[vanaden]

Oscar is a black lab and hes 10 months old. He's a great dog but we're having some issues.
He won't go poop outside now, but instead comes inside and does it, or won't go to the door at all. We spank him and put him in his cage. don't know why he's all the sudden doing that.
We are also thinknig about giving him to a family member. We just can't spend enough time with him because we work and I feel guilty that he's in his cage a lot. He should be somewhere he'd be more appreciated...
I feel like such a bad person for this...it's like your just giving up on the dog. But we don't do enough with him and we have no clue how to train.
Should we just let him go?

[purelegance]

have you tried training classes? or googling different training methods? personally, i could never give up an animal just because i don't know how to train him. but i'm one of those people who also consider any animal that comes into my house another child.

[vanaden]

I love the dog but I don't bond with animals. Many bad experiences. I am not a pet person, I wanted my DH to have a dog like he wanted.
The dog is also in the cage a lot and is causing me a lot of guilt on that...Animals should be worked with and appreciated and we work and are so busy.
I am unsure? we'll see

[CLAIREBEAR1]

HI THERE!
i remember when we got our dog,he did the same. (hes six now!!)
i am a very big animal lover and must admit my patience with him outweighs my patience everywhere else in my life!! (hes my baby!)
me and my partner put down newspaper near the door and watched for his behaviour before he did it,my bobbie walks in circles if he needs a poo and in straight lines when he wants a wee! once we realised he needed to go we would tell him to go to the paper and ty and get the back door open beforehand,he soon learnt and picked it up reasonally quick.
other then that we would stand in the garden and say go wee or poo to him and wait til he did it and once he did it praise him.
i know its hard if he does go inside but try not to spank him,dogs cannot accociate the action they have just done with the punishment they are getting afterwards as their sense ot time is not like ours.
when we asked for help on training our dog (we got a dog whisperer in!!) we were told to ignore the bad behaviour and praise the good.
he was extremely distructive when we first got him as he was a rescue dog and had been very badly treated.he chewed my house to bits and used to be a bit of a demon!!
he is lovely now and stopped all the bad stuff quite soon ater getting him once we started the training.
dogs can be really hard work!
if you do not have the time to spend with him it may be worth letting him go as it takes alot of dedication and training and the sooner you can get them into it the better.
good luck with what you decide!

[fostermommy]

Hi,
We have 2 cocker spaniels (cute, but really dumb). I'm no pro at dog training - believe me. But we were able to cure the "potty in the house" business by following the vet's advice: Keep the dog confined to a small area indoors until he is trained. Dogs naturally want their small area clean, so they won't potty in a small area where they must live. If he goes potty in the house, pick up the poo (or wipe up urine) and place it outdoors in the area you want him to go - and leave it there for the next visit. When he goes outside, he will smell it and know he needs to go there. Have a treat in hand for immediately after he potties outside. Lots of praise and petting. After several successful days, gradually increase the area you will allow the dog to be. For instance, ours were confined to a crate at first, then to the laundry room, then we moved the gate to permit access to the hallway and powder room as well. As soon as they started having accidents, we decreased the size of their free space for a while. Labs require a lot of exercise. Is he able to run outside every day? That's what I find to be most time consuming, as our neighborhood doesn't allow fences, and ours are too dumb to stay in the yard. I totally understand if you feel you must find a new home for your dog. I never realized how "needy" dogs were. I've got the patience for 5 babies, but the dogs are another story. The babies grow up and learn. The dogs just stay "needy." Anybody have suggestions of how to train a dog to stop chewing up everything fabric??? The dog destroys area rugs, winter coats, laundry, throw pillows, you name it. We give him as much exercise and attention as we can, and he always has chewy toys and bones available. He's not going to be around my house much longer if he continues to destroy everything. He's not a puppy any more - so there's no longer an excuse.

[Samual]

Don't hit animals

[Starrlight]

Sounds like you already know what to do - if you don't have the time to devote to the pet then it's probably best to give him/her that does.

fostermommy - get an empty soda can and put a few coins in there. When the animal starts doing a behavior (like chewing on the sofa) that you don't want - shake the can. They hate the noise and will soon learn to associate the noise with the bad behavior and stop.

[fordgrl73180]

I would probably re-hoe him if I were you. if you know you don't have enough time to spend with him, then that should be your sign right there that you shouldn't have a dog at this time.

[MommyDee]

I agree... if don't have the time to spend training and socializing him, it's probably better to let him go. It's a rotten situation, and a really hard decision, but you need to do what's best for him.