Our six year old cocker spaniel is house broken and has a pet door to let herself out when she needs, randomly peed in the living room tonight. I think she might have been mad at me for not letting her on the bed.

Sometimes dogs might have accidents, housebroken or not. I don't think you should be super concerned unless the dog starts doing it a lot. I'm not sure if dogs can put two and two together like that but sometimes I wonder if my pets don't get mad and seek revenge sometimes when they don't get their spoiled little ways haha.

If this is something that she normally doesn't do, she probably needs to see a vet, This could be the sign of a medical problem.

Dogs don't get mad, they get even. To a dog, who gets the best sleeping place is very important. A soft raised bed is a great indication of who is top dog. The key to most behavior problems is approaching things using the dog's natural instincts. Dogs see all the people and dogs in the household as a pack with each having their own rank in the pack and a top dog. Life is much easier if the 2 legged pack members outrank the 4 legged ones. You can learn to play the role of top dog by reading some books or going to a good obedience class. A good obedience class or book is about you being top dog, not about rewarding standard commands with a treat. Start at Raising Your Dog with the Monks of New Skete For more on being top dog, see Establishing and Keeping Alpha Position, Letting your dog know you are the boss Rule #13 is not let the dog sleep on the bed.

It sounds to me like she has been in charge right along, and the urination was a demonstration of her position after you interfered with her right to the bed. Trying to take over as top dog may provoke more instances. You will just have to keep a close eye on her. Unless you catch her in the act, there is little you can do. When you do, give her a sharp ''Ah, ah, ah!'' and take her out.

If she isn't spayed, doing so will help you claim your place as top dog.

Thanks. She is spayed and I take her to the vet regularly so my first guess isn't a medical problem, but I thought of that. The good news is that she went right back into her usual routine this morning. I admit she is spoiled and I am very aware of her dominating behaviors so I try to put it in check. However, she is so cute and breaks anyone down. I am actually the most firm with her in the house. I have trouble because the article with the list of rules just seemed so rigid and not very realistic. I do a lot of the things on the list, and could be more consistent, but I love to cuddle and play with my pup too. Although, how bad is it that she is allowed on the furniture? I'm guessing she was just "getting even". But I'll post more if this continues.

I don't think it's bad that she gets on the furniture, but she needs to know that what you say goes, and if you say no, it's serious, and she needs to accept it 'cause you're the dominant one.

When I was a kid, training was different than it is today. At the time, I thought that some of the methods were cruel and they didn't make sense to me. How many people here remember the housebreaking method of rubbing the dog's nose in his own urine? Or hitting them with a rolled up newspaper when they pooped in the house or did something wrong? It upset me tremendously, and still does when I hear from people who still use those techniques. It upset me enough to look for other approaches to successful dog training. By the way, when I was a kid, heaven help us if our mother found out we let the dogs up the furniture. :eek:

SJV, there has been a lot of research done since I was a kid. A big piece of training a dog is to understand how your dog thinks. Your dog looks at you and your family as her dog pack. She will recognize the member of her "pack" as the person who exhibits the "alpha" or pack leader traits. That means, the person who eats first, sits higher up than the others, walks through the door first,. There is nothing rigid or unrealistic about those rules when you look at them from your dog's point of view. Those "rules" really do make perfect sense to her. She understands what someone doing those things with her means, much better than the cuddling, loving, and kissing we humans do when we show our love and affection. Since dogs aren't capable of understanding how we conduct ourselves human to human, we need to be willing to understand how dogs conduct themselves dog to dog, so that we can create a well trained dog. Labman has a sticky at the top of the dog forum that includes a recommended reading list. The first book listed, " Culture Clash" by Jean Donaldson, is one of the best books that I have found, that really explains how a dog views and interprets the world around them. It is well worth finding a copy and reading it.

There is nothing wrong with allowing your dog up on the furniture. My dogs are allowed to go wherever they want to EXCEPT, if I am getting into bed or about to sit on the couch, the dogs know that they need to sit and wait for me to either get into bed or sit on the couch, first. They are allowed to come up and cuddle next to me after I have "claimed"my spot first. At that time, I can then satisfy my human desire and I will heap my kisses and cuddles onto them.

Very helpful Ruby. So do you just make them stay or sit before you get settled and then invite them up?

