MY 3 year old rottie is very naughty

by Jody
(Doncaster , england)

We got our rottie from RSPCA about 6 months ago.

he is very well trained but he is starting to push his luck by knocking the bin over and eating out of it and peeing and pooing in the kitchen.

how can I stop him from eating out the bin and how can I stop him from messing in the kitchen?

Hi Jody
Often dogs take a while to get comfortable and secure in a new home, and are sort of ‘on their best behavior’ during the adjustment period.

The older the dog the longer this period may be, and rescue dogs can carry a lot of ‘baggage’ so they take a fair amount of time to feel safe.

The fact that your dog is ‘acting out’ now is actually good in it’s own way because it shows that he feels safe, secure and loved. Although of course he’s not behaving badly intentionally, it’s a subconscious side effect of him letting down his guard.

Keeping him out of the trash can involves keeping it OUT OF HIS REACH whenever no one is around to supervise and correct him. The trash is attractive to him for obvious reasons and he may never have been told that it’s not okay for him to get into it.

He’s not a puppy anymore so old habits will die hard and it will take a bit longer to teach him new, appropriate behavior than it would to teach an 8 week old puppy. But it can be done, you just need to be loving, patient and consistent.

The same goes for the house-training issues. I’d recommend getting a crate and using that to contain him when you’re not supervising him and ready to correct the ‘wrong’ behavior right away.

Scolding a dog ‘after the fact’ won’t teach him ANYTHING. I’d suggest reading my Puppy Crate Training page as it has all the tips and advice you need.

Crate training an older, mature dog follows the exact same principles as crate training a puppy – just with the added benefit of the dog having better bladder/bowel control!

If your Rottie has never been crated take it slowly so that he doesn’t get scared or too anxious, he will soon get used to the new routine if you always give him special chew toys when he’s in his crate and don’t leave him there for hours on end.

Hope this helps, best of luck with your new dog.