Kay, so I don't know what to do about this dog, it'd be great if someone could give me some ideas on how to handle this.

My fiance's dog Buddy (the black one, the other is mine) is a 9 year old chocolate lab/boxer mix. He has a few behavioral problems that I don't know how to deal with. We are staying with his mom until we get a place of our own, and her and her husband are getting very tired of our two dogs, but mostly Buddy.

He has separation anxiety, pretty bad at that. When he and I leave, he whines and barks and is loud. We have had to put a steel door at the top of the stairs because he will just go through a regular wooden one. He pees and craps on the floor while we are gone. Not necessarily EVERY day, just like 98% of days. I'm so tired of cleaning up after him. We cannot keep him outside during the day because all he does (literally, all he does, I've heard him bark for 30 minutes straight while I was in the shower; not just that, the neighbors have complained about it before) is bark and whine and dig and cry. He acts like this because when he was a puppy my fiance couldn't leave him home alone so he would take him everywhere with him.

How can I stop this behavior? My fiance is gone for a while so I'm the one taking care of the dog by myself and I don't know how much longer I can take dealing with this behavior.

If possible, I would definitely look into alone training, or maybe get a hold of a trainer at a local daycare, or training centre and they might definitely be able to help you with your concerns.

Sadly, this isn't really one you can fix over-night. Dogs with these kinds of issues -- especially at his age, are harder to train out of it (just because he's literally lived 9 years of being anxious and loud, and never left alone). I would definitely try giving him something to occupy his time when you're gone -- and start with short periods so he gets used to not having you there, but long enough for him to realize he's on his own. I find Kong toys with frozen peanut butter/treats or food inside is enough to keep most dogs occupied for quite a while.

Is he kennel trained at all? Because that might help with the mess-making around the house for sure (a dog his age should NOT be doing that), and also might help with some of the destructive behavior.

The last week or so when I've come home and there's been a mess on the floor I've dragged him to it and stuck his nose in it and smacked him. Is that pointless because of his age, or do you think it's still effective? He knows when he does something wrong, because when I see something and say, "What is this, Buddy?" he takes off to the bedroom and hides beside the bed.

Dogs don't understand punishments for behaviour unless you catch them in the act. If it's been some time, he doesn't understand why he's being punished, just that he's in trouble. To you it may look like he understands, but what he's doing is responding to your tone of voice, not the mess on the floor. He knows a punishment is coming, but he has no idea why and won't learn anything from it. The only thing it's going to do is make him even more anxious, which is the exact opposite of what you want.

Positive reinforcement is proven to be much more effective when it comes to training dogs, in any case. I'd also recommend you look into crate training him for when you leave the house. The crate should be large enough for him to stand up in and turn around, but that's it. In a small space like that, he is unlikely to make a mess because it means he'd have to lie/stand in it - and he doesn't want that. Every time you take him out of the crate and he didn't make a mess, reward him. Leave the crate open when you're at home, and keep his bed in it. Make it a positive space he will want to be in.

I'd also strongly recommend looking into training classes for him. I only worked with dog trainers, never was one myself, so I can only offer so much advice - but if you find a good one, they can be a wealth of helpful information. The key is you have to actually continue the training at home; it can't be an "in-class" only deal for you. Having a dog and training him is a commitment, and it needs to be done properly if you want to see any real improvement. Also, be sure to find a trainer who teaches positive reinforcement; I personally would never trust any who promoted negative reinforcement as a way of discouraging bad behaviours. And yes, old dogs definitely can learn new tricks - so don't give up on him just because of his age.

If all else fails, some vets can prescribe anxiety medications. But you really have to try and fix the behaviour before you get to this point - it should be a last resort.

Edit: Also, both boxers and labs are high-energy dogs. Even if he is a little older, you may find giving him even more exercise can help.

I can't catch him doing it, that's the problem. He doesn't do it when I'm here with him, only when I'm gone. I tried letting him run around when I let them out, but he doesn't listen. He does whatever the hell he pleases with no regard to me or what I'm saying. He wanders into neighbors yards, does his business, and runs around for a while before finally coming back whenever he wants. I definitely don't have time for that nonsense in the mornings. Our neighbor two houses down has four dogs so he likes to try to get over there and cause chaos.

My fiance has tried an invisible fence, doesn't work. He tried a bark collar (best one he could find) and it didn't work for Buddy. Nothing we try works for him. I have indeed considered classes, especially with you guys' suggestions for it, but I have yet to figure out if I'll be able to spare the extra money to do so.

I think I will at least bring the dog crate in from outside and start putting that to some use. It'd definitely save me a lot of Lysol and bleach because he relieves himself on the concrete basement floor. Soaks in and the smell kind of lingers, ya know?

I work at a pet store and I often work with dogs so maybe I can be of some help?

Alright, I have two suggestions for that. It's really important for him to be able to be outside and run around as much as possible because, like Narceu said, he's a high energy breed. Maybe you could try tethering him? It should be much more effective than an invisible fence.

Besides bark collars, I also know of devices that you put near your dog that discourage the dog from barking by emitting a high pitched sound that only the dog can hear. They're pretty expensive and it tends to be hit or miss, working on some dogs but not others, so keep your receipt and be familiar with your store's return policy. If you try it for a week and it doesn't work out for you then you should take it back.

I would say that kong+peanut butter does sound like a good idea. It would keep him occupied for fifteen minutes or so. Hopefully playing with it would make him less restless.

I think it would also be a good idea for you and your fiance to try and walk him as much as you can. Due to his breed, I feel like most of his problems probably stem from excess energy.

a lot of people here are giving really good info, and i've trained 5 dogs from puppy to (mostly) full grown phases.

you need to kennel him when you are gone, 99% of the time the dog will no go to the bathroom where they have to stand/lay in it. also when you let him out, and he goes to the bathroom outside, reward him with a treat and calling him a 'good boy' or whatever healthy phrases you give him normally.

is he fixed? that could be a big issue if he isn't. when male dogs aren't fixed they tend to be more aggressive, even harder to train.

fixing buddy will not happen over night, and he might never be the kind of dog you see at a park that walks beside their owner without a leach with no issues. however, i understand your frustrations in punishing him when you find out he has had accidents, but unless you catch buddy in the act, or even within the first 30 seconds, 100% of the time he will have no clue and punishment is useless. i found that (i believe this is what it was, i can't remember but multiple searches lead me back to this) white vinegar, though it smells JUST LIKE PEE, cleans and gets rid of the pee smell and makes your life so much easier to get rid of stuck in pee. but it will need airing out too. a good reason your dog keeps having accidents is because he can smell the pee. even though he only does it when you aren't there, you aren't the voice of reason when he's alone. i used equal amounts half and half with water. though on my more frustrating days i mixed less water, if you know what i mean ;)

it also sounds like buddy is high energy, take him out for many walks, even if they are just 10 minutes at a time. any time outside will stimulate him and make him burn energy. also keep him on a leach, and when he pulls too hard on it walk him in a circle, he will burn more energy walking in a circle around you when he pulls than you pulling back on him.

also another thing you need to research is what type of dog food are you giving him. a lot of dog foods are corn or wheat based, and that's high in sugar, which = more energy. i noticed when i switched my dogs from x type of food to pedigree (yellow bag), there were less sugars than the other kind, thus keeping my dogs from being on the ceiling every hour of the day. when switching food, start mixing it in with the old food though, because dogs tummies have a hard time adjusting at first. (wouldn't you have a hard time eating chicken everyday to only eating red meat? just food for thought)

also find toys that engage buddy, like a kong with peanut butter or something else to have access to to have a reward at the end. buddy sounds like a really smart cookie, i've seen other handmade reward toys made and dogs succeeding with them. try a few different searches on google for some image results. the coolest one i saw was trying to get a dog to slow down their dinner, by putting their food in a few 2 liter pop bottles, and the dog had to spin them around (holes cut for the spinning part) and if he spun them too fast, he couldn't get the food out. but that's something you could focus on working up to. and that's just one example that was really cool.

