Hello,
I have a 12 week old 1/2 English Bull Dog, 1/2 Olde English Bull Dog puppy. She is crate training and is doing very well. She has not had a single accident in her crate since I have had her. She goes 4-5 hours at night and then I am getting up and taking her out. (I am always waking her up to take her out, so I think she would go longer if I tried it.)
She is in her crate during the day while I am at work, but I come home at lunch to take her out and play with her. So, she is in the crate for 4 1/2 hours in the morning and then another 4 1/2 hours after lunch until I get home from work.
She is fed in the morning when we get up and at night when I get home from work. She drinks water in the morning, when I come home for lunch and when I am home after work. (Again, in the 2 1/2 weeks I have had her she has not had a single accident in her cage.)
Both of my problems occur during the evenings after I have been home awhile. She is great about peeing and pooping in the morning, noon and when I get home from work. We go outside and she will immediately pee and poop. My problems start after I get home. Obviously, I want her to be out of her cage from 6:30 to midnight since she spends all day in it. I have been taking her outside every 20 minutes at night and playing with her on the floor when inside. (I think this is where I made a big mistake!)
Even though I am taking her out every 20 minutes, at least once or twice a night she will pee inside. She never poops inside, only pees. (Once she is down for the night she holds it until I take her out.) She is drinking a lot of water during the evening and I am sure this is part of the problem. How much water is too much?
The second problem is that she has started barking if I am not on the floor playing with her when she is out of her cage. She will also run under the bed or the couch and start barking. I really think it is a give me attention bark, but she already has my attention non-stop when I am home. We can be playing with a chew toy and she will stop and run under the bed and start barking. If I try to sit on the couch or the bed she will bark at me. She wants me on the floor with her.
I have tried saying no sternly and also walking away. Telling her no sternly seems to actually encourage her to bark. If I tell her no and walk away she will stop and come find me, but will soon start up again.
I live in an apartment, so the barking is a VERY big deal!!!
Please give me some advice on the peeing and barking. It gets me sooo frustrated that what should be the quality time of her day is turning into a disaster!!!!!!!!!!!
