I need help with swim training.

I need help training my pug a poo?

• I have been around animals all my life. I have trained several dogs however, I am seeming to hit a brick wall in regards to potty training my pug a poo. My experience with dogs has been with breeds that are medium to large. My puppy (he's a year old now) use to be trained to use the training pads and he was great about using them. I had them throughout the apartment and the only time he would have an incident was if the training pad was full. However, the training pads were on the carpet and urine was getting on the carpets so I eliminate two of three training pads and kept the one in the kitchen. He used it and everything was fine. When I took him for walks I praised him when he went and gave him treats when he came back in for job well done. Everything has fallen apart and is getting worse. He is very willful, but at the same time he is very loving, affectionate, playful, social, and lively. He is everything a dog owner could want except there are some things that need some major modifications. He is constantly getting into the trash even after I discipline (usually with a "that's a no-no. Bad dog" When he gets the bad dog he gets apologetic and tucks his head under my chin and actively seeks my atention. Ten minutes later he's back in the trash again. This goes on all day long. I sometimes smack his butt on his back near the tail firmly but not hard. I tell him bad dog and then he knows he's in trouble because of his dismeanor change. When I leave the house he gets destructive by peeing throughout the house, knocking everything off the coffee table and just getting into everything he shouldn't. He used to suffer from severe seperation anxiety and he tore the door to shreds even making himself bleed nd my neighbors would tell me the door was shaking so hard from him scratching at it and he howled and barked for an hours. I understand this is a phobia and I didn't punish him for the destructiveness just worked with him and got him used to us leaving him alone with my other dog and eventually the severe separation anxiety stopped and he didnt whine and cry or scratch at the door but he stills pees on the furniture when I leave on the bed and poops throughout. I tell him thats a no no. he goes out all the time and I still praise him but I just cant get him to stop and he just doesn't respond to me. I think I am out of my league when it comes to working with smaller dogs. Does anyone have any experience with this breed any suggestions? I have tried dog deterrent cleaners for where he pees/poops but he just goes right back. My boyfriend and I love him very much but this is starting to become a problem.

• Answer:

  Pug-a-poo? Seriously? Ditch the potty pads. He needs to learn to go outside. All potty pads do is tell him that it's OK to go inside, and you can't expect him to be discriminant about where he goes. He also probably doesn't know where you want him to go, inside or out. If you want him to go outside, you can't send him mixed signals by providing pee pads. You're probably confusing the hell out of him. My other advice is crate training. If he's destructive when you're away, he still has separation anxiety. "Used to"? No, he still has it. Crating will keep him out of trouble overnight and when you're away, and can help his potty training. My puppy is a pug/beagle mix. Pugs can be stubborn and hard to train, I know. But you MUST be consistent.