Rachel,
I have a 11 year old that has been a screamer since day one, it doesn't go away, it's a temperament thing, sorry if you think it's harsh but it's true. With your schedule you will not potty train the dog, again sorry but it's true.

huh? who attacked you. You have been given lots of great advice from very experienced people.

I throw out my two cents - does this pup have anything to do in her crate while you're gone? Treat toys? kongs? safe chews? IOW something to occupy her other than "I'm all alone, I'm all alone, I'm all alone..." With a puppy I'd give them all of their food as either training treats or in a treat dispensing toy.

What about trying an x-pen in your room at night? I'd try to spend more "pack time" with a dog with SA - try to incorporate her into your life as much as possible.

This was probably mentioned already, but tether her to you when she's inside - it will help you keep a close eye on her to prevent pottying in the house.

I'd be working on teaching her to be calm. Heavily reward calm behavior. Get her out and exercise her hard then work on teaching calm behavior so she learns how to settle down.

 Quote: Rachel Ivey

... My fiance is off 3 days a week and once a month 4 days. This is consecutive. ... About 2 weeks after we got her, my fiance spent about 3 hours outside with her playing. She peed the first second they walked out. Afterwards she peed in the house, twice.

I had in mind several consecutive days spent largely outside with the dog.

I gotta say that like Tracey, I take expert advice with open arms. It's the dog who is of concern here, and not really the advice delivery.

" Our schedule and Bella’s schedule 5:45am – feeding which is 1 cup of food and letting out. She gets a ½ cup of water. 7:30am – her last chance to go out for the day before being put up. Once she’s finished with her food her water is taking away and she is usually done eating by 6am. She usually goes out twice too pee and once too poop in this time frame. She has free roam in the room with me while I get ready. 4:30pm – she is let out for the bathroom, playtime and is left out of the crate. She is given a ¼ cup of water at this time. 5:30pm – she is fed 1 ½ cups of food and given another ½ cup of water. 5:45pm – she is walked. Right now we go about 9 blocks around the neighborhood. Takes about 15 mins."

I'm not seeing the structured exercise that I'd do before leaving any dog in a crate, even with a dogwalker coming in three hours or so.

 Quote: mara jessup

... I throw out my two cents - does this pup have anything to do in her crate while you're gone? Treat toys? kongs? safe chews? .... What about trying an x-pen in your room at night? I'd try to spend more "pack time" with a dog with SA - try to incorporate her into your life as much as possible. ...
This was probably mentioned already, but tether her to you when she's inside - it will help you keep a close eye on her to prevent pottying in the house. ...
I'd be working on teaching her to be calm. Heavily reward calm behavior. Get her out and exercise her hard then work on teaching calm behavior so she learns how to settle down.

Toys were mentioned, but no structured exercise before crating for long periods.

I see no upbeat training sessions.

Tethering is definitely a godsend and worth mentioning again for pottytraining jump-starts.

I agree with Al about the pottytraining and the schedule modification that's needed at this point for it to be successful. Spending consecutive days with the dog outside and getting a dogwalker have been mentioned more than once.

I don't see that as attack. Maybe it's delivery, but again, who cares about delivery?

Rachel,
You are in a tough spot and have your work cut out for you. I feel for you because you obviously love your pup and I'm sure it breaks your heart to leave while she is screaming and you worry about it all day you are not there. Not a good way to live; but fixable. I am not a behaviorist, so take what I say with a grain of salt but I have worked with rescued GSDs for years so have some experience to offer.

First of all; is there any place she does not panic when you leave, for example the car? Does she begin to scream when you get out of the car before her? If not this is where I would begin. Open windows and have the best treats imagineable....duck out of sight as you toss a treat, pop up immediately, repeat a million times til she understands when she doesn't see you its actually pretty good...then increase the time you stay hidden from view as long as you don't push her limits, pups catch on pretty quickly and you can probably get to a 5 minute out of sight, no screaming, in a reasonable time....the good thing about SA it is usually an immediate response to leaving....so after not panicking for 5 minutes she will have a better chance of calming herself.

When you have the quiet behavior, move it to another location, say the yard, hide behind a bush and toss the treat repeat as above...then move to closing the door tossing a treat and immediately opening it. The goal is to familiarize her with your going and returning without needing to scream.

Another thought is and I'm pretty sure you get this The crate = all by myself; so she immediately relieves herself since it has probably delayed your leaving in the past and since her #1 priority is to not be alone if it happened even once to delay you, it is always worth the effort. I don't know how to explain this but my husband designed a partition in one of our crates where there were two levels so that if the pup did have an accident he could remove himself to the other level and not have to lie in it. It worked well in the large airline type kennel.

Something like that might help a little if only to make it not so urgent to get her out of the crate to clean her up. And you might be able to gain a little quiet in there before letting her out when you get home. Do you know how long she screams after you leave?

And not wanting to relieve herself outside might be another delay tactic...she has probably figured out that once she goes it is into the house for her and the big scary ALONE time.

I know the goal is to have her not to have to hold it for any longer than possible but I would allow for about 10 minutes to play with her after she relieves herself and never go from potty to house to crate....the pattern is too easy to see and she's getting herself worked up much earlier than your leaving because she knows the cues. Darn they're smart!

Just a few things I've had success with and I don't see any harm coming to the pup by trying them but I would definitely get feedback from an expert to move things along as quickly and as efficiently as possible. Good luck and keep us posted.



Edited by Sheila Buckley (07/18/2011 03:32 PM)
Edit reason: I'm a slow typer. Great advice before my very long response.

"Open windows and have the best treats imagineable....duck out of sight as you toss a treat, pop up immediately, repeat a million times til she understands when she doesn't see you its actually pretty good...then increase the time you stay hidden from view as long as you don't push her limits, pups catch on pretty quickly and you can probably get to a 5 minute out of sight, no screaming, in a reasonable time....the good thing about SA it is usually an immediate response to leaving....so after not panicking for 5 minutes she will have a better chance of calming herself."

I see you have been there/done that too. This could have been posted by me.

This is part of the random-leavetaking concerted effort I was talking about.

 Quote: Connie Sutherland

I'm not seeing the structured exercise that I'd do before leaving any dog in a crate, even with a dogwalker coming in three hours or so.

Agree^^

Structured exercise helps a dog feel secure - important for every dog, but even more so for a dog with SA.

To go along with this, I'd be doing lots of mental exercise (marker training, several 2-3 minute sessions throughout the day) with a pup. Training also helps dogs to feel secure and mental work will really help tire her out so she is in a calmer state of mind when you crate her.

 Quote: Al Curbow

I have a 11 year old that has been a screamer since day one, it doesn't go away, it's a temperament thing, sorry if you think it's harsh but it's true. With your schedule you will not potty train the dog, again sorry but it's true.

Al, What are you doing to that poor dog? I think the OP said her pup's mother was the same way but doesn't scream anymore so maybe there is hope.

 Quote: Connie Sutherland

I see you have been there/done that too. This could have been posted by me.

Yes but you are too busy being Angel Martin. :laugh: