r/Dogtraining

Welcome to the fortnightly separation anxiety support group!

The mission of this post is to provide a constructive place to discuss your dog's progress and setbacks in conquering his/her separation anxiety. Feel free to post your fortnightly progress report, as well as any questions or tips you might have! We seek to provide a safe space to vent your frustrations as well, so feel free to express yourself.

We welcome both owners of dogs with separation anxiety and owners whose dogs have gotten better!

NEW TO SEPARATION ANXIETY?

New to the subject of separation anxiety? A dog with separation anxiety is one who displays stress when the one or more family members leave. Separation anxiety can vary from light stress to separation panic but at the heart of the matter is distress.

Does this sound familiar? Lucky for you, this is a pretty common problem that many dog owners struggle with. It can feel isolating and frustrating, but we are here to help!

Resources

Books

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Don't Leave Me! Step-by-Step Help for Your Dog's Separation Anxiety by Nicole Wilde

Be Right Back!: How To Overcome Your Dog's Separation Anxiety And Regain Your Freedom by Julie Naismith

Separation Anxiety in Dogs: Next Generation Treatment Protocols and Practices by Malena DeMartini-Price

Online Articles/Blogs/Sites

Separation Anxiety (archived page from the ASPCA)

Pat Miller summary article on treating separation anxiety

Emily "kikopup" Larlham separation training tips

Videos

Using the Treat&Train to Solve Separation Anxiety

introducing an x-pen so the dog likes it (kikopup)

Podcast:

https://www.trainingwithally.com/the-podcast

Online DIY courses:

https://courses.malenademartini.com

https://www.trainingwithally.com/about-2

https://separationanxietydog.thinkific.com/courses/do-it-yourself-separation-anxiety-program

https://rescuedbytraining.com/separation-anxiety-course

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Introduce your dog if you are new, and for those of you who have previously participated, make sure to tell us how your week has been!

I have a 4 year old bling dog. He's been blind basically from birth, so he's very adapted to it. Of course that doesn't mean he's got a perfectly normal life. But we manage and I made it my mission to help him have the most normal and fun life I could.

We go for walks, he plays with other dogs, we do some training, we play at home and I make sure to have him play some cognitive challenges, etc. Basically a normal dog life.

But there's one problem, when he wants something he whines. And HE WON'T STOP.

I'm preparing his meal or a toy? He sits beside me and cries.

He wants to be with me but I'm in another room? He cries.

He wants any type of attention? He cries and cries and cries.

A couple of things that I'm sure are going to be brought up: yes, I talked to his veterinarian and got him a full check up, he's health is ok. He's not in any pain. His blood work came up perfect.

And yes, I understand this is probably a learned behaviour that got him attention, but I have tried everything that I can think of to make the behaviour stop and it's not working. From not reacting, to trying to teach him that there are other ways to get my attention, more play, more cognitive toys.

I'm very sensitive to sounds or maybe it's an emotional reaction, but even though I love him so much when he won't stop crying I get angry and I feel like rejecting him. Of course I try to not react, at most I will say STOP or NO because sometimes it is too much for me. I don't want to do that to him.

Anyone got any ideas? 😭

Edit because after reading my own post I realized something: he cries because his tolerance to "waiting" or "longing" is so low. So I guess I have to work on his tolerance. But how?

A little bit of background on my sweet boy:
He’s a rescue stray who either had no interaction with humans or bad interactions with humans. The shelter estimated he was about 1-2yo when I rescued him a few years ago but he has grey hairs now so who knows. They were unable to lure him with anything and had to catch him in a trap. He had previously broken a bone (shelter vet guessed he got hit by a car) that had healed on its own so that just goes to show how long he was a stray. It took a while to get him used to being a pet. At first he didn’t even understand the concept of toys and maybe still doesn’t since he doesn’t really play he just hoards mostly soft toys and socks in his little dragon nest! He was a very nervous guy at first but now the anxiety only shows when he’s left alone (which isn’t often or for very long when he is). I only have a cat not another dog so he hasn’t had a role model on how to be a human’s dog. He loves my parents’ dog but we only go over a few times a week and she’s a bit chaotic. He’s definitely still a stray at heart but he’s opened up so much and is very loving, trusting, sweet, and gentle.

