Housetraining an Abused Dog?

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We adopted a 2 year old female 5 weeks ago. We are doing crate training and, for the most part, it's going well. She does not pee or soil in her crate, and is wonderful about doing these when we take her outside. However, when we take her out of the crate inside for short periods of time (always when we are in the room and watching her), she often pees on the floor.

This is often in response to us talking to her. We never yell or scold. Is she just over-reactive to human voices, due to her prior experiences? What can we do to give her more freedom in the house without her peeing? Thank you.

By Chris

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Abigail A.

January 3, 20150 found this helpful

Yes, she is over responsive to being spoken to.The solution is not to speak to her. Dogs don't communicate by speaking anyway. They communicate by scent and body language.
When you go to get her food, she hears and smells it. Do you have to tell her it is time to eat?
When you get down her leash and your keys, she knows she is going out. You don't have to tell her.

If you need to call her from the other room, use a light whistle. Dogs can hear better than you can.
This is going to be hard, but you're pretty much going to have to ignore her for a while. And by a while, I mean months. Just feed her and take her out without speaking. Have short play sessions without speaking. Otherwise, just pretend she isn't there.
Any attention you turn on her, no matter how positive, is just not wanted right now.

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