agility equipment.

I can't say too much about the food issues since I haven't used the foods you talk about, but I will say you want to make changes slowly and one component of his diet at a time so you can figure out what he likes and also to avoid tummy upsets.


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## tedsmom (Oct 5, 2013)

*problems with my "new" dog*

Thanks, everyone for all the advice. We went to the vet today and she said Ted seems very healthy. She did a complete blood panel and I should have the results tomorrow. I made an appointment for neutering on Friday, March 28. The vet thinks 9 months old is a good age for neutering, so I'm taking her advice.

It really helps to know that others have survived their dogs' adolescence. I honestly don't think I went through this with my dachshunds, or maybe I'm blocking it out of my mind. I tend to do that with bad memories. 

Sue


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## Wild Kitten (Mar 13, 2014)

tedsmom said:


> I have an appointment at the vet tomorrow for a pre-neuter exam. I wanted to wait for neutering until he's a year old. I will be doing agility with him and I wanted to wait to make sure his growth plate is closed. But with the potty problem, I don't think I can wait. This is very disappointing. I thought the housebreaking stuff was behind me.
> 
> ........
> 
> Also, I have socialized him like crazy and he was so good with people, other dogs and generally loved everybody. Suddenly he is spooked by everything and very shy. I don't think anything happened to cause this.


I don't think neutering will help with potty training..... and if he is fearful it can actually make it worse! 

Neutering is not a cure for everything and it is well known that in fearful dogs taking out the hormone will make them even more fearful. Something could have spooked him without you noticing...

I would have him checked out to see if there is any medical condition why he changed so drastically, and if all is well with him, contact a good positive trainer/behaviour expert.... I would wait with the neutering cause once you "chop it off" there is no way to put it back on. 

Try to crate him when he is indoors and close the "doggy gate" when he is outside, and praise him for doing his business outside... as it has been said before, start from the start and retrain him so he knows where he got to go.


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## McStargazer2 (Mar 12, 2014)

lily cd re said:


> . I waited until she was closer to 18 months old to start agility equipment training, so that she was skeletally mature. In the meantime there would be plenty of foundation training you could do to get your pup ready for agility equipment.


Great information for my 3 year old Rescue and me as a newbie.
Though I was told he would never be able to do agility, therapy, etc.....my Question is: *what do you mean when you say "meantime there would be plenty of foundation training...to get ready for agility equipment"? *

We've only been together for 14 days 12 hours...but who is counting? ! 
I have discovered that Beauregard does best when he is walked at lest 2x / day but we have been doing 4x because he has so much to desensitize. He will "follow" when I walk on a parking lot curb or a stone wall. (Not high enough where he can't walk off if he wanted to.) I don't even know if there is such a command as "follow" but when I want him directly behind me, that's what I say. 

Is there more that I could be doing to keep him active, and focus his energy? Thanks ahead of time.


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## Poodlebeguiled (May 27, 2013)

I have two 10.5 intact male puppies. Mine haven't marked in the house, but when we're outside and they are marking (not simply peeing to empty their bladder) I reward that too. I do keep them from marking man made objects besides the street lamp posts. Otherwise, bushes, trees, grass etc...all gets as much a reward as regular peeing like when you're potty training.

As far as the fear coming on, this is quite normal at around these ages we both have...Dogs experience several fear periods, sometimes well into adult hood even. This is a typical time. Don't worry...just keep making positive associations with the things he's afraid of and try making those triggers easier on him, milder. 

My little Maurice was never afraid to go up and down the stairs but all of a sudden, he isn't wanting to do a long stretch of them. It's possible he got hurt and I didn't know it but it's also normal for weird stuff like this to happen. He also was never worried about the hard wood floor. Now, this week, he's decided it is very suspect and to be avoided. lol. So, we'll just take it slowly and he'll come back around at some point. I'm not going to worry about it.

Matisse, my other one, who is extremely well socialized, is a show dog, exposed to all kinds of adults, children, dogs, noise, loud speakers, you name it, never afraid...a couple weeks ago decided children were aliens and very possibly dangerous. This lasted about a week or two. Now he's back to deciding, children are really quite fun to play with.

Potty training, including marking is all treated the same. Turn up the supervision a couple of notches and take outside more often, treat with high value (to the dog) stuff and make a big fuss over him. Take outside for potty and come back in...not for play time on those trips, just potty. Use an ex pen or crate when you can't watch. Use an enzymatic cleaner where he's peed before. 

Puppies are hard, for sure. But these things will pass. Good luck.

Oh, I'm so late to this. You must have already gotten him neutered, right?


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## lily cd re (Jul 23, 2012)

McStargazer2 said:


> Great information for my 3 year old Rescue and me as a newbie.
> Though I was told he would never be able to do agility, therapy, etc.....my Question is: *what do you mean when you say "meantime there would be plenty of foundation training...to get ready for agility equipment"? *
> 
> Is there more that I could be doing to keep him active, and focus his energy? Thanks ahead of time.


You can work on your basic obedience commands. Teach body awareness like teach him how to back up in a straight line, to keep two back feet up on something like a step, balance and core exercises. If you want to teach him to walk on a board about twelve inches wide laid on the ground and keep his feet on it you will simulate the feel of the dog walk and teeter. Diane Bauman has an agility book out that includes lots of good information on foundation work. There are others as well, but that one pops in off the top of my head.


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