Going out too often!

[gbfboxer]

Jax is what I would call almost house trained. Let me give you a little information about our situation then explain the problem.

We live in a condo with 4 flights of private stairs. Jax was confused as to how to let us know when he needed to go out since he couldn't do the stairs on his own at first. We tried the bell and he just played with it. We finally trained him to go to the top of the stairs and sit. We would take him out every hour then gradually increased the time to a couple hours. He now goes to the top of the stairs and sits, and will bark if he doesn't get a response right away. If that doesn't work he comes over and barks at us and pulls on your clothing.  if we don't respond right away he now goes down to the bottom of the stairs and goes on the landing in front of the door. When out of his crate he wants to go out every 2-3 hours. He also seems to alert us he needs to go out for attention. I'll take him out to pee and then 30 minutes later we're sitting down to eat dinner and he goes to the stairs and barks and then comes and barks at us. If we ignore him he'll pee on the stairs. We asked the vet and they decided to check him for UTIs and bladder issues and he has NONE. It's driving me crazy! I just want him to hold it for a little while but he doesn't seem to understand the concept. I know he can hold it because he holds it in his crate for at least 4 hours and up to 8 hours when there is no choice, without accidents. He also sleeps through the night on our bed without having any accidents. The real kicker is that sometimes he'll ask to go out and we'll walk around for 30 minutes and he does nothing but then come back in and pee 5 minutes later.

Does anyone have any ideas?

[BoxerWB]

Well, dogs mature at different rates when it comes to being able to "hold it" - Dash is 3 yrs old and when he's out and active, he'd still prefer to pee every 2-3 hours.  We don't leave him uncrated if we're gone for more than a couple of hours because he may or may not hold it all that time.

Also at 9 mos, Jax is ripe for what we call the "teenage stage"... bratty behavior rears it's ugly head, potty training can relapse, etc.  It varies with every dog but the approach is getting through it is always the same - strictly enforce the rules. You will probably have to take him out more frequently than you'd prefer, but you have to work with whatever he's able to reliably manage.

The only other thing I might check is his water behavior/access? Any males in the house leaving the toilet seat up and giving him free access to "all you can drink"?  Or when you give him water is he consistently slurping it all down in one sitting?

[BoxerPerson]

Ditto Julia..

[gbfboxer]

We are very careful to not leave the seat up to prevent the toilet drinking behavior, he does drink a lot though. I mentioned that he drinks a LOT (probably 3-4 large bowls of water a day) to the vet and they said it was healthy and never to withhold water. He said that the amount of water he drinks could be due to the facet that he's a drooler and needs to replenish the fluids more often. My other 2 boxers, at this age, were able to hold it a lot longer and never barked at me the way that Jax does. I guess I wouldn't mind the constant trips up and down the stairs if he would pee when we go out. He has a pee command and he usually pees and poops when told and then as a reward we walk. For the most part that is still true, but he's definitely in that rebellious stage.

Any idea how to stop the attention seeking behavior? I've resorted to tethering him a couple feet away from us while we eat and giving him a bone to chew on. He has a lot of crate anxiety and I don't want him to feel like he's being punished but I also don't want him growling at me and pulling on my pants while we eat. I figured the tethering was a good way for him to still be near us but not close enough to bite on us.

[BoxerWB]

Oh, I understand.  My girl, Xena, could hold it for ages by the time she was 1 or so, I know she held it longer than 2-3 hours at 9 months. But Dash has just never been like that, he's always had a more frequent need (he was on a high dose of pred as a pup, but the need to pee lasted long after his system went back to normal).

What about teaching him to go to a certain place while you are eating? Buy a cheap throw rug or bath mat or use his dog bed - teach him to go lay on that while you are eating. It comes in handy when he's older because he won't bug you guys or guests while they are eating.  Ideally you'd want to do it without a tether because you want to be sure he learns the behavior and that he learns tugging your pants is not rewarding (not getting him what he wants).  Starting with the tether could help "enforce" the behavior but remembered that it won't "reinforce" it.

The best way I know to eliminate bratty behaviors like barking and clothes tugging is to ignore it.  The easiest way I know to reinforce it is by reacting - especially if you scold/yell ("barking back") - even eye contact could be rewarding attention

[gbfboxer]

Oh, I understand.  My girl, Xena, could hold it for ages by the time she was 1 or so, I know she held it longer than 2-3 hours at 9 months. But Dash has just never been like that, he's always had a more frequent need (he was on a high dose of pred as a pup, but the need to pee lasted long after his system went back to normal).

What about teaching him to go to a certain place while you are eating? Buy a cheap throw rug or bath mat or use his dog bed - teach him to go lay on that while you are eating. It comes in handy when he's older because he won't bug you guys or guests while they are eating.  Ideally you'd want to do it without a tether because you want to be sure he learns the behavior and that he learns tugging your pants is not rewarding (not getting him what he wants).  Starting with the tether could help "enforce" the behavior but remembered that it won't "reinforce" it.

The best way I know to eliminate bratty behaviors like barking and clothes tugging is to ignore it.  The easiest way I know to reinforce it is by reacting - especially if you scold/yell ("barking back") - even eye contact could be rewarding attention

All good points. I appreciate the tips. We're working on a go to your spot method but during meal times it hasn't been as effective. Jax gets really aggressive when ignored. The more you ignore him the worse the scratching and biting\nipping get. We've been trying the avoidance method but the only way to achieve it and keep yourself intact is to close a door between you or use a leash to demand a different behavior. Neither I want to have to do when eating dinner. He also jumps up and launches himself off you when you ignore him. Having a 65 pound body with paws bounce off your side isn't a pleasant behavior and we've been struggling to get rid of it. In general Jax's main problem is this attention seeking behavior of barking and nipping.

[BoxerWB]

It sounds like you'll have to do something to physically prevent the behavior during dinner, but outside of dinner I'd say putting a door between you is a good approach for enforcing "bratty behavior = no more playtime".

[Capones Momma]

My Capone is a bit older then Jax.  He will be 11 months on Sunday.  Capone would constantly bark, growl, and/or nip and bite us when he wanted attention and we weren't giving it to him.  We asked our obedience trainer for advice on what to do.  She said that as long as he is getting enough exercise and he is still being a brat to squirt him with a water bottle and then praise him when he was quiet.  We did that maybe 2 or 3 times and the attention seeking barking totally stopped!  It was amazing really.  I know every pup and every situation is different but I thought I would tell you about it since it was a god send to us.  Good luck!