My problems:
- training him is difficult (not impossible) because he’s not super motivated by anything I have to offer at home. The big three, treats, play, and praise, don’t seem to matter much when it comes to training. The only things I’ve been able to train him on are house training, sit, down, no (most of the time), okay (to release him from his command), here, and excuse me. They’re all things I was able to show him by repetition and physically showing him. For example, I taught him “here” by saying it then physically going up to him and he connected “here” to “be close to me”. I say “excuse me” when I’m squeezing past him and now he knows that it means to get out of the way or I’ll get in his bubble lol.

- he sometimes gets into things he knows he shouldn’t get into even if I just leave him alone to run to the bathroom for a sec. Most of the time he brings me whatever he’s gotten into and he’s whining as if he’s telling on himself because he understands “no” and learned not to get into things by me catching him in the act and taking it away while saying “no”. However, he gets into stuff as soon as I leave him unattended if a)he’s feeling mischievous that day and b) if I accidentally left something out. There’s been a couple incidents over the years where he’s gotten into something potentially dangerous and eaten it. I’m pretty good at keeping things baby proofed at this point but I’m still human. I’m not sure if it’s possible but if it is I’d like to train him to not get into no no things when I’m not around to tell him no.

- I’ve been trying to leash train him for quite a while and I’ve been failing miserably. It’s so confusing because I thought that him getting into food things whether it’s dirty dishes or trash would mean that he’s food motivated but when I use a high reward treat at home (cooked chicken) to work on heel he just lays down and thinks he’s being good by doing so. I’ve tried the tricks like hand placement and guiding the food so he follows it but he’ll just lay down and stay there until I release him?? Then on walks he just pulls and pulls. He’ll stop and sit if I tell him to but as soon as I say ok it’s right back to pulling. I was told to train him at home away from distractions before doing it in a high stimulation environment. I’m thinking of breaking that law and using sniffing things on walks as a reward because he thoroughly enjoys that I just don’t know how to utilize it as a reward for anything other than good walking behavior if I can even figure out how to use it for that.

TLDR: he’s doing his best. He’s just a feral raccoon in a dog body that’s semi learned how to be a domesticated creature. The things I’ve been able to teach him haven’t been because of treat, play, or praise. It’s been me physically showing him how to do it until he makes the connection between the command and what I’m asking him to do but the long/indirect way instead of the straightforward reward way. I love him as he is I just want to better train him to keep him safer. I’m worried he’ll always be feral at heart and either pull off the leash and get lost/hit or eat something that hurts him.

Hi,

I am at a loss of what to do. My dog passed in March, a husky I had for half of my life(14 years). I decided to foster, maybe adopt, to help me cope a month after, because helping others usually helps me get through difficult emotions.

We fostered a current 1.5 year old husky and she was great for the first 2-week trial. She had separation anxiety and scratched up a door, but otherwise great. I knew we were adjusting. We would go to the dog park for an hour every morning to get her energy out with a group of dog friends and then 4 sniff walks a day after for 20-30 min in the neighborhood. I have given her enrichment toys of all kinds and squeaky and non squeaky toys.

In the past 3 weeks she made our life hell on earth. She picked up demand barking that is turning into constant barking that I wake up from at 5 am and it will continue after her walk till 8 am. I will also go to sleep to her demand barking for play attention at 8pm-10pm.

I tried more enrichment toys, ignoring barking, walking away from barking, we went to the vet treated her for Giardia, she barks in the crate, tethering with treats, also tried. Barking is getting worse and worse.

We decided that we can't go on like this. It was a very hard decision for us, but I can't live like this. All of this made me miss an important grad school exam that I am now behind in graduating.

She is young and super pretty. She is not a bad dog we just don't have the structure and help for her to be the best dog she can be.

I contacted the shelter where we got her from and asked to foster her until we can get her into another foster or adopted to a better suited home. Shelter was sending me on a loop of email us, then call us and leave a voicemail to now it is 2-3 week wait for a reply(not a decision). I understand they are overwhelmed. I just need guidance, and I am so lost and so tired.

I know I am a bad person and I did this to myself but I never expected for things to be this difficult. I had a husky before and never had anything like this. Has anyone been though something similar?

So sorry for the long post - trying to get as much info out there!

Helpful history/information: I have two dogs: Amelia, 11yr old German Shepherd mix, and Fiona, 8yr old (almost 9) Beagle mix. I adopted Amelia from friends when she was 2mo old in May 2015. I adopted Fiona from a shelter when she was estimated to be 6mo old in Dec 2017. I know it is advised not to have two female dogs, but Amelia doesn't get along with males, so after careful consideration, I decided to adopt Fiona.

These dogs have been together for going on 9 years. They have both had extensive professional training (they even did a 3 week boarding/training program twice together) and I rarely have problems with them, but over the years, Fiona will suddenly decide to start growling at Amelia, which she reacts to, leading to physical fights. These phases seem to last around a week, and we have gone as long as a year without an incident.

Every time we go through one of these phases, I do my best to learn and adjust accordingly, but maybe I am doing it wrong?

Fiona's growls are usually what I would identify as resource guarding. A few years ago, I noticed it with food, so I made sure their food bowls were far enough away that there was no tension. Then, she started doing it with toys, so they stopped sharing a toy basket, and all toys are now given outside for more space, which works well. Then it was me, so I stopped letting them on furniture with me. I supervise everything. They stay in their own rooms when I am at work (rarely longer than 6 hours). They get plenty of time outside, and have their own fenced in yard. I had a pretty good handle on things for a long time, but now it's started back up again.

I am at a loss as to how to handle this now, because it is so random and seems to have no pattern. Why would she be fine for months, even up to a year with not even a hint of tension, then suddenly decide Amelia can't even look in her direction when food is in the same room? Amelia is afraid to even walk past her some nights, even if there are no triggers around. Tonight's post was prompted by a fight caused when Amelia left her bed while my boyfriend and I were eating dinner.

What can I do at this point in their lives? Did I do something wrong all these years? Is my only option to separate them every time someone eats? They just had their annual checkups and all was fine. Fiona has some lumps she is going to get biopsied, but is acting fine otherwise.

Thank you for making it this far!! 🐶

Hello, I have a Yorki and Poodle mix (M5) and our neighbors Yorki (M(age unknown)) likes to stop by our house to hang out. Now ill be the first to say the my dog isnt the most properly socialized but hes never been hostile toward any dog hes met (to clarify this isnt the issue). The issue is that while my dog seems excited at the prospect of a friend (getting excited and begging to come out when he hears the Yorki and following him around) he never seems to let the Yorki any closer than a foot away from him. Like as soon and the yorki tries to get close hell make distance. The Yorki doesnt seem to mind it, which is good because i know a couple of previous dogs got frustrated with this behavior. Is this a normal thing that happens? Will it just take time for him to warm up?

My dog is a 2 year old male pitbull. He's our first dog. He's neutered, chipped, vaccinated, all the usual stuff. We got him about a month ago from the shelter, and he's a very sweet boy. However, he was found abandoned before going to the shelter, so we're still working on helping him settle in with no background.

What he's good at: he's house trained, knows sit, and takes treats very gently. He likes to cuddle on the couch or nap in front of it while we watch TV. Highly motivated by peanut butter, and to a lesser degree, cheese or bacon flavors. No resource guarding or confusing signs of aggression. Likes to be the house supervisor, and will generally settle wherever we are, unless we're in the shower.

Things we are working on: loose leash, down, come, reactivity and lunging. Barking, jumping, and mouthing to play. Gets very loud and frightened if maintenance is working on something and being noisy, barks a lot if he hears voices outside or next door. Frightened of thunder, but usually settles in for a cuddle after a short time. Very intent on walking on us, results in bruising and pain. Seems to randomly get anxious, even while being calmly praised or spoken to; licking his nose, ears down, seems to be doing whale eyes.

What we're trying: rewarding calmly sitting or lying down with treats, petting, and praise. Using a treat lure for down and come. Changing direction, bringing him close, or standing still if a person or animal is approaching (depending on distance), or if he pulls or lunges, which he does any time he sees or hears a strange person or animal. He's allowed near other people on leash, and only if he's willing to sit and we're holding his collar (it's a Martingale). Watching videos from Kikopup and McCann, reading links from this wiki and other sources. Reward marking such as "good sit", "good boy", or clicker.

