Community Forums

okmunky · 07-21-2018, 07:03 PM

First let me say, I'm not a dog person. I know monkeys. I've lived with them for 25+ years.

We, my monkey and I, added an adorable morkie puppy to our family 7 years ago when we started full time RVing. Sena needed to not be at the bottom of the hierarchy for her psychological well being. I chose Lily because she is the younger sister of the first and only other dog Sena would tolerate in "her" space.

To say that they control my life is an understatement, but I'm explaining, not complaining. I love Lily, but am at a loss when it comes to changing 2 annoying behaviors - barking constantly and peeing on the edge of the pee pad.

Lily's brother Jett is a very quiet little guy who rarely barks. He was the runt of his litter and doesn’t have a real dominant personality. Lily is VERY self confident and over protective of both Sena and I. She once chased a HUGE coyote that was threatening Sena. I'm sure the only thing that saved Lily from being eaten was the human that was chasing Lily and screaming. I had just had both knees replaced and am thankful for my friend's help.

Lily barks at every voice, every slammed door, every weedeater, every rabbit, squirrel or bird she sees out the window. She becomes a woman possessed and won’t stop until the threat is out of sight. She barks all the time. My friend suggested that I spray her with water from a misting bottle. That makes her cower away as long as the bottle is in my hand, but there's no lasting lesson. When the bottle goes away, the barking returns.

Not wanting to "have" to take her outside when we are traveling in unfamiliar places I trained her to use a pee pad. At 8# her messes are manageable. Lately she has decided to pee right on the edge of the pad, even a fresh, new pad.

More pee goes under the pad than on it.

is there a way to get her to go back to using the middle of the pad? I buy the extra large size.

Anyone have any suggestions on how to tame my little beast?

Sky_Boss · 07-21-2018, 08:18 PM

How is Sena in the same situations? I think she can be a bit of a chatter box but she isn't loud that I know of. I'm just wondering if Sena is chattering under similar situations and Lily is reacting/imitating.

I don't have any thoughts or suggestions on the other issue.

Wayne M · 07-21-2018, 08:46 PM

Barb,

My son has a Lab and they don't want it to bark so they purchased a "Bark" collar. It works well. Might be you could give it a try. It might help if you watch her and when she gets to the pad pick her up and put her in the middle. She'll catch on.

okmunky · 07-22-2018, 12:33 AM

Don,

Sena usually ignores Lily's barking, but if Sena gives a single warning bark, Lily will bark without even knowing what spooked Sena. Any excuse to bark is never ignored.

Wayne,

Lily is too small for a bark collar. I tried an anti barking device that I mounted on the wall. She ignored it. She's a sneaky pee girl. She waits until I’m distracted.

I told you she's a monster!

Sky_Boss · 07-22-2018, 08:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by okmunky

Don,

Sena usually ignores Lily's barking, but if Sena gives a single warning bark, Lily will bark without even knowing what spooked Sena. Any excuse to bark is never ignored.

...

That is what I'm wondering. Aside from other times Lily barks, does even a single bark by Sena cause Lily to bark? It could be like a "feedback loop".

As to the peeing...perhaps it is something that YOU will have to make adjustments to. Your most obvious options are to put a diaper on Lily or take her out more often.

We could all play dog psychologist based on what we "think" is going on. Regardless, we just don't have enough details to go beyond educated guesses.

TeJay · 07-22-2018, 08:33 AM

If you listen to Caesar Milan ("The Dog Whisper"" he does not train dogs he trains owners. It has been my experience that owners need to train the dogs instead of the dogs training the owners.

My Sister bought one of the high strung tiny dogs. She carried it around a lot when she first got it. Why??? Because she liked to and could. Then her life got real busy and she couldn't devote as much time to the dog. It became more insistent about it's lack of attention and eventually started growling, nipping and eventually biting her and others.

I nicely told her that she created her own problem and the only way to fix it was to retrain the dog which would not be easy.

I suggested she find some older training video's put out by C Milan and she did but didn't want to put the dog through what she needed to do to change the dogs behavior so she eventually got rid of the dog.

There are many, many ways to retrain dogs but you have to be willing to do the training. Find some of C Milans training video's because what he does really does work.

I watched one of his shows and eventually he just told the owners that since they were not willing to follow his suggestions on how to retrain their dog he just walked away.

Kdsgone2dogs · 07-22-2018, 09:42 AM

I just went thru training with a Australian/Retriever mix that had a barking problem. The trainer on the first day of class, walked up to me with a small can of Pet Corrector and sprayed it by my dog when he barked. It's air. Doesn't hurt the dog at all as you spray away from the dog. It makes a very loud sound and he definitely didn't like it. Barking stopped. I use it at home with my choc lab (4yrs) as he gets overly excited at door bell. He doesn't ignore the bell, but doesn't get excited anymore, just sits by the door. Try this before the bark collar. It really changes the behavior. My neighbor used it for her 14 yr old aussie that was an incessant barker....don't hear him anymore...at all! Can get at Amazon. Its a red can that says Pet Corrector on it. Actually worked!

okmunky · 07-22-2018, 09:59 AM

Don, Lily will play outside for hours and then come inside to pee on the pad. But it would help if I actually walked her instead of just putting her on the trolley line. When she was young my knees were so bad I couldn’t walk her. New knees now mean I need to train her to walk.

TeJay, thanks for reminding me about CM. I have seen some of his show and acknowledge that I'm the problem. Time for me to get to work! These little dogs are easier to pick up than to train, but that's a cop out on my part.

And I ordered some Pet Corrector. I like that better than a squirt bottle and it's small enough to keep in my pocket. Most likely after a few squirts the sight of me pulling out the can will be enough to stop her. Also it's less likely that Sena will want to disassemble it.

LynnD · 07-27-2018, 07:12 PM

What if you put the pad on a shoe tray? https://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/sto...ray/1010212839

okmunky · 07-27-2018, 08:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LynnD

What if you put the pad on a shoe tray? https://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/sto...ray/1010212839

I tried that, but the slight moment of the tray freaked her out and she refused to walk on it or pee on it.

This issue has been resolved by one squirt of this in the middle of the pad -

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The bonus is the pads last longer now. We were getting a max of 4 piddles/pad, but now she goes in the same spot several times. She's actually going most of the day using only 1 pad.

The corrector spray to help with the barking is on it's way. I hope it works as well.

Welove2drive · 08-25-2018, 08:27 PM

Cute dog! My Mom has a Morkie. Shaking a can or jar with 15 coins gets her attention. You have to be consistent. Zac George has good training videos on YouTube.

okmunky · 08-26-2018, 01:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Welove2drive

Cute dog! My Mom has a Morkie. Shaking a can or jar with 15 coins gets her attention. You have to be consistent. Zac George has good training videos on YouTube.

Thanks! I'll check those videos out. Any device I use to discipline Lily has to fit into a pocket. Otherwise Sena will take it and hide it from me. I can’t leave anything just sitting on the counter or table unless it's not important that I ever see it again.