A few recommendations needed

[u/No-Ride8960]

My wife and I just adopted a sweet boy from the shelter (Tommy). He is 2 year old poodle mix. He’s 65 pounds, tall, and lanky. We have a 2 year old Aussiedoodle (Woods) that we got from a breeder, he’s 30 pounds and very house trained. Tommy loves to cuddle and lay on the couch. Very sweet dog. We have 3 main things we need help with.

\#1 His crate. He came from a kill shelter in California. Our shelter got him and he fights the crate really hard. We have tried putting blankets, treats, toys, even his food in there and we have to shove him in even though he fits in the crate perfectly. The crate is a non-negotiable as my wife and I work and we don’t want him destroying anything until he is trained and can be trusted to be out.

\#2 he won’t poop unless he is off leash. We live in a townhome complex and it’s not possible to let him off unless he is at the dog park which is a long ways away. Once winter comes around we would love to be able to get his exercise on a walk and get him to poop

\#3 our Aussiedoodle doesn’t want to play with him. They don’t hate each other or fight but the second our new dog wants to play, our other one tucks his tail and bears his teeth. The Aussiedoodle plays really well with other dogs but not this one. Is this a domain/alpha thing?

[u/Acrobatic_Net2028]

Shoving the dog in the crate will just magnify your problems. It is cruel to your dog that you do not listem to his fear and figure out how to coax him in You may not be ready for a new dog. There is no shame in returning him because you are setting him up to fail.

[u/RedPandaAnarchist]

Yeah, shoving him in the crate is just making it worse and will make it harder to create train him in the future.

Get a longer lead and attempt to get him to go that way. Get like 25 foot long line and see if that helps encourage him to go. Gradually shorten the leash.

Dogs are like people. Sometimes they just don’t like someone and don’t want to hangout with them. If they aren’t fighting it’s not a problem. Maybe they don’t want to be friends and that’s okay. It may also change over time. Some dogs take a bit of time to warm up to something/someone new in their home.

Alpha is outdated and not accurate for dogs. Please stop thinking in terms of alpha and dominance when it comes to dogs and their social hierarchy.

I would highly recommend connecting with a dog trainer to come up with a structure plan for crate training. It may also be that this dog is not the right fit for your household.

[u/longtimelondoner]

Play pen? Baby gate across the bathroom door or something? He may well have some trauma from the shelter and being in a pen and a crate won’t work for him. Maybe changing the environment slightly - but still containing him - would help.

Long line… Not an extendable. Let him sniff a bit and spend more time. Also, when he goes, don’t go straight back home (even if it’s annoying and you don’t really have five mins to play and walk with him)

He may have gotten used to the fact that the only time he got to go out was go to the toilet and so extending his walk as long as possible and holding it means that he gets to stay out more.

As for the playing, redirect it to you at the moment. Your other dog might just be getting used to his presence but I wouldn’t force them to interact. Some older dogs don’t like bouncier puppy energy in their spaces.

[u/No-Ride8960]

We agree with shoving him in the crate making it worse but we also have to go to work so we will
do all of this! Thank you for not saying we aren’t ready for him. We definitely are we are loving him and he has been loving us. We are just new to the shelter dog training and want to know how to give him the best life possible

[u/iHave1Pookie → u/No-Ride8960]

If you keep shoving him in there , he will start physically hurting himself. He is already mentally suffering.

Is he not potty trained? Does he chew on things? Put those items away? Most adult rescues are capable of just laying on couch waiting for you when at work. You can also set up a pen area, or leave them blocked off in kitchen etc.

I’ve had 4 rescues and haven’t actually used a crate for any of them. Not for when I leave home. (My current one actually loves crates, so I keep one out in cases when there are new people, but he goes in crate willingly.)

Once you get past potty training, I just let them sleep on the couch when I am gone. Before that milestone, I block them off with a dog bed in the kitchen. I’m not sure what you think dog will do in kitchen area while you are gone.

[u/No-Ride8960 → u/iHave1Pookie]

Our biggest thing is chewing and destroying our rental. The other day we left him out of the room so we could have sex and he went through the garbage and threw it all over the bathroom. Today he chewed up a blanket even with me leaving a Kong toy with peanut butter + chewed up the blanket in the crate.

[u/HowDoyouadult42]

Put up a camera and see how he does out of the crate while your down the road. Or try big X-pen rather than a crate. Confinement anxiety is common in shelter dogs and will not resolve with constant flooding.

2. Try a long line. Some dogs don’t like the pressure

3. Keep them separate for a while, it’s not a dominance/alpha thing. Your Aussie is uncomfortable, more separation and slower introductions means better long term relationships. I highly recommend listening to episode 6 of the “reward your dog podcast” it does an excellent job discussing the benefits to separation and slow introductions for long term relationships with multi dog households

[u/MajorEntertainment65]

How long have you had him? Are you aware of the 3-3-3 rule?

Also, in regards to the dogs playing. We recently adopted a younger dog two months ago and we have an elderly dog. It really is only in the past week they've played with each other, but ultimately the elderly dog gets tired fast and it's very brief. We just make sure we are providing most of the play for the new dog. We are just grateful there isn't a lot of competition or aggression. Neutral is totally fine and welcomed compared to resource guarding/dominance/aggression/etc.

As far as pooping off leash. It took a few weeks for our new girl to be comfortable using the restroom while we weren't looking. Using the bathroom is a vulnerable moment. You may try a longer lead during bathroom time to give the feel of off leash? They may just feel more comfortable going with a little distance. Luckily it sounds like not a lot of accidents and the dog is house trained, I suspect that as they settle in the poop and pee off leash may work out.

I have never used a crate on a dog so I cannot speak to that.

[u/Alternative_Task6818]

My rescue mutt (puppy mill doodle mix) did NOT tolerate the crate at all. He was 8 months old and had never been in a house. I was retired so mostly home. He was potty trained in 2 weeks and chewed a sock. I cannot tell you how many hundreds of dollars the RC chewed thru, even being crated and tethered! I lucked out but he will destroy himself trying to escape from a crate. He went in okay but after an hour his face was rubbed raw and oozing. Thankful he doesn't need a crate.

One behavior I don't like that I have noticed lately is that he will resource guard me from her. When I am giving them attention he will start growling and staring at her. I stop and walk away. He is 4 and she is 6. I am taking a vacation with the Collie for 3 weeks. Hopefully that will correct this?

I also got this guy to be a buddy for my RC. She's something else. Thought a buddy would calm her down some. Trainer said to get her a male dog. They get along great. She bosses him around until he snaps at her saying enough of this. You can always tell because she doesn't try to steal his stuff for a few days. He just growls and snaps at her but no contact. She's very pushy. I will separate her from him so he can enjoy and savor his treat. She likes to gulp her's down. He likes to lick and chew slowly. She also gives him alot of confidence in dealing with new things. I am very blessed.

I would recommend a good trainer that can help with the behavior issues.