What we're not doing: letting him near other animals; we're planning on outside perimeter walks at a fenced in dog park to minimize risk. Physical punishment, withholding any resources, long-term tethering, unsupervised outside time due to no fence or other barrier. Alpha or dominance training; we want him to choose to follow commands and expectations rather than fearing repercussions. We rarely crate him because we think it's a little too small, and he seems afraid to go in (goes low to the ground and tries to escape, ears and tail down), even if lured with toys and highest value treats.

We live in a duplex and recently took in my neighbor's 1.5 year old pittie. He was originally rescued from a city shelter by his previous owner, so he's already been through at least one major transition before. We've only had him for 2 weeks and he's a very sweet boy but he's struggling with the fact that his people are still right downstairs.

He still sees them all the time when he's on the balcony or on walks and they'll give him snacks (they miss him too), but when we're not home and he hears them below, he starts whining and crying and pacing, sometimes full-on howling. We thought having them come upstairs to comfort him would help, but now I'm wondering whether that's actually reinforcing the behavior.

Here's what we've been doing so far:

He kept his old feeding bowl, some of the jackets and sweaters his previous owner got him, and a mix of his old and new toys

He has a crate that he voluntarily uses when wants to

We're doing 3–4 walks a day to burn energy and to try to ease some of his unease

We are trying our best to keep him away from the backyard and back hallway and other places he might associate with his old home downstairs

I feel like I'm doing the right things but I'm also not sure if we're inadvertently making it harder for him. A few questions on my mind:

Is his previous owner coming upstairs when he cries making this worse? Should we stop that?

Are his old things (jackets, old bowl) helping him feel safe, or could they be keeping him stuck?

Any enrichment toys, puzzle feeders, or calming products that have actually worked for separation anxiety? Is this even separation anxiety?

Given his shelter history, is this still normal adjustment behavior, or should we be thinking about a trainer?

He's a very good boy who clearly misses his people. I want to do right by him. Any advice from folks who've been through something similar would be much appreciated!

ETA: The comment icon on the post shows me that people are commenting but unfortunately reddit is not allowing me to view them. I appreciate those of you who are trying to give me feedback and tips! Thank you!

Help, What the title says, our dog gets scared/anxious when my partner and I kiss for longer than a pec or anything more intimate than that. When we kiss she typically try’s to get close to us, sitting right next to us nudging for pets to see if we will stop. If we don’t runs as far away from us as she can get something hiding under things and will pants. I don’t want her to be anxiety/scared, but I don’t know what to do/if there’s anything I can do beyond not kissing my partner.

For background She is an 8yr cattle dog mix we together have had since she was 7 months. We adopted her from a foster. She was returned once before we adopted her. She always been a bit nervous, but has gotten worse with age.

Since we got her she has always hated the car, she screams anytime we get in the car, the only exception is when she knows we are on our way home, or her daycare van.

She is reactive around our house to some extent with people other dogs, cats, sometimes bikes and scooter. This started probably 3-5ish months after getting her and is pretty bad with dogs and cats but only in our neighborhood. She does go to daycare, and she has to some extent gone since she was 1 she is on the shy side there.

She also develops anxiety around loud noises, thunder, fireworks, excessive wind in the last 3 years.

She does take trazadone as needed for the loud noises, and long car rides. And use to take a vet recommended supplement for anxiety (forgetting the name) but we stopped a few years ago because they didn’t seem to do much for her(after about 1-2years of taking them)

If anyone has any thoughts/tips/ suggestions I am all ears!

ETA: more behavioral context: she doesn’t appear really territorial of either of us against each other unless I am misreading signs. Her general attitude towards each of us is kinda stereotypical of kids and their parents. With me she will sometimes try to push boundaries, and prefers snuggling me. With him she prefers to play because they rough house more, but they still snuggle. She is generally more reactive when I take her out alone than when he’s there. and I take this as she views him more as a protector and me as something that needs to be protected.

This is actually a question about my mom's dog. He's a big yellow lab and is generally a very sweet dog. She rescued him in 2019 and it really seemed like she hit the jackpot - he's a lab with lab energy, but has been good with people, kids, *mostly* with other dogs (there have been a few incidents at a dog park or on a hike between him and another dog, but no blood drawn and I don't know the details - this is maybe a handful of times in hundreds of dog park/hiking situations, so not a habitual problem). The only time I've seen him aggressive at all towards a human (besides what I'm going to describe below) is that he growled at my 5 month old baby, but I know a lot of dogs just don't understand babies.

