Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
My dog is 5 years old and since our son was born, he has peed when left alone at home unless crated. My son is now 3 and I can't figure out how to stop the behavior. My dog has never pooped in the house. He has a doggie door where he can go outside to our enclosed yard anytime he wants.
If the vet cannot find anything physically wrong with him, I would suggest a professional dog trainer.
Remedy for a dog that pees in the house when I'm at work.
Sometimes dogs are spiteful. If you cannot trust the dog to hold its urine while you are away, you need to gate him in one room. If you are away from home for a long time, it may be unreasonable for you to expect him to hold it.
I took my puppy from a dog foster home about a year ago. I love him to bits; he has a great personality, and I feel that he loves our family so much. But, whenever I leave him at home he pees in the house on the carpet, on the bed, on flowers, etc.
My wife and I were thinking about taking him to 'doggy school', but then again, it's extremely expensive, and the nearest 'doggy school' is far away from us. Maybe you have some advice? Thank you.
You may have to crate him when you are gone.
My 5 year old Chihuahua keeps peeing or pooping in the house when he is left alone. What do I do? What can I do to correct the problem? Are there any classes that could fix it?
By Tiffany from Lebanon, OH
Kennel him when you go out. He probably will not soil the kennel. When you return, take him immediately out.
Look at the posts on this issue on this site. It is a common problem.
The only way we ever got our dogs to quit the peeing is to put them in a cage. No food no water. Our son uses the mats that you buy in the pet stores. He also has luck with that. Good luck
I have this 9 month old pup that I rescued about 3 or 4 weeks ago. He is super cute and sweet, but has major separation anxiety. He will tear anything and everything up that he can get to the second we leave the house. If I go into another room that he isn't allowed in, so he is left "alone", he will pee and poop in our formal dinning room. He pees on the legs of the furniture and poops in the corners.
I have tried the positive training with treats when he goes outside, but that spoiled him. And I've gotten so frustrated that I punish him almost every time now. I feel like I'm out of options, my mom said if he doesn't stop we are giving him back or making him an outside 24/7 dog.By Jennifer B.
Have you tried leaving the TV, radio, and or lights on? It helped with our dog. We also have another dog to keep her company.
Punishment doesn't work unless you punish in the 10 seconds after the infraction has taken place. You just destroy the trust your dog has for you. Look a little further for different training methods. Good luck to you.
Abusing your dog will not solve the problem. Your vet should have plenty of info/suggestions for separation anxiety. You can also google it on your computer. Please don't punish the dog or make it an outside dog.
How do I stop my 2 year old Staff from weeing in the house? He only does this when I leave him home alone. Even if I leave him for ten minutes he will do it. He knows where he is supposed to go. Any suggestions other than crating him or neutering him, as I want to breed him?
By gillian from Yorkshire
You could put him in the back yard (if you have one). My in-law puts her dog in the bathroom while she's gone.
Neutering him won't stop him from urinating where you don't want him to. It only stops him from breeding. If you don't want to crate him you've got to either put him outside or in a room that you don't mind being wet.
We had a beagle that did the same thing. I think it's separation anxiety, anyway, crating worked for us. After a while, Petey got to know that if we were leaving he was to go into his crate. We had it all decked out for him with blankets and a toy or two, we made it his "space" and after while he would go in there whenever he napped (which was a lot).
I am currently taking care of a Border collie puppy named Tang Yuan (it means dumpling soup in Chinese) who is about 7 months old. I had left something in my car that is parked right in front of my apartment so I told him to stay and wait and that I'd be back in 2 minutes and once I came back he had made a big puddle on the apartment floor.
The second time I had to go back briefly (another less than 2 minutes) he did it again, but thankfully I had the puppy pad there in the same spot where he made the previous accident. Is he doing that because of his anxiety or is it because he is excited? I hope someone can help answer my question. I am just curious to know and always open to learning something new about dogs. Thank you.
I have an almost 8 year old Malkie (Maltese and Silky Terrier), he is wee wee pad trained as well as trained to go outside. Whenever someone is home he will always go on the wee wee pad, even if there is one spot where he already went, but generally we try to change the pad right after. He has always been left alone when we are at work so I know it's not separation anxiety. We had his kidneys checked and everything else and he is a healthy dog. We also tried to crate train him as a puppy and even recently and he hates it, he scratches at the crate and his paws start to bleed so we stopped putting him in the crate.
But every time he is alone or after we go to sleep we either come home or wake up to pee all over the kitchen and some random parts of the house. The wee wee pad will be clean, but there is pee somewhere. I moved out a few years ago and left him with my mom and it hasn't gotten better or worse he is still doing this. He's gonna be with me for an entire month and I don't want my apartment to have pee all over it. I know you have to catch him in the act to discipline and it's pointless to do it after the fact so I have no idea what to do to stop this behavior. Please help! Thanks!I have a 10 month old black Lab who is relieving himself on the carpet when I'm at work. I work from 3 pm to 12 am. I take him out two times before I go to work, one quick potty break in the morning before breakfast, and then about an hour right before I go to work. I also have an hour long lunch break, and I come home and take him out for another 15 minutes, before I go back to work.
