Need Advice On Amstaff/Lab Mix

[JLOVE3]

Need advice on my amstaff/lab mix
I have an Amstaff Lab mix named Madison. She is quite a handful. I knew this type of dog was high energy, but she has SUPER high energy. We have had her for almost one month now. When we got her, she was 11 months old. We are trying to housbreak her. When we say "outside" she tips her head and looks at you funny but seems to know what you mean b/c she will wag her tail and as we walk to the door she is there. But how do you get her to go to the door on her own and let me know she has to go out? I let her out when I got home from work last night and within 1-2 hours of using the potty, she decided to pee on our bed. I found that surprise last night. We thought it might have been one of our cats, but the smell is quite different from a dogs. When I see her sniffing and circling, I say outside and out we go. I don't want her peeing on our bed or anywhere for that matter.

Plus when I read about this breed of dog before I adopted her from the Animal welfare, it says they are loyal to their family and get along with cats and children. I am still in the process of the introduction of the cats. We now let her out with our supervision and the cats run under the bed or wherever they can find a hiding space. (we have 5 cats, 5 seperate personalities). So she will go into our bedroom and sniff out the cats under the bed, she can actually put her entire body under the bed, with the cats there. They seem to hiss at her alot. They go to strike with their paws, but only 3 of the 5 have front nails. No one has smacked her hard enough yet. But how do you get them to get along? Do I sit in one room with all the cats and the dog with the door shut and supervise? Or one at a time with her? I just want them to get along. We also are attending obedience classes for Madison.:sicksmiley:

The other day, one cat was behind the freezer in the basement hiding and right next to that is the washer, another cat was wedged between it. Well Madison sniffed them out and would just wag her tail and bark at the cat. She could have attacked the cat if she wanted too, but she seems like she just wants to play. She even put her head past the one cat to look at the other. Right there she could have had lunch.. but didn't.

Any suggestions on the housebreaking and getting along with cats would be so much appreciated.

Thanks a million!!

[sheplovr]

Welcome to the Dog Forum and it really depends on her breeding lines for temperment and intelligence. One cannot go on the mix alone or a purebred for that matter. She sounds kind but some dogs never will take to cats, mine will not. I would take her out every hour till she learns the same door you exit always to the same area outside so she learn the exits. Hang some old keys on a large ring, or bells, before going out hit them, most dogs catch on pretty fast in doing this to get your attention when fully trained. But, dogs do have an accident if not feeling well, so forgive her for that, but peeing in the bed is uncalled for. Shut the bedroom door and keep her out of alot of rooms yet till she gets more trained for Potty. Remember to exit the same door to the same area always in training and take out often. Good luck and hope this helps. Clean with vinegar or lemon.

[KatzNK9]

I say she needs to stay off the bed at least until she's more reliable. You could consider putting a bell on your door and always ring the bell before taking her outside. Call her to the door by ringing the bell too. When she approaches, try to get her to ring the bell with her nose & treat her if she makes it ring. Praise or give her a treat & then let her outside.

As long as the dog isn't "hunting" the cats and attempting any harm, I'd leave them to settle their own battles as long as there is reasonable peace. My 12 year old cat wouldn't come near Ozzy for months & would swat his nose if he was overly anxious so I just kept her claws clipped short. Eventually, he calmed down around her & she's now far more tolerant of him & comes around & is back to just going about her regular course of business.

[JLOVE3]

I didn't let Madison on the bed, she ran upstairs to "play with the cats" and I found a second to breathe and the next thing you know.. too late. I think she needs supervison 24 hours a day.

We were thinking of keeping our bedroom and office closed off. Our third bedroom is the cats room where their boxes, food, furniture, and toys are. We were thinking of putting in a cat door for them and they can come and go as they please. The thing that came up was that Madison the goof that she is, would put her head thru it...

I like the bell idea.. any idea how to start that off? We do use the same door each time for her to go out in.