The issue is that in the last year he has started to be aggressive when someone is leaving my parents' house. I believe it's always someone he doesn't know well - like someone there to fix their washing machine or something like that. He's excited when they arrive, greets them, is his usually wiggly self, will follow them around or play with my mom while the person works. Then when the person is leaving the house my mom's dog will suddenly lunge and snarl and snap at them. My mom has managed to restrain him in this situation most of the time, but twice now he's bitten someone - once just on the pants, but once he broke the person's skin and then my mom's dog had to be quarantined at home. Obviously my mom is very stressed about this situation. She loves this dog, but it's an issue. To complicate it, my family (three kids under 5) is supposed to stay with them later this summer and while he's never had an issue with the kids before, the idea of having them around an unpredictable 90 lb dog is stressful to my mom brain.

My mom is working with a trainer, but not having a great deal of success so far. I think the trainer's advice so far has been to give him lots of treats while someone pretends to leave the house over and over. But, he doesn't have this issue when my parents leave the house, so I'm not sure this is effective. Also, my dad is not helpful in dog training, so my mom can't really practice this on her own anyway. My mom has also floated the idea of having the dog kenneled when people are over, but my dad won't tolerate it because the dog barks. This also isn't tenable for an entire week while my family is there to visit.

I will also add that I think her dog generally needs more exercise - she throws the ball for him in the yard and gets a lot of running in, but her health doesn't always permit her to take him to the dog park where he can do sniffing and exploring like he needs. And of course now that he's bitten someone she's nervous about having a dog walker come and take the dog to the dog park.

Anyway, anyone ever have a dog do something like this? A generally super sweet dog who bites strangers just as they leave the house?

For context, my parents do not allow the dog inside the house so it's always left outside either in the verandah or in the backyard and there's a narrow alleyway connecting both

We have an entrance in the front and in the back, both of which are covered by gates. People keep coming in and out of both of the gates and there are always some dumbasses who don't have the basic courtesy to close the gates that's why our dog keeps running away every time the gate is open

The pup is 8 months old but it has run away so many times till now and doesn't come back so we have to head out and search for it throughout the village

My parents ask me to tie it up in a corner throughout the whole day and only let it free at night but I understand it's a pup and it has its own curiosity to go outside

Please suggest me some advice that doesn't involve tying it up in a corner. The dog just camps near the gates nowadays and keeps whining to go outside

Hi everyone, I’m trying to stay calm on the outside for my dog but I’m beside myself.

A bit of history:
- We trained our dog Nola an emergency recall with very high value treats (pieces of steak mostly). It is the word “Dock” with an extended “o”. I’ve never seen it not work before today. We only use it if she is in danger or during training.
- She has a non emergency recall “Contact”, which is used much more often.
- She also knows to drop things “Deploy” but this is not that consistent and we do have to trade sometimes (or pick her up to drop it if it’s potentially dangerous like a chicken bone or poop).
- Relevant to this story, she also knows a trick to spin around when we say “Yaw”.
- We also play a game on walks where she picks up litter and brings it home. We ask her to “Accio” it (bring it to us at the bin) and “Deploy” and she gets a treat for tidying up the neighbourhood a bit.

There is a field near our house. It’s surrounded by hedges but the entrance is about 5 meters from a busy road (not main road but corner of a shopping area). We often go there to let her run around off leash a bit.

I was there with her alone, and there was a bird circling and making quite loud sounds. She chased the bird a bit which I thought was cute but otherwise we were playing fetch with her ball.

After I threw the ball one time she picked it up but immediately dropped it and ran to a nearby tree. She picked up what I thought could be a stick. So I asked her to “contact” to see what it was, she just stood there. I thought this was fine, since we are playing and she is allowed to have some agency what she wants to do in the field.

But I was not sure it was a stick so after a minute or so of her standing there looking at me with the stick in her mouth and head tilted I started to walk towards her. I asked “Hey Noley, what do you have there? Can I take a look?” She didn’t move. I tried “Deploy” and also no response. I tried again this time showing a treat I had to trade, nothing. I tried “Contact”, nothing. At this point I was sure it wasn’t a stick as I was closer, and it was rounded at the ends.