When I get home, I take him out again for about 45 min. So he's only alone for four hour intervals without a potty break. Any suggestions on how to make the accidents stop and also how to clean the carpets?I have a 2 year old black Lab that pees when we leave or don't play with him. My dad wants to get rid of him, but my mom, sisters, and I don't.
We have no idea what to do. We've sprayed vinger it worked a little bit but not enough. If I could get any advice on this that would be great!Dogs are not toys that you throw away when they become torn or dirty. Animals/Pets are living and feeling creatures that can have a problem needing help, just like himans.
Your dog may have a medical problem that results in difficulty in controlling his urine when he is upset. Please take him to your vet to check for any medical problem. Your vet can also help with suggestions on how you can work with your dog to help him with your problem. If you delay, the urine problem will probably worsen as your dog has no way to help himself improve. The first and most important step is to clarify any possible medical issue to help your dog improve.
Black labs are active dogs and love people.
Your dog needs a half hour to an hour walk every day. He also needs about a half hour play time, like fetch, every day. That is separate from the walk.
Tire out your dog and he won't mind so much when you leave.
I have a 3 year old male Boxer. When I'm home he is fine unless someone comes over he doesn't approve of then he tries to attack them. I think he's trying to protect me. I've noticed if I'm not home and my dad's here and someone new comes over he's totally fine as long as I'm not here. 
Also he barks to go outside, but if nobody's home he will even if he doesn't have to force himself to pee and it's getting to the point he will pee on my couch, my bed, anywhere.
It's gross! The upholstery cleaners my best friends! :( Can anyone offer any advice please? He's really a great dog, he just has those couple things I have to figure out, but look at that face. I love this doggy!
What a handsome dog. I am a boxer lover too. I provide foster care for boxers that are rescued from shelters until they find their permanent home. The behavior you are describing is because your dog is the pack leader. He is protecting you because he doesn't senses you are in charge. Also the wetting, I believe, is him marking "his territory" There are ways to correct this, and they basically teach the dog "YOU" are the pack leader. It's very important to remove couch, bed etc. privileges for awhile. Then he is only allowed up on furniture if and when you "invite" him. He should be trained to "wait" at the door coming in and out of the house and you go first and he follows.
I second Merlene's advice. When the dog is in the leadership position you will get all sorts of unwanted behaviors. Large breed dogs such as Boxers, Pit Bulls, Rottweilers and Mastiffs must be taught that you are in charge, not them.
Waiting to eat, walking the correct way (beside you, not in front or pulling at the leash), waiting to be invited onto furniture or into rooms, and other things are all a normal part of the training.
For more pack leader training, see also Cesar Millan's (Dog Whisperer's) pack leader training techniques.
When we go out we have to put our female 18 month old Staffie in her crate, but she is so clever she can escape. When she does she goes in my daughter's bedroom and wees. Any ideas?
By Ali
I have a 7 year old Boston Terrier who has been house trained since she was a puppy. She has always had a dog door and does use it frequently. However, every time we leave the house she pees somewhere in the house. She has a few favorite places she goes, but she also, occasionally, will go right in front of the door that we leave and enter through. One time we gave her a shower and then had to leave shortly after that and she peed in the shower. Sometimes she'll go right in front of the dog door.
By Megan J.
l have a toy Poodle l can't go to the restroom or anywhere. If she sees me leave there's pee and poop when l return. When she gets upset at me, she will poop on the pad and pee, but leave one on the floor; sometimes a lot. Honestly she holds some poop. She is evil, but sweet. I don't get why is she doing this. What can l do?
By cahas
We have a 4 year old female Pit Bull we adopted when she was a year old. We also have another smaller dog that is also 4 years old. They are both house trained and know not to pee in the house, but the Pit Bull will potty in our house in random areas (hallway, kitchen, etc.) when we sleep if we don't let her sleep in the room with us. They always slept with us, but I am now 6 months pregnant and it is just too uncomfortable for them to be in the bed with us so we let them stay in the living room. I'm not sure if she is just rebelling because she is upset she can't stay in the bed with us anymore.
By Angellle
I would guess she is just ticked. Maybe take her to see your vet to rule out bladder issues or infection. You could also try putting dog beds in your room, and teaching them to go to their beds, and not sleep in yours. Best of luck!
How about crates for the dogs in your bedroom at night?