Yes, that is one of my basic training techniques. They must sit and stay. I sit down on the couch, or get myself in the position that is the most comfortable for me on my bed, then I invite them to join me with a pat and/or a kissing sound. If they don't want to come up, I ignore them. When the dog doesn't want to come up, THAT is their way of challenging your leadership. So, as I said, I ignore and watch TV or read. I wait them out. In the beginning of the training, usually, they will just sit or lie down and give you a look every once in a while. Stare at them. When the dog looks away, that means she is recognizing that you are in control. The one who hold eye contact the longest wins! You can then invite her again to come up. If she refuses, keep ignoring. Try again to invite in another 10 minutes. Eventually, she will come up. This will take repetition and consistency on your part. Believe me, it works if you can stick it out.

The way it works for me now is that it is not even an issue. The dogs sit and wait for me. When I give them the signal, they just jump right up. :)

P.S. If the dog is already on the bed or couch, or jumps up as you are about to sit down, tell her "no", direct her to get down and into the sit/stay position. Then take it from there.

My dogs are not allowed on the furniture.

One thing that I think I should point out is that labman's not allowing the dog on the furniture is really very much a part of the training in establishing yourself as top dog and keeping your position. Labman and I pretty much use the same training techniques. However, we have different objectives when a dog under our care goes to their permanent home. Labman trains for a guide school. Many people that adopt the dogs I work with like to have the dog sleep on the bed with them. Some don't and I will then gear my training to that. The human need for physical contact, especially when you find yourself alone and are used to sleeping next to another person, is very difficult to change or adjust. I train according to what is expected by the new owner, the rescue group that asked me to train the dog, or a dog that I have found myself. SJV, it is important in our discussion to note that when I have a rescued dog I am working with that will be allowed on the furniture, they are not allowed on any furniture and do not sleep on the bed with me until I have completely established my position as the leader. They are crated on the floor in my bedroom so that they know they are part of my pack but are the low man on the totem pole. When they are eventually allowed on the furniture, they must stay in a lower position. No matter how tempted you may be, do not allow the dog to lie next to your head or shoulders at the top of the bed. They need to be lower down in relation to your body, when you are in a reclining position. This reinforces your "top dog" position. They can lie next to you but no higher than your chest level. Always staying in that higher position reinforces your alpha position.

Yes it is somewhat unrealistic for me to suggest everyone trains to the dog guide school's standards. While the dogs are prepared to live in a home where they will not be allowed on the furniture, many of their partners choose otherwise. Back a few years ago when there was so much publicity about miniature horses as guides, one partner suggested she couldn't imagine cuddling up with a horse.

We specifically bought the bean bag chair to have a place to share with our puppies. Representatives of both the schools we raise puppies for have seen it and know we allow the puppies on it. We have had to replace the cover a few times due to toenails.

Our daughter and her husband recently visited the school and met the man training with the last puppy they raised. He commented on how hard it was to entice the dog up on the bed. Once he did, the dog was very happy. I might add the dog didn't complete training with him, and will be partnered with somebody else. It is possible the first partner was sent home without a dog because the trainers couldn't train him to give proper leadership to the dog.

One thing I did notice in your picture labman, is that the dog is still in a lower physical position. With medium and small dogs, it is very easy for them to maneuver themselves above you. They can't really do it on a couch when you are sitting up, but it is very easy for them to do it while you are lying down. So, it is important that SJV recognize that and keep her dog in check or the alpha training will backslide.

Hey, is that a rawhide I see in the GSD's mouth labman? Tsk, tsk. ;) LOL!

Absolutely not. I can't say what it is. Likely it is some of the off brand stuff I have found at Big Lots in the past. The Chewey Bones or Rex Bite a Bones run about a buck and hold up as good or better than Nylabones. They are white and more translucent that the Nylabones. Great product as far as I could see, but it looks like a marketing flop.

Hahaha, labman! But the 'king' is allowed on theirs, I see!
:rolleyes:

Hugs, Didi

XD Our pets are allowed on the furniture, but we had pets in thep ast who were not allowed on furniture. It's a matter of pesonal choice and training your pe to obey you, basically.

We originally planned to keep them off the furniture, but they were so cute we kept getting them up there with us on purpose and stopped caring. =P

A top dog can sleep wherever it chooses. One secure in its rank, can choose to share a choice spot with others.




There would be no doubt that Princess outranked her younger half sister and her puppy and no problem letting them join her for a nap.

This thread is about needing to restructure the relationship establishing the OP out ranks the dog. Dogs expect leadership, not fairness.