Double Trouble terriors!

by Sean
(Long Beach, Ca.)

Acquired two Boston Terriers from a shelter 6-7 months ago. 1st.) sign of trouble seemed to be a very nervous and high strung fear type behavior aroung any other dog- except the other terrier, even then occasionally against it only around other dogs. (fine with humans) and given any opportunity, will attack and bite any other dog-

Another problem is a habit of peeing, any and everywhere, when out of site, or back turned, very elusive, and unable to catch in the act. also, last thing, the other Boston Terrier, does pee when happy and excited.

Please! Rocky, Spike and I seek any help kindly offered, I believe, this may be the reason they wound up in the shelter. However, I do not wish in any way for them to experience that ever again.

So here I am, Im a beginner, so any info offered will be read and appreciated

incidently, the larger one Rocky, the shelter stated was 4 years old, and the smaller one, Spike around 2 years old, both nuetered, it apperaed Rocky was nuetered later.

Thank You!



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Double Trouble terriors!

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Aug 18, 2011
 Potty training
by: Anonymous

I have a two yr old I got him from a breeder when he was 4 mos old. He was very easy to potty train I kept him in a crate while I was out of the house for the first yr... which may have contributed to the training.My boston is also very high strung and gets nervous and nippy. I do not recommend taking your dog out every hour because they don't learn to hold it if they are not used to it. Boston's are very intellegent but stubborn so I'm sure after you work with them they will catch on. Another tip is to get them a bed my Boston loves his bed it's a comfort zone for him.
Jul 05, 2011
 housebreaking
by: Anonymous

I have 2 Bostons. One a girl that is spayed I have had since she was 9 weeks and a boy that is unaltered I got after the girl at 13 weeks. Neither ever pee or poop in house in fact they prefer their backyard areas. Even if it is raining they hold it until they have to go then they go out anyway. They have never been paper trained so as far as they are concerned the yard is the bathroom. I don't know if I just got lucky but what I did was every couple of hours when first got pup I would make a big deal about going out to pee pee and let the pup follow me to the patio door. We went to same area of yard every time and when the deed was done I highly praised.After waking from sleep or 30 min. after eating also went out. Same with boy. He would often follow my girl also because she was trained first.It's alot of constant praise and consistency every so many hours but before you know it they let you know when they want to go out and they don't know that your indoors is even an option!Always praise and use the same wording so that they learn those specific words for going out. Just my opinion but worked for me. Good luck!
Jun 27, 2011
 Training
by: Mary

+
It seems that your pups just need a little training. Mostly all you have to remember is that YOU are the boss. Cesar Millan has a great website that you can read about training. He also has a show on cable. Just google Cesar Millan and you will find his website. There are many other websites about training too and many books at PetsMart and PetCo and magazines also.

What we have learned (we have 3 Bostons ages 2, 3, and 4) is that they will take some extra time and attention to potty train. You really can't sit down much for the first 2-3 weeks. Then it took about 2 full years for ours to be FULLY trained. Now they will have "accidents" if we leave them inside for too long (more than 2 hours).

We crate-trained them and that seemed to work best for us. They do not have accidents in their crates at all. We followed the book on crate-training and they did get it after a couple of weeks. When we are home we let them out of their crate and let them outside every hour almost.

As far as the aggression, that will take some time too. First they have to get used to you and your house (and visitors). That should take a couple of months. Then slowly introduce them to something new little by little. Be firm when you introduce them and say "meet Lassie". Be sure they are both on a leash at first. If yours barks or growls pull on the leash and say "NO!".

Be patient and read every thing you can get your hands on, then decide what will work best for you.

Good Luck!
Jun 26, 2011
 double trouble
by: Linda Galway/TurnerME

It may be necessary for you to crate the dogs when you can't be with them. While you have them with you, make sure they're on a leash, even in the house. Lots of praise for being good, saying things like "good no pee in the house." Then, when it's time to go OUT, tell them what you expect. "Let's go pee out, pee OUT," and when they pee outside, praise, go in immediately and give a treat. Regarding other behavioral issues, you will probably need the help of a dog trainer. (If they pee in the crate, get rid of any bedding for a while and make sure the crate is only big enough for them to stand up and turn around in.)
Good luck.

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