Okay so I am about to choke my little Alice, last night I was laying on the couch and she was laying there chewing a bone taking up a lot of room so I went to move her and the little witch growled at me again. She got a firm NO and off the couch she went again, this time I did not let her back up so she went and layed on Guy, who was already sleeping so he didn't hear any of this. I wasn't sure if this was okay because it isn't much of a punishment to move from one human to another but I wasn't sure.

So this morning we wake up and she goes right downstairs and pees on the carpet, now it is 15 degrees here and cold but right in front of me just looks at me squats and pees, so once again a firm no, coat on, outside and lots of praise.

What is going on with her??

We rescued her in Sept and the vet said by her teeth she would guess her to be right around 2. I wonder if that is it. I swear, the only one who keeps her in line is Fred since he is the Alpha dog. I am ready to strangle her, I mean she is getting bad. The other day she pooped in the house, I was thinking maybe because it is cold out and she hates it but I am not sure what to do with her. I don't want to keep yelling at her because it doesn't feel good to me. We are doing more obedience training and she is soooo very good during that (probably cause their are treats involved) but after that right back to being a brat.

Please understand that (1) weather changes DO make a difference and when it's bitter cold outside and they are used to the warmth of a house... they oftentimes don't want to go out. I'm dealing with this same issue from my two dachshunds right now, as it was 7 degrees here this morning. I didn't want to go out either!!

How much time is she spending in her crate? This will be your best housetraining tool...

More training can oftentimes result in behavior changes also. Please remember that training is stressful on a dog. A 10 minute training session can wear a dog out more so than a one-hour physical activity such as playing fetch, walking, etc. Those activities are "brainless" activities. If you are doing more obedience training with Alice right now, that could explain some of the behavior issues. Please be patient... lots of rewards... lots of affection from you is what she's needing right now... to offset the stress from training her. Perhaps backing off the training a bit might be in order? Also... I would HIGHLY advise not allowing her to chew on a bone or any other chewable thing while on the furniture. Make her do her chewing in the floor or in her crate... give her the space she needs during this time and don't bother her. It's a dog's nature not to want to be bothered while chewing on a bone. Although I can take any bone away from any of my dogs and they respect that and allow it... I don't do it. I allow this to be THEIR time to enjoy.

Don't yell at her... you'll make things worse, and could very well end up with a dog who cowers when you approach or speak to her. Please don't do this. If it doesn't "feel good" to you.... imagine how it feels to her. She doesn't understand what you are yelling about... she only understands and responds to you yelling.

She's not a "brat", ... she's confused. It's your responsibility to help her through this time.

Am I remembering that you are a certified dog trainer? If so, please refer back to some of the material I'm sure you have. It might be a nice resource for you!

It's not always easy to have patience, but it's important. If you are frustrated, angry... you may rest assured Alice is sensing it and probably doesn't know how to react to it.   Dogs react negatively to anger and frustration from their humans.  If you are frustrated or angry, please put Alice in her crate to give you both a break.

Thanks Nora,

i should rephrase some of what I typed. I don't ever yell at either of them, I will give them a firm NO but then I ignore. I guess it is the ignoring I hate to do because I love being near my dogs.

We usually only do obedience training 3-4 minutes at night. I know how much it takes out of a dog and after this time we have usually built on something from the night before.

I will start making her chew bones on the floor. That is my fault. In our house there is lots of positive reinforcement, rewards and praise. When things are bad, we either put her in timeout, in the bedroom, or just ignore her. I think I gave the wrong impression about yelling.

I have been looking through some of my old books but everything I am reading refers to growling as aggression and I know this is not the case with her. 

Both dogs have their crates and they go in and out as they please.  Sometimes they sleep in there sometimes they lay by us. She only seems to have her accidents when we are there with her and since the cold weather it has gotten worse. I agree with you that I don't want to go out ther either but I bundle them up, hopefully that helps some of the coldness.  I will try to be patient but I also don't want it to be where she thinks it's okay to growl at us or potty in the house.

No... it's NOT alright for her to think it's ok to potty in the house or growl... you are correct.
and yelling is different from a firm "NO"... and I'm glad to know that's the case. I guess I was not understanding totally.. I know when all my dogs bark, hubby sometimes gets frustrated (he wears hearing aids and the barking hurts his ears) and he starts yelling. The dogs have no clue why he's yelling...just that he's yelling. So I've been working VERY hard on teaching them not to bark on command, which is accomplishable with one dog at a time. But when they are together.. they feed off each other's energy... so it's very difficult.

You'll get to where you need to be.. just be consistent with the correction (do it the same way every time)... eventually Alice will "get it".

Do you know what Alice's background is?

So Nora this is my plan. I am not going to let her chew her bones on the furnature, only on the floor or in her crate.

As far as pottying, I know when the weather is warmer it will get better but for now I should take her out more frequently bundled up? I am not sure how to handle this since her accidents are when we are home.

I try to give her so much love, that is why I wondered if I was losing Alpha status. I know sometimes I baby her because of her past and the same with Fred. Hopefully the growling was bone related this time and moving her chewing to the floor will help.  

I hope the growling stops as she is laying with us, this is the second incident in a short time. One was because she had a busy day and was very tired and the other I am hoping is bone related. If it continues she may go into her crate at night from now on. I will give her another chance and hope she can contain the growling when near us.

Sorry didn't see your second post.  From what we can gather her background is puppymill mom.

She was completely new to furnature when she got in the house so I am guessing she was an outdoor dog.  Vet said she had one litter possibly 2 at her age. She had Coccidia, which comes from feeding on geese and chicken feces, which tells me she lived in a barn, cage or somewhere outside. Don't know about her human contact but I do know she is very funky about touching her right at the base of her tail or even petting her there, my guess is it was pulled on or she was pulled by it.  We are very gently when we pet her there and she is getting so much better with it. She is very affectionate and cuddly and good with kids and people.

Ya know Nora, until you pointed it out I forgot that Alice has really only been with us 3 months, that is not long at all in the big scope of things.  She is a good girl given her history and there are the little hiccups we need to get through. I really think starting with her chewing her bones on the floor is going to help, then she will have HER time where we don't bother her. Fred goes under the one end table, it's his special chew spot and she needs her own space too.

As for the pottying, I KNOW it has so much to do with the weather, she hates it out there, as do I. I am just going to have to be patient and do the best I can.

We are going to stick with the firm NO's when she does something unacceptable and put her up in timeout. Hopefully these instances are few and far between.

These are the things the books can't teach you, I am so new to training that I swear my dogs teach me the most.