Our dog peed on our bed. Help!

[brandy0331]

I am hoping you guys can give me some sound advice.  My dog, Scout, is 2 years old . He is a German-Shorthaired Pointer mix with a crap-ton of energy.  He is also very jealous of my son, who is almost 5. Every night, I read stories to DS and Scout lays on the bed for story time as well. Well last night, Scout brought a raquetball he was rather noisily chewing on with him to story time. He wouldn't drop the ball, so I made him go in the living room with DH.  Once I put DS to bed, I went to my bedroom and saw that Scout had peed right in the middle of my bed.  I know they say dogs don't do things out of spite, but this sure felt like it. I didn't catch him in the act, so I felt like there wasn't really much to do about it other than clean up the mess. Scout does have a good bit of separation anxiety according to the vet and the groomer, but it wasn't like he was left in the house all alone. Do you think that just shutting him out of DS's room could cause him to be anxious enough to mark our bed (where he sleeps, btw).

[cmeon]

Can you elaborate on the "jealous" part? Generally, when people say their dog is "jealous"- the real issue is that the dog is not confident with human leadership/challenging human leadership and/or resource guarding (where people are the resource). They're intertwined.

And this definitely sounds like a dog who needs clearer people/dog lines. Which means no more people furniture- he gets crated at night (and perhaps in a non-bedroom, depending on how challenging he's been). He definitely doesn't belong on your son's bed, and I'd keep him out of the child's room entirely (have the other adult in the house leash him for some obedience work or a good extended down "chill time" while your son's being read to). Keep him off couches. If refusing to drop a toy is a frequent behavior, you should really consider removing toys outside of training time- that's too much to let fly with a dog who is already pushing.

What kind of training has he been through? How much exercise/what type is he getting daily? Is he fed twice a day or free fed?

[brandy0331]

I definitely think the jealous part is more resource guarding (me being the resource). Refusing to drop a toy for me is frequent behavior. He'll drop toys for DH, but not me. We are keeping him off the couch, but he is still allowed on the beds. He is in his crate all day. Will having him in his crate at night be too much? Thank you so much for the suggestions. I really do appreciate the help. We went through a 6 week obedience course through our local ASPCA, so he does know basic commands (sit, down, touch, stay, shake). He is still a repeat offender for counter surfing & stealing food. It is like a high-risk high reward game for him. We have about a 2 acre yard that he gets to run around in and I also walk him most mornings for about 2 miles. He definitely has had less exercise lately since it is getting cold and dark here so early, so that may be contributing. He is fed twice a day.

[cmeon]

Have you heard the phrase/term "Nothing In Life is Free (NILF)" before? It's an easy to implement way to change how you interact with dogs that can really help avoid problems, keeps dogs working/engaged/part of the family while enforcing the humans' roles as leaders. Essentially, dogs work for everything they get- they might do a down/stay before they're fed (we have our dogs sit and wait for "take it"), sit while you put on their leash for walks and for greetings (dogs who don't sit get ignored when we come home- they learn fast), "wait" at doors for an invitation (people go though first), perform a trick before you play tug/throw a ball. It becomes second nature when you do it enough.

He can certainly sleep in his crate even if he's crated during the day- but, at the very least, get him his own bed- on the floor. Being able to sleep in a human bed is something that not all dogs can handle- it really goes to their heads!

It sounds like he could use a refresher class, and you should be the one to take him (if your son can attend, even better)!

And yes, the "a tired dog is a good dog" adage is very true- not enough exercise makes everything worse. Can you send him to a doggie daycare a few times a week? Even one day a week can help if it's really difficult to make up the exercise in other ways.

GL!

[cmeon]

And oh, counter surfing- our great dane pup is tall enough to grab things on the counter with all four feet planted on the floor (and still a very young pup, still learning the rules). We're getting better- she's getting better at walking past the things she wants (she loooooves kitchen towels) and we're getting better about not leaving things near the edge- ha. Fun times.

[brandy0331]

I've heard a little about NILF before, but don't know too much about. I will do some research on that today. It sounds like we are doing a crappy version of NILF now. I do make him work for his food and treats, but not as much for attention. Sounds like I just need to start following the rules myself and being more consistent. He does have his own bed in the living room, but he sleeps by my feet at night. I enjoy the cuddle time with him, so that may be a hard one for me to break. If I tell him "bed", he'll get off the couch and go lay there. He did have free reign of all the furniture until about 3 weeks ago, when we got a new couch, so he is still adapting to that as well. I'll have to look for doggie daycares in my area. It is pretty rural here, so that may be hard to find. Thanks so much for all your help!

And with the counter surfing, it is just second nature for me to push things all the way back on the counter now. Scout has quite the reputation for food thievery. This past Summer at a BBQ/cookout we were having, he ran all the way across the yard at top speed, leaped in the air and snatched a bratwurst right out of FIL's hands and kept on running. He spend the rest of that evening in his kennel, so that people could eat in peace. Stinker. He has also stolen cupcakes from small children. Easy targets for him.