Dog Help Please!

Draco

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I could use some help.

I am presently petsitting for my parents' 2 dogs for 2 weeks while they are away.

1 dog (Rocco) is a good dog. Old but a good dog.

The other, Belle, is about 3 years old. And. Is. Not. Trained! She's a good really sweet dog, but does NOT listen. She's Unmotivated. She's extremely cat-like.

Here's the trouble:

Scene: She loves to be outside. Generally not a problem- however, she does not come in when called. She'll go hide in the thick holly bushes where I cannot reach her to get her in. My parents never trained her on the "Come" or "Here" command (or if my dad did, he overused the command and she ignores it now).

Note: first few days took me over 2 hours on and off to finally get her in. Monday when it was 98º took me 4 hours to get her in (on and off- about half an hour apart as not to hound her continuously)

Problem: I work every day. I cannot wait or fight to get her in. Weather's too hot, I cannot leave her outside for 10 hours while I work. Plus landscapers come unexpectedly and I cannot have her outside (don't want her to escape or get injured).

I tried: Bribing with treats and people food. Playing (and using playful voices and sounds). Bribing with toys. I tried bribing with promises of "park" and "walk" As she knows those words. Leashes does not get her to me. She's very unmotivated- food and toys does not motivate. Nothing excites her like normal dogs.
I also tried ringing doorbells, opening garage door, turning car on. I tried asking a neighbor to come in hopes a new voice would excite her. Nope, she still hides.

Alternative choice with new issue: I tried putting her on a leash to take her outside to make sure I can get her in before I go to work. Excellent solution, right? Wrong. SHE DOES NOT KNOW HOW TO PEE ON A LEASH!!!!
This should have been the FIRST thing my dad to teach her. Nope. I'd walk her around her usual pee area. She'll stare at me for a half an hour and will not pee.

So my choices are: Leave her outside all day/night while I am not home. Or keep her inside and let her bust.

I chose to let her bust- since I cannot just keep her outside while I am at work. With this choice, she had not peed since yesterday morning. Eventually she'll pee either in the house or outside- and I'd rather have an accident in the house than to fight every day to get her in (the more I try to encourage her, the less she wants to come in).

Any suggestions?
 
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sabrinah

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What about a super lightweight long line? Paracord with a really small clip weighs almost nothing and letting her drag it around might make her comfortable enough to forget it's there. Tractor supply sells a floating long line that weighs nothing on its own but the clip is pretty heavy and would have to be removed.
 

Willowy

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Can you get a long line? So you can tie it to something and go inside, so she'll pee. And then you can reel her in. (Sabrinah beat me to it!)

Some dogs love to take advantage of babysitters, just like some kids, lol.
 
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Draco

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She's on a long leash, but despite that she sits and won't move. The leash is pretty light-weight I think. Even I tried hooking the leash on a chair and went inside she won't move
 

Kflowers

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Some dogs won't pee in front of people other than their owners.
I'd leave some newspapers down inside, just in case she knows what they are for.
 

neely

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I was dog sitting for my daughter and son-in-law for almost three weeks and just returned. I had to grin when I read your post because although I didn't have the same problem, they don't have a yard and I had to walk their dog, rain or shine, all the time. There was a heat wave and several bad storms, parts of the area lost power. He doesn't like to do his business in the rain but I had to walk him until he finally relieved himself. ;) I wish they had a yard it definitely would have helped when the weather was nasty but reading your post made me second guess my wish.

Obviously it's too late for you to retrain your parent's dog. I'm sorry your dad never mentioned the problem to you. Has she ever been crated? That could be a possibility but I realize someone would have to let her out in the daytime while you're at work and may have the same issue getting her to come back in. I agree with the above members and your idea to let him "bust." You really have no other choice right now. Are you still pet sitting or have your parents returned home?
 

kashmir64

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Obviously it's too late for you to retrain your parent's dog.
No, it's really not.
Try this, it works for my dog.
Find a word, any word. Say the word and give the dog a treat. Repeat this often for a couple of days. Before long, when you yell the word, the dog comes running. I have done this to my dog and he will wake from a dead sleep and come running no matter where he is. Dogs are food motivated and learn quickly. Just make sure you never say that word unless you have a treat, which is why I used a made up word so that no one says it accidentally.
 

kashmir64

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:yeah:

That's called emergency recall training. Here's a more detailed outline: Emergency Recall Training in 4 Easy Steps - Dog is Good

I haven't done it with my dogs yet :paperbag:. But it's a very good thing to do.
Interesting article. I've never heard of ERT before. Living in AZ, I just always taught mine this because of snakes and other scary stuff. I also taught my horses to freeze and remain absolutely still when they hear a rattle - until I could locate it and move them in a different direction. This was much harder as it required a rattlesnake.
 
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Draco

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Oops forgot about this thread, sorry!

She eventually comes when called. took a few days. I was wondering maybe she was in shock that "Daddy" wasn't home and she wasn't used to routine? After about 5 days she's been really good about coming when called.
 

neely

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Thanks for the update, that's great news and I'm glad she responded to the recall command. :thumbsup:
 
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