# Boston Terrier TERROR! help!



## Staci (May 17, 2012)

I have a Boston who is 5 months old. She is utter terror! She eats cell phone chargers shoes pillows.... basically anything she can get in her mouth. If I try to tell her no or use the spray bottle she hunkers like I am killing her. She gets into the trash and drinks from the toilet. She isn't house trained whatsoever and when she is put outside she just stands at the door for an hour until she is finally let in, then go poops somewhere in the house. We crate her at night and stick her straight outside in the morning for her to do her buisness but everytime we let her in she poops right on the floor. I just don't know what to do with her anymore! We got her at 3 months and at first she was perfect but its like something snapped in her or she was changed out for another dog or abducted by aliens lol....


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## Staci (May 17, 2012)

Please don't read and run!


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## bonbon_182 (Feb 2, 2012)

I don't have a ton of advice but I own a boston terrier too who is also five months and he is awesome. I started clicker training him from the start and he caught on super fast. I don't know about the bathroom issues, we have a doggie door so that helps us out alot. Hopefully someone can help you out...


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## Staci (May 17, 2012)

Anyone???at all?


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## WestieLove (Jan 29, 2012)

She is a puppy and puppies chew things. If she cannot be on leash with you or supervised by you then she needs a confinment area where she cannot get into trouble. Preferably a room that she can't do a lot of damage in. Get a lot of appropriate chew toys for her to use (Kongs, Bully Sticks etc.) to encourage chewing on good things. Do not use a spray bottle. Take the item and replace with an appropriate chew toy. 

You need to start from sqaure one with house training. Again, if you are not around she should be confined to one room and a puppy pad should be placed down. You need to take her out every hour or so. Set a timer and drop what you are doing for toilet time. Stay outside with her on leash and encourage toilet time. I use "Go pee-pee" in a more excited tone. When she pees/poops you can give her a treat and praise her then bring her right back inside to avoid misunderstanding and go right back to his confinment area - reset timer and do it again. No free inside time. Do not just leave her out in the yard, that does not teach her anything. Stay outside with her for as long as you need to or take her on a little walk. Signs to watch for: barking, circling, nose to the ground, whining, squirming, frantic obnoxious behavior. You still soon learn patterns of what time she has to go out to do her business and with time she will get into the habit of telling you that she needs to go out. You can use a set of bells on the door and have the dog ring them before taking her out to go potty. 

Most important: Do not punish accidents, learning takes time. Go outdoors with her, encourage potty time, praise with a treat and right back inside to a confinment area. Reset your timer and do it over again. Prevention is KEY.


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## lil_fuzzy (Aug 16, 2010)

Confine the puppy to a play pen when you can't supervise. She should have a bed/crate, water and chew toys in the play pen with her. Teach her to chew her own toys, by rewarding her when she chews them. When she chews anything else, remove her, put her back in her play pen, and encourage her to chew her own toys.

For housetraining, you can't just put her outside. It won't work. You need to go out with her, wait for her to go however long it takes, and then immediately reward her with 3-5 really nice treats, like ham or sausage or cheese or similar. Not boring, dry pet store treats.

Also start basic obedience training with her. It will open the lines of communication and improve your bond. Look up "kikopup" on youtube, she has loads of puppy training videos. The things I would work on are focus on you, "sit" and "come" to start with. And of course her name. Have her on leash, say her name in a happy voice, then immediately give a nice treat. Repeat many times per day.


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## WestieLove (Jan 29, 2012)

I suggest enrolling in puppy classes to cover obedience training. This way you can have professional guidance to help deal with any further issues you are having with the pup. It will be money well spent.


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## doxiemommy (Dec 18, 2009)

Wow! Well, where to start? Five months old is still such a baby!

Everything you described sounds like a puppy that hasn't been taught manners. Puppies aren't born knowing how to behave, or what they should do, or what they should leave alone. That's for you to teach her. Saying "no" or using a spray bottle isn't the way to train a 5 month old puppy.

First of all, "no" has absolutely no meaning to her, as puppies and dogs in general don't have a _moral system _of what is right vs wrong. They look at it as what works for them and what doesn't work for them.
Now, "no" can be used as an interrupter word, to get her attention, but unless you follow it up with further instruction, it's going to quickly lose it's power.

Also, spraying water in her face is considered an aversive, and there are lots of folks who don't recommend using aversives on such young puppies. It's kind of like punishing a toddler with the same punishment you'd use on a teenager.

