K9 Manners & More: Wetting The Bed, Doggie Doors, & Digging Holes

Animal trainer Mary Green of K9 Manners & more joined News On 6 to talk about some behavior problems or issues you may have been struggling with, with your dog.

This week Lynee asks "Why would my foster dog keep peeing on my bed? He doesn't pee on anything else, and he doesn't do it all the time."

Green: So couple of questions. First of all, if he is, if he's going into your room and marking, it's, it's urine marking behavior, right? It's, it's marking its territory marking. So if he's going in there when you're not in there, then deny access, right? Close the door, put a baby gate up so he can't get in there if he's like, you know, sleeping on the bed, coming in there, snuggling with you, put a belly band on him. The funny thing about urine marking is a lot of times, you know, the dog marks, and then we clean it up. And, you know, we think we've taken care of it, and the dog goes, Oh, you've ruined it. I had it just how I wanted it. And so they go and they mark again. So it can become the cycle. You have to really break the behavior by not letting them have that habit.

Kay says "He's been using the doggie door for months but recently refuses to go out. He'll come in but not go through to the outside."

Green: Yeah, that's not uncommon. Actually, a couple of things not knowing really how it started in the first place. Something scary could have happened when he went outside, you know, coincidentally, to the point that he was leaving, he could have gotten hung up on that door, you know, collar or harness, or is his body itself? Maybe the door malfunctioned, or, who knows, but you know, that was traumatic for him, for some reason, going outside so you can go back and desensitize them to using that first of all, keep it open, right? And put something really yummy or exciting on the outside of the doors, and not a reward for coming in, just a reward for going out, leave it there. Leave the door up as much as you can while you're training this. You know, I think that it's generally that something traumatic happened or there was something happening in the yard. It's just gonna take a while.

And Haleigh says "My dog keeps digging holes in my backyard. What’s the best way to get her to stop?"

Green: You know, sometimes my backyard looks pretty bad from the digging, but you can sometimes teach them where you want them to dig, right? So get a little kids swimming, swimming pool. Fill it with some sand, put some interesting things in that, you know, some milk bones, or some chew toys, or, you know, a good chewy bone in there something that encourages them to dig. If this is an owner, absent behavior like it's happening when you're not home, it's almost impossible to fix. You also want to know where they're digging. Are they digging to get out? If they're digging to escape, then make a window for them, if it's a privacy fence, make a little window in, put some chicken wire or something behind it so they can see out and not have to look between the slats. Digging out behavior escapism is a little bit different than just just digging holes because it's just fun and natural.