Hi I have a half Jack Russel and half Shih Tzu that is 13 months old. I recently moved to a new home, a month in a half now. When I put my dog in the garage to eat or take a break from being in the house he continues to go to the bathroom in the garage. He never does this in the house, but I can't keep him from going in the garage. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to stop him from doing this. I always make sure he has gone outside before putting him in there, but doesn't seem to matter. thank you
While you state you put him in the garage for him to "take a break from the house", it sounds like you are actually giving the house a break from him. With a Jack Russell, that is a logical desire on your part. Jack Russells are exhausting. I swear I hear my house groan after a few hours of Tornado-dog's antics - and there is a collective sigh of relief from inanimate objects and animate beings alike when he falls asleep. However, JRTs do nor want or need to "take a break". They are the sun - the center of the universe. They need to have planets and asteroid belts and oort clouds and such orbiting around them. When you take those things away, you take away their energy source. For him, the garage is a black hole. It is a place where life doesn't exist. It steals his energy. It separates him from his universe. The only useful thing for a place like that is - to poop. If you need to convince him to "take break", do so within your presence. When he goes stir crazy, he's telling you he needs YOUR interaction. The best way to calm him down is to play with him. When Tornado-dog goes stir crazy, he hounds me. He sticks his toy in my face, he climbs over my person (and he is not a little JRT, he's a GIANT JRT - at least the size of a border collie). He barks at me. He nags me. The only thing that stops this behavior is for me to put down whatever I am doing and give him my attention. Sometimes, I can get away with just tossing his toy off the couch - over and over - for him to go after. Othertimes, I need to be more aggressive with a good game of tug of war. He will then settle down. Putting him someplace alone will just result in him going to the bathroom or worse - regardless of where he is.