New Dog Behavior

I have a Golden Retriever rescue dog named Lacey who is about 7 yrs. old. We've had her for about two weeks. She's a former puppy Mill Mom and may have never been alone. She is quite people oriented . Here's the problem -- the last two times she has been left alone for a morning, I have returned to find a pile of poop in the living room. While there are some questions I have about the quality/length of her morning walks with my 13 yr.old, my instinct says the poop may possibly be a statement about her feelings when she is left alone. I'll take advice you have to offer. Thanks

Dogs don't really understand fairness and don't "get back" at people/other dogs for things, IMO.

I would crate her if I were you.. dogs won't go to the washroom where they sleep.

I agree with BC_Mom, dogs do not do things to "get even." However, the going in the house may be a reaction to being left alone. If she has not been left alone she may become anxious and not know what to do or how to behave. This anxiousness may cause her to have to eliminate. Crating her when you are not home is an excellent idea until she learns the rules of your house and how to behave. She isn't doing it to be bad, she just doesn't know any better, or is so anxious she cannot hold it. Two weeks really isn't a long time and she is probably not sure what is expected of her. Be patient and teach her what you want from her, and I am sure that she will happily become a loved and loving member of your family. Good luck, and congratulations. :)

Im sorry I have had dogs that DID get even. But if she was a mill mom she may not have ever been house trained, I would just start as if she hadn't been.

Thanks for the tip on anxiety and elimination. That makes a lot of sense -- didn't really think she was doing this to "get even." It also makes sense to crate her when I leave --DUH! Now, what to do about the barking??

I agree with Corinna, dogs definatly think and have the ability to reason, I have seen WAY to many cases of this is ever believe otherwise. Perky tricks the other dogs when she wants something all to herself. Happy does too, I have seen her fake out the other dogs so many times, then when she suceeds she picks a spot near the dog she faked out sit down and grin at them, its hilarious. Perky like to get even with my mom when she is annoyed :p

but I would agree with crating your dog to solve this issue.

Hmm, it sounds like Separation Anxiety. Have you read up on this subject? If not, read read read! :)

For a brief summary, SA stems from dog's abnormal attachment to its family. Many puppy mill dogs develop SA in a normal household enviornment because they were separated from the litter prematurely and had not yet developed the proper social skills. Due to their rocky beginnings, the dogs often display symptoms of SA (destroying household items and furniture and urinating/defecating in areas where they normally do not).

It'd be wise to nip this behavior in the bud by making planned departures. Here's what you should do:
1) Provide your dog with a stuffed, frozen Kong, plentiful plush and puzzle toys, and a comfy dog bed.
2) Turn on the radio or TV to block outside noises. I personally close the blinds and shades on my windows since I find that helps control Giselle's SA.
3) If you want to use Rescue Remedy (www.bachflower.com/rescue_remedy.htm), this would be the perfect time to feed your dog a few droplets.
4) If you want to crate your dog, this would be a greyt time. I, on the other hand, like to close off my dogs to the living room and porch only.
5) Quietly, yet discreetly, leave the room and exit the house. Don't make a huge fuss. Just leave non-chalantly.

At first, you want to leave for just 10 minutes. Gradually, you can increase the inervals to 20 minutes, then 30 minutes, then 40. Soon, you'll be able to leave the house for hours at a time and not worry about the shape of the house. Good Luck!

Also, when you make your entrance back into the house, be sure not to make a big deal about it also. My Sierra suffers from SA and when I return home I don't make a big fuss. I just walk in the house and ignore her for a few minuets until I feel she's calmed down, then I shower her with lovin's :D .
Buddy has helped a GREAT deal with her SA, I am now able to leave them out of crates when we're not home (if I would have before, I wouldn't have a home left to come home to! She used to destroy anything she could sink her teeth into! :o )

Oh yeah, I completely forgot about that! Thanks Pitc9 ;) The goal of "alone training" is to slowly acclimate the dog to comfortably being alone. To accomplish this, you have to make your departures and arrivals as non-chalant as possible. Like Pitc9 mentioned, you'll have to wait until your dog is calm and quiet to pet and acknowledge her. Otherwise, you're going to reinforce her rambunctious behavior as OK and cause her to believe that you going away and coming back is a big deal (it shouldn't be).

I just now noticed you asked about the barking. LOL. Alone training covers all aspects of SA - the urinating/defecating, the barking, the destroying, etc. So if you successfully alone train her, then you should have eliminated the barking as well. I wish you lots of luck and hope you don't pull too much hair out ;] SA is extremely difficult to deal with because these dogs find the most obnoxious items to destroy and can't seem to be able to keep their mouths shut!

I always thought that if a dog suffers from separation anxiety the worst thing you could do is to crate it. My sister-in-laws dog had SA and he would freak out when crated. He loved to sleep in his open crate, just don't close the door or watch out! We use a baby gate to keep our dogs confined to the kitchen while we are gone. The kitchen is big enough to where they don't feel too confined, yet they don't have access to the whole house either.

Often leaving a TV or radio on while you're away helps too.