as awesome as classes sound, the price of them sometimes aren't so awesome. you don't need to take a dog to a dog class to be successful. you just need a lot of patience and clean up rags. he needs to practice being alone to be even semi-okay with being actually alone. most of that issue will steam from energy and how he's using his energy. if you make ALL of these changes you will see change slowly form.

I can't just tether him outside. He will be quiet for a few minutes until he's done going potty, and then he will just start barking and being loud and carrying on. It makes the neighbors mad. Otherwise I'd be more than happy to let him hang out outside.

He is not fixed, no. I definitely agree that could very well be part of the problem. We just can't ever afford to get him fixed. And I have tried kenneling him in my dog's old travel crate (XL), but he just takes the door off of it. Not sure how he does that, but the one time I've stuck him in it I came home and the door to the crate was just laying on the floor.. so that tells me I can't keep him in that, either. I bought a small bottle of white vinegar yesterday for this purpose, actually. I put it in a spray bottle and sprayed that, along with some bleach, on all the spots where he's peed or pooped on the floor. Guess I should put a little more vinegar in the mix because I can't quite smell it and I wanna know there's enough in there.. lol. Both dogs do eat Pedigree, so I don't think that's much of a problem here. I would also like to get him some toys or something for him to play with while I'm gone, but my dog is a little bit of a bully and she WILL take the toy from him and keep it for herself. I can't close the door to separate them because, as I mentioned in my initial post, he will just go through the door. It is a solid wood door, but, you know, I don't want claw marks all over it.

I worked with a woman who has a dog that sounds exactly like yours. She came home one day to her front door and it's metal frame chewed up badly and her dog was bleeding from his mouth. She had no idea what to do except for put him back on anti-anxiety medication, which can be really expensive. I would definitely say try anything you can before meds. My one dog has recently started scratching at our wood framing to get to the animals she sees outside, so I will probably be using some of the advice listed above! Good luck!

I don't know how anyone else is, but I have a strong issue with brands such as Pedigree, Purina, IAM's ect. I LOVE Blue Buffalo but I know it can get expensive. I've had a lot of high-energy dogs and it can be stressful. My previous pit/mix was moved to Natures Recipe. I view it as a lower grade than Blue but better than these brands with corn, cornmeal, ect. as their main ingredient. I'm actually going to PetsMart Friday to look into transitioning the some of the dogs I live with now (four of them are mine, the other six are not ¬¬ buuunch of small breed dogs and two of the big ones are mine - super stressful, I don't recommend it.)

As far as neutering goes, you could look into your local shelter because some shelters and humane societies on occasion offer a free spay and neuter type deal. Or look into saving for a voucher to get from the shelter to get him neutered. My roommate did that with her female, after her second litter of puppies.

There is a reason dogs who are classified as High Energy for a reason as well: They have a TON of energy to burn and it feels like it never ends. I have a 1 Year old Lab and a 1 year old pit mix who love to go to the park when given the chance. Having the ability to run around in the yard as well. Playing outside with your furbaby is key and will help with tiring him out. ( This may have been mentioned already so apologies in advance ;o; ) I do agree with everyone else; looking into obediance courses. My mini doxie went through Puppy K and Basic as well as my dogs prior to the others I have right now. (Complicated living explanation- too much to go into detail about) But it really does help. I recommend doing class where its hands-on and not something with the clicker or treat enforced - but that is just me. Hands-on training will construct a bond between the dog and the owner via trust, ect. Also these classes are a workout for human and dog; mine were wiped by the time these one -hour classes ended c;