[aanicole]

Hey y’all I’m back again I need some advice or help to maybe just see if maybe I’m doing something wrong or if I am missing something. My 3 year old rescue male doberman is going on his 4 month with me. He does not seem to be making any progress in the house training department or the SA department. He whines in his crate constantly even if I am just walking around the house cleaning up trying to get stuff done and then I feed him the same time every day and walk him several times after he eats and he won’t go to the bathroom. I go to work roughly around 9 every morning and come back around 12/1 then I’m officially home by 5 the latest. He was doing good at first and if he didn’t poop in the morning when I walked him he would go when I would walk him around lunch time. As of recently I’ll come home and he will have full blown pooped in his kennel. I am just at a lost now. I am thinking maybe I should try moving his crate into my bedroom and try letting him get used to it in a place where I know he’s comfortable for a few months and then maybe that will ease him or will that make his SA even worse ?

 

[princess bella]

SA dept? What is that? Do you have a small room to put him in where he might be more comfortable than his kennel? Maybe he has a physical problem not being able to hold it? Good Luck

 

[aanicole]

SA dept? What is that? Do you have a small room to put him in where he might be more comfortable than his kennel? Maybe he has a physical problem not being able to hold it? Good Luck

separation anxiety sorry! I felt like I was typing a lot so i abbreviated it & hm that could be the case

 

[melbrod]

The pooping in the crate thing could be separation anxiety too, not a housetraining issue--he didn't do it at first because he wasn't so attached to you.

From the ASPCA website:

"Common Symptoms of Separation Anxiety....

Urinating and Defecating
Some dogs urinate or defecate when left alone or separated from their guardians. If a dog urinates or defecates in the presence of his guardian, his house soiling probably isn’t caused by separation anxiety."

 

[LadyDi]

When we take our pup out for walks we use a longer lead.
I use a 15 foot lead.
These dogs love to roam freely and sniff sniff sniff…..for my boy Hoss……freedom to sniff and roam at his own pace…..that always wakes up his pooper!!! Wink wink….

 

[MMcCown]

I have no rescue experience with Dobermans but years with Boxers and what I did was to get up extra early to ensure that I had lots of time to take the dog out so he had a looooonnnnggg time to sniff and go and sniff and go and sniff some more. That helped get things moving along 9 chances out of 10.

Regarding the crate issue, it may be that you need lots and lots of time to get him comfortable. It may be that he can only stay in the crate calmly for 5 minutes with you out of sight so you will have to work up to leaving him for an hour or more.

Even with my boy who I got as a puppy (and did everything right) and it STILL took me 7 months to get him comfortable in the crate for 30 minutes. From there, I was able to quickly work up to 4 hours over the next several months.

There are others who have experience with rescue Dobermans and I am sure they will have advice.

 

[KristenC]

I had trouble getting my Zyan to poop when he came back from traveling on the road for conformation shows. When I asked his breeder/co-owner/handler, she said "just let him stick his head in/on a bush or tree, he'll go right away". Lo and behold, she was right! I asked her how she figured that out, and she said from years and years of getting to know new dogs... she just observes what/where they are when they do successfully bathroom outside and goes with it.

SA is so hard to manage. My first boy was absolutely inconsolable if we left, no matter what we tried. What helped him the most was leaving a radio/tv on so he had noise still going on around him. We also worked with a behaviorist and veterinarian to help with some meds.