Dog Community

Help with 2 year old dog and peeing in house

Posted : 1/21/2009 12:01:33 AM

Hi, I have a 2-1/2 year old puggle. We adopted her about 1-1/2 years ago. She was in foster care for a short time before we adopted her and in a high kill shelter for at least month prior. She is really sweet and loves everyone. She is a very happy girl. I have had 2 trainers work with me and her. Both are not sure why she keeps peeing in the house. I did the whole potty training with her outside. She was mostly potty trained when we received her. They said she was completely potty trained but she had some accidents in the house. I tested her for UTI and 1st test came back possibly slight infection we treated with medication. She pees in house very inconsistently. She sometimes go a few weeks with nothing. Then she will go 1 time a day for a few weeks then a day here and there etc..... I have had her tested 2 more times for UTI and she is fine. She does tend to go in rooms or areas that we are not always in (living room, bottom of basement stairs, closet). We can't gate off most of the rooms because of the layout of our house. She sleeps in a crate when we are not home and at night. She does fine with her crate. I have tried tethering her to me which was impossible with 3 kids and another dog. I am up and down and in and out quite a bit. I don't know if it is anxiety related esp. with my husband. She will cuddle up to him and is excited to see him. However she will only pee on his side of the closet and not mine. She is definitely my dog and looks for me wherever I am and usually following me around. She is alpha with my other dog (both females). Both trainers really had no more ideas and even suggested diapers. One has worked only with rescue dogs and had no answers. I am just wondering what I am missing and if it has to do with my relationship with her versus my husband, kids, other dog. Is she jealous, possessive, anxious, all of the above. I don't know what to do anymore because I never know when I will find a wet spot. I have no trust for her. I have tried everything the trainers have said to try and the vet and still no solution. I am wondering if anxiety medication would work???

Workingdoglover

Posted : 1/21/2009 10:24:56 AM

I'm just going to ask a few questions that might help me or others give you some ideas...

How does she get let out (as in, does she ask to be let outside, or is she on a schedule and you just let her out every so often, etc.)?

Are there particular places she will urinate (you mentioned your husbands side of the closet. Anywhere else that she commonly goes (like on certain things or in certain areas?)?

You mentioned anxiety, so does she seem anxious? This would make more sense to me if it happened when you were gone, but since you crate her that doesn't apply.

How do you respond when you find her urinating or the place she urinated in the house?

Does she drink a lot of water? It could be some health problem besides a UTI that is causing her incontinence.

Did you start over with her housetraining? Many times when a dog is in a shelter they can forget about potty training because they're in such a different environment. If you didn't start from the beginning when you first got her, or when the other trainers tried helping you, that may be something to try.

I'm sure someone will be able to give you some suggestiongs. I know it must be very frustrating for you!

janetmichel3009

Posted : 1/21/2009 11:16:13 AM

also: what are you using to clean up the messes? you should be using an enzymatic cleaner!!! anything else and the dog will still be able to smell "her" spots...

this "could" techinally also be a marking behaviour. it is not unheard of, for females to mark...

jennie_c_d

Posted : 1/21/2009 7:11:16 PM

laurag35
She does tend to go in rooms or areas that we are not always in (living room, bottom of basement stairs, closet). We can't gate off most of the rooms because of the layout of our house.

laurag35
have tried tethering her to me which was impossible with 3 kids and another dog. I am up and down and in and out quite a bit.

Is this dog incapable of following you around? To me, it sounds like she's going to an area where you're not, and peeing. Maybe she was punished for peeing in the house in her previous home? There's no reason for her to be in a room where you're not. Tie her to you, or put her in an ex pen or crate when you're not directly watching her. If you set her up to succeed, she will! I'd just treat her like a brand,spanking new puppy.

My dogs are ALWAYS in the same room with me, or confined. Period. There's too much to get into, otherwise. Right now, I have one in the chair next to me, and the other on the couch directly behind me. If I get up and they don't move to follow me, I'll give the command, "with me" for them to follow.

georgie4682

Posted : 1/21/2009 8:28:47 PM

I second the expen. If you aren't directly playing with her, training her, or in the room with her, then in the expen she goes.

I got my pom when I already had 3 other dogs. He was in a shelter situation with absolutely NO potty training and he was a year and 8 months when I got him. I had him with me constantly, or he was in his expen, or in his crate, at all times. It took 8 months, but he did it! And they told me poms were hard to potty train especially one who was older.

My trainer says that her dogs are not potty trained until they have not had an accident for 6 months! So, she treats them with the constant attention or watchful eye until she knows they are potty trained.

mudpuppy

Posted : 1/23/2009 9:43:13 AM

she's just not housebroken. forget about attributing all sorts of weird motives to her behavior, she's just not housebroken. Dogs don't generalize well. They don't understand the inside/outside concept that we understand. They easily learn to not-potty-where-they-live, but of course that leaves the guest room, the basement, the closet, a different house, wide open as potty options.

steffie tye

Posted : 2/4/2009 5:54:42 PM

I know how you feel I have a 3 year old rat terrier that does the same thing. I would what some of the others have told you to do. In my house I have a play area that he goes into when I am not in the room with him. The area has his favorite toys in it and also has his crate. Or you could do what everybody else says to do and that is to tie her to you that way you can control when she is at. Plus it might be good to try to start letting her out every hour or so that way she doesnt get the chance to pee all over.

I hope that some of this helps you.

spiritdogs

Posted : 2/4/2009 7:33:05 PM

If you are not able to tether the dog, and you think it really is a house training issue, then you could crate her when you can't watch her, but take her out more frequently. Someone may have punished her for accidents before you got her, so she may feel she has to hide her elimination. So, if you can prevent her from having access to other areas of the house that you can't see, and reward her for going outside, that's still your best bet. Also, clean up any soiled areas with Petastic so that she won't be tempted to go to the same spot.

If you only notice puddles after the dog wakes up from a nap, she could be spay incontinence. There are medications for that.