the great mav. so here's maverick. the great dane/lab mix dog we adopted last week. we're still on a trial adoption to be sure we're all a good fit for each other.
he's been doing really good. the shelter thinks he may have been abused in his last home. he's pretty nervous and skittish sometimes. if i move my hand wrong and make a loud noise, sometimes he flinches or jumps out of the way.
we're working on making him and toby the best of friends. so far they tolerate each other. we're working on house training and leash training and all sorts of things. we've really taken him in as if he's already part of the family. okay, who am i kidding? he is part of the family.
but the POOP. guys, the poop. it's a real issue. he is constantly pooping inside. and a dog this size does some serious business. his farts alone could knock us out. he's a stinky dog. and i am out of ideas to get him pooping outside. and how do i get the smell out of the carpets & air? the entire upstairs is starting to smell like we run a shelter.
at this point, any advice and tips are seriously welcome.
he's kind of goofy with some serious strength and a strong love for the sofas and our bed. he fills both of them out. he's eating us out of the house and sloshes gallons of water around. and when the shelter said he didn't bark? straight lies. and under no circumstances can we EVER give him a tennis ball.
but other than the unpleasant smells + all that jazz, he's a great dog. and we're loving him. oh! and lia calls him maggot. nice, huh?
ps. M went back to work & its our first day alone. i only feelslightly overwhelmed with this huge guy, our temperamental dachshund and the strong-willed toddler. oy.
ps. M went back to work & its our first day alone. i only feel
I this is a pain, but you could get him to go outside every 30 minutes-1 hour. When he does go to the bathroom, you could exaggerate your praises. Also, this is really annoying because some dogs use it jut to use it or to play, but you could put a bell on your door. And when he does go to the bathroom in the house you could try putting him in his crate for a certain time period. Do you think he's doing it out of spite? Also, he may not know any better to go outside since he was in a shelter or his previous owners never house trained him. It's been so long since I've had to use anything in the house, but maybe check pinterest to help with the stains/smells on your floor. Hopefully all goes well. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteI agree with Allison. You might also look into crate training. It doesn't have to be a forever thing. We crate trained our dog until we were positive she was potty trained. It saved my sanity AND our carpets!
ReplyDeleteGood Luck!
thank you! we had luck this morning :) i think it's just going to take some hard work and very good timing!
DeleteWhat/how are you feeding him? Our dog free-feeds (she just has food out all the time and eats as much/as often as she wants). But that is usually a really big no-no for most dogs. It will definitely help if you feed a certain amount at a certain time and remain consistent. It sounds like he didn't have a lot of positive discipline before, and consistent/measured feeding will help him figure things out!
ReplyDeleteI think after a week or so of feeding at the same time every day, he'll get into a rhythm and need to go around the same time every day which will allow you to let him out even if he's not signaling that he needs to go.
Also, find a treat he loves and watch him when he's outside... as soon as he finishes his business give a big "Good boy!" and a rub and treat.
HTH!
ali, we feed him pedigree dry dog food. i measure out his food & feed him once in the morning & once in the evening. always the same amount of food and roughly the same time. we eliminated his afternoon meal and that seemed to help a lot yesterday.
Deletei am sure he didn't have much positive help at all before and being in a shelter, i assume he just went when he needed to go in his kennel. i've been writing down all of his walks & every time he goes so hopefully i can catch a pattern & we'll get on a good schedule!