This is all so new to us and it seems like a lot of training is needed for her. We adopted her, so who knows what type of training, if any, that she had. We moved in the right step with doggie classes and recently the prong collar. It seems like we get one thing under control and then there is something else. ugh..

Thoughts on the kitty door idea?:sicksmiley:

[Kaos]

Well you hit the nail on the head when you said 'she needs 24 hour supervision'. With a new puppy, or a new rescue dog you do need to monitor them closely for the first few months. They do not arrive understanding that you don't want them to pee in the house, or what they can and can't chew, or that they shouldn't chase the cats. It sounds like you may have given your new dog a little too much freedom too soon. I would treat any new arrival as I would a puppy until she understands how you would like her to behave. Giving her too much freedom too soon is simply setting her up to fail unfortunately.

I would restrict her access for the time being to the room you are in. When you are not able to actively supervise restrict her to a crate or secure area where she can't make mistakes. You can't expect her to understand how to ask to go out yet, it is your job to anticipate her needs and take her out at regular intervals. Go out with her and then praise like mad and offer a food treat when she 'performs' outside. If you restrict her access to where you can watch her when she is indoors you should spot the signs that she may need to go before the accident occurs. Building up a track record of success at going outside and no indoor accidents will be the quickest way to housetrain her.

Re the cats I agree that this will take some time - you need to train her to behave calmly around the cats without chasing (not something that comes naturally to dogs), and you need to give your cats a chance to get used to having a dog around which tends to take even longer than training the dog! In the meantime, how about a childgate at the bottom of the stairs so the cats can retreat safely upstairs when they need to get away from the dog? I would not force the introductions, but simply keep control of the dog at all times if one of the cats chooses to enter the room. Have her on a lead, and do not allow her to run towards the cat. Allow her to approach only if she is doing so quietly at a walk. Don't expect your cats to discipline a much bigger and potentially dangerous preditor - it is your job to teach her that YOU don't allow her to chase cats, not that the cats don't allow it.

I know this sounds hard, but the settling in period is always tough with any new dog, even an 8 week old puppy. It is fabulous that you have started obedience training, that will help to develop your relationship with the dog and take control of household situations.

[JLOVE3]

After reading the responses, I do see where we have given her too much freedom. We have tried the gate and it has failed numerous times. We actually have 2 gates. She started knocking down, then jumping over the single gate. When we would let her walk between the kitchen and living room, we would block the top of the stairs (where the cats are) and the bottom of the stairs where they lead up to the cats. She got smart and will slide them to the side to get up them. (we have a wall on one side and wood rails on the other, it is hard to keep a gate there) So after numerous down commands she has turned to jumping over the gates. So we have removed them and she will run the house. Just recently though, with the bed wetting experience, we have shut all doors upstairs when she is out. She has no access to them. We make sure that the cats are all in their room with their food, boxes, toys, etc. But we are not sure how long this will have to go on for. We thought of the kitty door in their bedroom so they can come and go as they please and not feel trapped in the room all day. The cats normally have the run of the house.

I see that this is going to be a challenge to us and I just want to make sure we are doing the right things and not confusing the situation at all.

Maybe I need to have a schedule that is routine day in and day out. I will have a post on this subject at a later time.

Thanks for all of your help.. it is appreciated. :)

[Kaos]

Well, it sounds like you might have a great potential agility or flyball dog on your hands :)

[lovingpaws]

I have a friend with 3 dogs, & 3 cats. She has a room for the cats for all their stuff & to get away from the dogs, even the the dogs are friendly, they play "ruff" and the cats need a quiet place of their own. Could you put the baby gates across the door of cats' room (one leaving maybe 4-5 inches off the ground so the cats can run under it, and use the 2nd gate stacked on top to keep Madison from jumping it.) My friend does this and it works great, the dogs cannot crawl under the small space or 5 inches, nor can they jump the gate. Leaving all other doors in the house closed is perfect, no access no accidents. She will eventually learn as you continue taking her out to the same door. Crating would also help when you're not home