So I sat down near the tree thinking she would bring it to me, but she just stood there with her head cocked and this thing in her mouth. I went to pick up the ball and see if I can distract her, nothing. Then I asked her to “Yaw”, which she did but then started walking towards the exit of the field.

At this point I started to get nervous. I called her and said “uh uh”. She did stop briefly but then continued towards the exit. When she was at the exit I emergency recalled her because there is a road. She started to run towards me, but then changed her mind and bolted out of the field.

At this point, I was very concerned and chased after her using the emergency recall. Sometimes she moved a few steps towards me but always changed her mind. A car and bike had to stop as she ran across the road. I’m so happy they did. She could have died. I think they shouted at me but I was focused on trying to get my dog.

She kept walking forward and stopping looking at me, so I thought maybe I should walk away from her and not chase her. So I tried that and went round the corner but she didn’t follow. I rang my partner and called red alert and where we are.

When I reappeared I saw she was running to the next road toward our house. So it seemed that moving away from her was not working so I think I need to catch her. I ran after her and she also is running. Then she sits down in the middle of the road and looks at me and I try again the emergency recall, she gets up again and starts towards me but then bolts instead to our house. Two cars and two bikes had to stop this time. This is obviously completely unacceptable.

She ran home. When I got home she had dropped the (what I now know was a frikandel), and was looking at me. My partner came up behind her, picked her up, threw out the frikandel. I have no idea if this was an awful move on my part but when we were inside I gave her the treat I had tried to trade in the field. Then I broke down into tears.

I’m asking here:
- What I did wrong
- What I should have done
- How to prevent this in future both out on walks but also during training

Thank you for any advice. I feel absolutely awful for putting my best friend in danger and will do whatever is needed to prevent this from happening again.

In case it is important she is a 4 year old Japanese Spitz, spayed.

Is it possible to use those type of non-toxic mosquito patches and other natural calming/focus scented patches used for kids for scent training? Even normal band-aids are kind of scented. Idea is to stick the patches on my items, like my phone keys or wallet or med/first aid kit or even menstrual pads/tampons (those are a bit scented as well - ladies will know) And train him to sniff them out and grab it for me if I ever misplace items in the house or need them.

My pup is a Briard aka French Shepherd (Pastoral dog breed) and could use the extra stimulation. Any tips on how I should go about doing it?

I took in the family dog. My mom want him to come visit but I'm worried about stressing/confusing him..

My dad wanted to get rid of the family dog because of his barking. He was going to send him to a shelter, but I took him in because I didn't want to see him go to the shelter.. I just moved out of my parents last month, so I'm not even fully settled in.

It's his secind day here.. hes constantly whining and barking, waiting by/staring at the door. He whines THE MOMENT he's not being pet, he will whine non stop until being pet again. (He's usually like that, but it's worse now) .

I know not to rush it, and to be patient with him, and to make sure he's comfortable. I'm going to do my best for him and do more research. (Any tips would be appreciated, I'm a first time dog owner)

But the thing is, I work at my parents house. I go over every weekend. My mom wants me to bring him over to visit when I come over for work. I agreed at first, but now I'm worried that bringing him back every weekend is going to really stress him out. At least for the time he's settling in..

Also, he has an appointment to get his shots next week, and my mom wants to take him, and have him stay over that night, and bring him back to my place the next day. I'm worried about that confusing him and stressing him out.

What should I do? Should I tell my mom to wait a few months? I'm worried bringing him.back and forth, even if just to visit. Will cause him to stress out, and take him even longer to settle into his new home.

Hi all- we have a 10 month old rescue mix puppy. She is an ACD/pit/boxer mix. We got her when she was 3 months old and potty training has been a difficult journey.

She understood in the first week that we brought her home the concept, but understandably still had accidents. As shes grown, it became clear that her major issue with peeing in the house is linked to her emotional sensitivity and confidence- which we have worked on building.

The final piece of the puzzle seems to be communicating. We started her with a bell 1.5-2 months ago and she caught on very fast. We’d ask her to ring the bell then immediately outside, potty, inside. Then we have gotten to a point where, when I know she needs to go, I’ll go stand in the general area of the bell/door and look at her/wait (no verbal cue). She takes some time to think then without me instructing her to ring the bell, she will go do it.