I have a 5 year old male Pit Bull, and I have to put him in a cage every time I leave. When I go to bed he has to be in his cage or in the room I'm in with the door shut. If he is away from me too long he will go to the bathroom in the house. I feel like he is nervous if he can't see me or knows I'm gone. How can I stop this? I don't like leaving him in a cage. I want him to be free to walk the house.
By Giovanna
At his age there probably isn't much you can do to cure his separation anxiety and the best place for him when you are out is the crate.
I used to leave the TV on low in another room for my young Boxers but in all the years I raised AKC Boxers in the US (40+) there were times no matter what I did for an anxious puppy; he/she grew up to be an anxious adult. So I learned to live with it-dogs have individual personalities and some are just anxious by nature so we worked around it:)
By the way, with an anxious older dog, draping a duvet or blanket over the back half of the crate seemed to be an extra soothing thing to do for the dog. Although dogs evolved from lupine to canine a very long time ago, certain things like den behaviours have remained-dogs, like wolves, are thrilled (and soothed) by a den like place to call their own.
Good luck with your lad, he sounds like a lovely fellow who absolutely adores you:)
You might also try having his crate in the room you are in (when you are home) and leaving the door open. Drape the back of the crate with a blanket. Make the crate as comfortable as possible and throw some treats in there to encourage him to go in. Let him know that this crate is his "den" - a safe place to retreat to. Don't close him in - leave the door open so he can come in and out as he wishes. In time, if he feels he has a safe spot that is all his, he might retreat to the crate when he feels anxious and not feel he has to pee to mark his territory.
My dog pees in the house if not in her crate when I am not home.
Our two year old dog that hasn't had an accident in the house since he was 6 months old has suddenly decided to start peeing in the house (on our couches) when we are gone. He has a doggy door and access to the backyard at all times. We've tried cleaning it with the pet odor removing cleaners, etc., but he keeps peeing. We are hesitant to punish him too much as we can't catch him in the act since we aren't home when he does it and he never does it while we're home.
Any help on how to correct this would be great. We work away from home and we live in a freezing area, so crating him all day won't work and putting him outside all day won't work.My male Yorkie, Romo, is very stubborn. I'm gone from 7:30AM-5 PM every weekday. I take him outside twice every morning and feed him in the evenings. He poops every morning, but still everyday when I get home there is a poop pile and a pee spot. Also every weekend when I'm home he's fine.
He never goes in the house when I'm home. I tried crating him in a crate small enough for him to just turn around in and he still went in his crate. I really don't want to drive home everyday from work on my lunch to let him outside. Are there any other options? Help please.I have a 6 month old Beagle mix, Walker Blue Tick/Beagle. Anyways, Fred will go all night with out going potty in the house, but if we leave the house for a half hour we come home to him having peed and pooped in the livingroom or kitchen.
We don"t cage him up because he will freak out and chew on the metal cage to get out. Any help would be greatly appreciated since I also have a 18 month old son. I'm scared I will have to get rid of Fred.I'd like some more information here.
First, how often do you walk Fred? The walk is a bonding experience that also increases your dog's confidence and helps drain his puppy energy. A Blue Tick Beagle mix needs to walk a LOT. With a toddler, this may be difficult. An hour a day broken up into two thirty minute walks would not be too much. If you are only doing twice a week or so it is way too little.
Freaking out and chewing the cage shows a neurotic and nervous behavior. Beagles especially can be high-strung bundles of energy and need a calm and structured environment.
Is your home calm or chaotic? Is it structured or more "anything goes?"
Finally, this dog will need training. He will need to learn several things: To walk on a leash properly, not to eat everything that smells good (especially with Beagles), not to jump up on your son, try to take food/toys from his hand, etc.
You're going to need time and focus for the dog's training. Be honest if you really have that right now. You're going to have to focus on your son learning to use the potty or eat with regular utensils and all the other stuff he needs to know. Children are a lot of work. If you honestly feel you don't have the time and energy to also train and socialize a dog, luckily he is young enough to find a home with someone who has the time and training experience. Experience with Beagles and hounds is a plus.
As for the peeing, it should go away with peace and quiet, more intense walking, more discipline and structure for the dog.
The cage should be used as a den or bed for naps and rest time, but don't close the door at these times. Eventually you should be able to close the door and leave if your dog is tired enough from daily exercise to need to catch up with a quick nap while you're gone.
Our French Bulldog is 6 years old and every time we leave him alone he pees in the house. It could be 10 minutes or 4 hours. We have tried kennel training and he broke two of the wires trying to get out and hurt himself. We've tried putting him in our room and he destroyed the door frame. We tried the bathroom and he ripped up all the tile. When we leave, we leave the TV on and some lights. We have a baby coming in 3 months so would really like to not have to worry about her laying or crawling in dog pee!
By Ariel D.
This is extreme separation anxiety. Here are some links:
www.aspca.org/
pets.webmd.com/