With puppies, many problems can be solved my managing the puppy.
- So, for all the stuff she eats: keep things you don't want her to have out of her reach. That means you have to be organized and find a home for all your stuff. I know, it's hard. It was a challenge when we got our first puppy, to get my fiance to put things away. But, it's kind of like how you would child proof your home, you can puppy proof it, too.
Because, really, puppies don't see a difference between your cell phone charger and a puppy toy. It all looks cool to them. If you stop them from ever getting ahold of the charger, or shoe, or whatever, and always allow access to toys that she IS allowed to have, you are managing her, and not putting her in the position to fail.
- As for the trash and toilet: make those off limits. Get a trash can with a lid, and shut the bathroom door. That's management, too. It's actually a safety issue, as there will occasionally be things in the trash that can are toxic to dogs, and could hurt or kill her.
- Housetraining: puppies don't have full physical control of their bladder and bowels until about 6 months of age, give or take. So, sometimes, they can't help but have accidents. But, in general, the way to go about potty training is:
* Take them out often, every 2 hours at least. Say the same words each time, like "go potty" or "do your business". The SECOND she starts to go, praise her so she knows what she's doing right. Then, give her a treat. 
Make sure you stay out a couple extra minutes after she pees/poops, because puppies tend to do a double pee, or, sometimes, they don't realize they also have to poop til they come back inside. The reason for this is they don't have full control of their bladder and bowels yet. PLUS, they get easily distracted by all the cool sights, sounds, and smells outside.
Also, it's a better idea to actually go outside WITH her, so you can see if she actually goes, and so you can remind her what she's out there to do. If you just put her out, you can't be sure that she'll go.
* The other part is to PREVENT accidents inside by keeping your eyes on her. Yep, it's a hassle, and it can be boring. But, it's better than her having accidents all the time. If you keep your eyes directly on her, you can see when she's about to go, interrupt her, and get her out in time. It's kind of like when parents follow their baby who is just learning to crawl. They kind of follow them to make sure they're doing ok.

When a puppy is this young, it's more about the human getting the puppy out in time, and stopping the puppy from getting into stuff. The puppy doesn't know any better.


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## Amaryllis (Dec 28, 2011)

Please stop spraying and yelling at her. All you're teaching her is "mommy gets mad when I chew". But dogs NEED to chew. Every time she chews something she shouldn't, spray yourself in the face, replace the bad item with a toy and then praise her for chewing her toy. 

Really, this is about you, not the puppy. Keep your stuff out of her reach. Bostons aren't big, it should be easy to keep things out of her reach. Get a garbage can with a lid. Put the lid down on the toilet, or better yet, close the bathroom door. 

Remember, there are endless things you don't want your puppy doing, but only a few you do. Teach what to do instead of punishing what not to do- it's easier.


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## Pawzk9 (Jan 3, 2011)

supervision is a wonderful thing. She can't destroy stuff she can't get to, and she can't eliminate in the house if she's carefully supervised - welcome to adolescence


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## Hambonez (Mar 17, 2012)

Sounds like she isn't supervised. Given the opportunity, my 5 m/o puppy will chew shoes and books and knock over the trash cans and take stuff he shouldn't - so all shoes go up out of his reach or in a bin, everything in the puppy's room gets picked up, and small trash cans are put up high. We rarely leave him alone for more than a minute, and never for more than about 3 minutes - any longer than that and he is put in his pen. We've been training "drop it" for when he grabs things he shouldn't (tissues are a big one). He is always supervised when we he goes out to potty, because that way we are SURE that he went, and we can praise the behavior immediately so he knows we're happy with him when he goes outside. 

It sounds like you need to go back to the basics with puppy proofing, safe play areas, and housebreaking. We did a puppy class too, which we found very helpful for us. We were doing things right, but it made us think about training things that hadn't occurred to us, and our pup loved going! I would highly recommend a structured training class.


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## petpeeve (Jun 10, 2010)

I"m still wondering how a 5 month old Boston puppy manages to drink from the toilet.

.. not saying it isn't happening, ... but after sizing up my own toilet here, I just can't seem to picture the 'mechanics' of it.


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## georgiapeach (Mar 17, 2012)

I'd crate the puppy when you're not directly supervising. Don't let the puppy out of your sight unless she's crated. Been there, done that! I had a BT puppy that chewed on my work badge when I went into the kitchen to get a drink of water. I still wear that badge to work, and I get a lot of comments on it - lol! 

I was told that BT's are hard to house train. I completely agree. You have to be very diligent. Take her out after eating, after waking up, after a play session, and also every hour on the hour, to establish a routine. You can lengthen the time in between potty sessions as she she gets older and improves. Crate in between potty sessions. If not in the crate, tether her to you. Yes, a pain now, but worth it in the long run.

I also recommend that you join a BT forum if you haven't already. It can give you more breed specific advice. Good luck!


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## bgmacaw (May 5, 2012)

Puppies chew on stuff because they're teething. The trick is to give them something to chew on that they like better than things you don't want them to chew up. You'll also want to put wires and such where the pup can't get them. Keeping the puppy restricted to safe areas will help too.

Frozen chews can really help relieve teething pain. Kong's filled with peanut butter or something meaty and then frozen can provide hours of chewing fun. Our vet recommended soaking a pull rope and freezing it.

For house training, you'll need to walk her and encourage her to do her stuff with praise and treats. Potty time is another good time for training and interaction. Don't just dump her outside and expect her to figure it out. It sounds like she's scared and it's difficult to go when you're scared or nervous.

Only use positive training methods. Punishment and aversion techniques will result in problems, especially when it comes to house training. Remember puppies are young and will take some patience to train. They won't do everything right all the time. But, putting the time in training now will make things much easier when the dog is an adult.


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