The goal is to move away from my having to cue her to use the bell at all (verbally or physically) and bridge the gap so that she uses the bell to cue ME! But shes so dang polite. Shes amazing and I know she’s smart but she doesn’t have that leader type function, isn’t a risk taker, won’t test any major boundaries etc… so it’s like taking the initiative to independently ring the bell won’t click.

She gets regular bathroom breaks and we have tried to anticipate emotional/excitement related pee needs but we just need her help in that communication. She does have foresight and control. For example, my boyfriend coming home from work is understandably very exciting for her. She will often go run to greet him, but then consciously stop herself and lay down when she knows her excitement could lead to peeing. But her laying down as the cue doesn’t always translate and it leads to accidents. I feel like all the foundation is here- the bridge is what I’m seeking advice for.

TLDR: sensitive puppy understands potty outside only. Understands bell ringing means outside pee trip. Will hit the bell when reminded or cued. Would like her to move away from waiting for our cue, to instead cueing us with the bell.

Almost a year ago we bought a bulldog* puppy. We already have a 12-year-old dog, and have had dogs most of our lives. We've done dog schools, regular training, min. 2 walks a day, garden playtime (we have a huge garden), got all sorts of indoor and outdoor dog toys, and the dogs are almost never alone (max 2 hours). So not our first rodeo 😉

*She is not a bulldog. She actually looks like a slightly smaller but more muscular labrador?-type with slightly longer/wired coat and a bit of a beard. Mom is definitely a beautiful brown Olde English Bulldog (we saw her with the pups several times), dad was ***supposedly*** a British Bulldog. We now know this was obviously not true - she definitely has some sort of high energy highly intelligent scent or hunting dog in her! So we have had to adjust somewhat... Other than the intelligence and energy, she is a very sweet friendly dog, very attached to all of us (especially our teenagers), not aggressive or posessive at all, very cautious of strangers, a bit of a scaredy-cat when it comes to strange noises (she panics and tries to run), quite obsessive when it comes to playing catch or retrieving a ball, and she is clearly lead by her nose - always either on the ground or in the air whenever we're outside (we live at the edge of the woods so wild animal scents are no strangers in our garden).

The problem is she tries to eat anything and everything. I mean EVERYTHING. On walks and in the garden she will pick up everything that is on the ground: poop, trash, sticks, stones (!!!)... She has a cloth muzzle for walks, but tries to "slurp" or grab stuff through it, and managed to slide it off a few times. We live at the edge of a forest there are always branches or sticks on the ground, so any piece of wood, stick or twig she finds in the garden (even still attached to the tree) she grabs and chews on it and ingests it. She eas plants (not just grass). She picks up rocks - so far I have managed to get to her before she swallowed them (or broke her teeth). She eats slugs (actually chews on them and then can't get rid of the sticky slime - so I have had to clean the inside of her mouth many times). In order to redirect her need for chewing/chomping we have tried many things, but all the chew toys we got her so far get destroyed within a short time: cuddly dog toys (which our other dog had for years) - chewed on until completely destroyed within hours and eaten in pieces (obviously taken away as soon as we noticed!); rope toys - untied, untangled, shredded and eaten (again, we take them away as soon as we see); pieces of coffe/olive/root wood (non splintering) - shredded and eaten; deer antlers - scraped out and turned to sharp shards/splinters within the hour; bones - destroyed in a very short time; any dog treats like dried rabbit/pig/cow ears, rumen, hide, etc ect) - all gone in no time. It's getting expensive... She does not chew on furniture, shoes etc, we taught her that quite early on, but her need to chew/chomp is enormous. It's definitely not due to hunger or boredom - she also does it after eating, walks, playtime, and we keep her busy with "intelligence toys" between walks and playtimes. We have tried training her to drop/leave things, but she's become very good at playing us: when she's on her long leash she behaves perfectly, as soon as it's off she feels "free" to go explore and chomp on something. Ýes, she's very clever, unfortunately. Also, even though she is extremely food motivated, it doesn't work when she's found something interesting.

Obviously our main concern is that she will eventually eat something dangerous and we want to avoid it at all cost. She loves being outside, but I cannot leave her in the garden unattended, which is a huge shame.

So dear community, any tips or tricks please???