I have NO MEDICAL background. If your question pertains to a physical concern about your dog -- that is, you think your dog may be sick, whelping problems, trouble breathing, vomiting, diarrhea, excessive urination, excessive drinking, heavy drooling, unexplained physical symptoms of ANY kind, etc -- YOU NEED TO GET OFF THE COMPUTER AND CALL YOUR VET IMMEDIATELY. DO NOT WASTE TIME WAITING FOR AN EMAIL RESPONSE!!! Your dog could be having a medical crisis!
I answer questions pertaining to training of all kinds, behavior, grooming,etc. I am qualified to address questions regarding basic training issues; crate training, housebreaking, behavior management tools, basic obedience skills.
You may be interested in visiting:
http://bad-dog-good-dog.blogspot.com/
www.housecalls-dogtraining.com
Experience Past instructor for Puppy and Behavior classes for the Humane Society of Missouri. Have been a trainer for over 10 years, both in private in-home sessions and in classroom situations. Have participated in obedience with one of my goldens, titling her with a Companion Dog title. Both of my dogs earned their CGC title and were certified as therapy dogs through two separate organizations. Currently involved in local golden retriever rescue. Am currently serving as an "expert" in the Golden Retriever, Dog Training, and Canine Behavior categories.
Organizations Dirk's Fund Golden Retriever Rescue, www.dirksfund.com
Education/Credentials Going on over ten years of private and public training; instructed with Humane Society of Missouri and South County Obedience.
Question I would really appreciate some advice on successfully housebreaking my 7-month old Lhasa Apso bitch please. She has been pretty inconsistent in her toilet habits since the start – sometimes she wouldn’t have an accident in the house for almost a week, and then sometimes she had accidents all the time. After doing a lot of reading on various sites, I decided to try crate training, and it’s been working really well. She’s been in the crate for over 3 weeks now, without an accident. Despite the many advantages of a crate, I would ideally like to use it only until she’s housetrained, simply because we live in a pretty small house and it takes up a lot of room. As she’s been doing so well, I decided to leave the crate door open last night, however this morning we found that she’d relieved herself. Nothing was different to any other night – she went into the crate at the same time, and came out at the same time. I come home at lunch times to walk her, and have been leaving the crate open during the daytime when she’s alone with no problems. She is clearly physiologically capable of holding all night as she does when she’s crated, so I’m wondering why she goes in the house when she’s not crated…..am I giving her too much freedom, too soon? She also has a habit of going to the potty upstairs, which is the only place we have carpet (I use the correct sprays to remove the odour). A few times she has ran upstairs and even though I’ve been a minute behind her, she’s gone to the potty. I’d just like to know what I can do to ‘help’ her. Thanks in advance.
Answer "I decided to leave the crate door open last night, however this morning we found that she’d relieved herself."
Are you saying that you left the door open to the crate and she relieved herself OUTSIDE or INSIDE the crate? I'm assuming you mean outside, and that would be because the door was open. Dogs don't like to mess where they sleep, so since she is sleeping inside her crate, she wanted to make her mess outside of the crate.
Yes, I think she does have too much freedom. I am including some information on housebreaking that should give you some help.
