Dog is Having House Accidents

A visitor's dog is having house accidents again after years of being house broken. Could the stresses caused by a recent move have contributed to the behavior?

Visitor's Dog is Having House Accidents

My two-year-old Border Collie has started to pee in the house. She has never exhibited this kind of behavior before, and we have been in this house since April.

We exercise her after work for about an hour or so during the week days, and for a few hours on the weekends. However, it’s been stormy out this week, and she hasn’t been out for a hard run in about five days. After one of the very blatant episodes we ran her for a long time and played with her, although she did get in trouble and put out for a while first.

We used to live with family, and during the day she was never alone. Now she is alone for about six hours a day. Twice now I have let her out for about half an hour and she came in and peed! Her behavior has not changed other than the accidents in the house. Could this be a delayed reaction to all this change, or has this one week with out exercise affected her this much? She does not show pain, should I have a work up done?

~~Michavissar

Expert Reply

Hello,

Border Collies are extremely smart and require more exercise than nearly any other breed. The week cooped up was probably hard for her to deal with. Couple that with the big changes she's been through in the last three months, and I suspect she is acting out her bewilderment and frustration by peeing in the house.

That said, you're still the boss and she needs to know it. I think you can hold off on the work up for a while yet, but you're going to need to do two things right off the bat.

1. Clean up the urine spots with a 50/50 solution of white vinegar and water. This should help remove any remaining crystals that would draw her back to the spots with their scent.
2. You need to re-establish dominance over her, but in a fair and loving way.

How have you disciplined her when she had the first two house accidents? If you play with her too soon after an accident, then you're inadvertently rewarding her for the behavior and she'll do it again.

It's very hard to teach her what she's doing wrong unless you give a strong correction at the time of the offense. If you actually catch her in the act, you need to yell "NO" in a very loud, stern voice. She needs to be startled at that instant. Then you need to take her outside immediately and give her a firm command to "potty", or use whichever word you used when you originally trained her. Even if she can't go again, you're still telling her where she needs to take care of business.

The next step here is key. You need to treat her like a dog that has never been potty trained before. This should quickly get her back on track as you reaffirm the lessons you originally taught her.

I sincerely hope this plan works for you. Thank you for your question.

~~ Kelly

Visitor Follow Up

Thank you for the response.

The first time I caught her in the act, I think I yelled "No, bad dog". I'm not sure, I was so shocked. We waited about 45 minutes before we took her out for a frisbee session.

She is normally a very good girl, at least as much nearly two-year-old Border Collie can be. But even as a puppy she never pottied in the house. She is so smart, sometimes too smart.

We have now started her house training from the beginning. We take her out every half hour or so, and praise her when she potties. I also watch her like a hawk now.

I just had one more question. We live in Washington and it does rain a lot. I have to admit that we don't always want to take her out in the rain for an hour. Are there any fun things to do indoors? Is a little bit of running and then a good training session with new tricks a good enough outlet? I understand that more often than not, she needs to be out running, hiking and swimming. We're even adding flyball to her activities.

~~ Michavissar

Expert Follow Up

Sounds like you're doing the right things. I think this should get her back on track.

No activity is as beneficial for her as a good run to burn off some of that energy, but mental stimulation counts for a lot. The flyball should really give her a great work out.

Does the rain bother you or the dog? If you have a very good fence and a decent size yard, you could buy her a doggie rain coat and let her run around on her own. You can always wipe off her paws when she comes back in.

Best wishes~~ Kelly

House Accidents and Punishment

Hello,

I have a two-year-old Yorkie/Maltese mix. He's fairly well house trained, but this morning he pooped in the kitchen, even though he always has a pee pad next to the door for emergencies.

I sent the dog outside right away, but my boyfriend was angry and closed him in the bathroom for the entire day. I tried to tell him that doing that will make the problem just worse, but he didn't want to listen to me. He felt that the dog knew he had done something wrong, because the dog looked guilty when my boyfriend looked at him.

I told him that it's just because the dog can feel his upset energy. So now my boyfriend is mad at me and told me it's my fault because I'm not strict enough.

Can you advise me on what is the proper way to correct my dog for his behavior?

Thank you very much for any advice you can give.

~~ Lenka

Expert Reply

Hi Lenka,

No, closing your dog in the bathroom for the entire day is not a very useful form of punishment. However, you are correct in assuming that your dog's reaction to your boyfriend was in direct response to his anger and tone of voice. What your boyfriend perceived as guilt was really only submissive behavior on your dog's part.

Confinement is really only useful as a tool to keep your dog from soiling the entire house when you cannot be there to monitor him. Confinement for a soiling accident is only useful for about the first 15 minutes. After that, the dog has no idea why he is still confined, and will usually just become frustrated at his captivity.

To successfully train dogs you have to understand how they think. Unlike people, dogs do not go back and think about what they've done. They live very much in the moment, and they only make immediate connections between what they've done and whether they should do it again. Since you took your dog out immediately, and your boyfriend punished him after that, there was no connection between the original house accident and the punishment.

The best way to correct your dog is to catch him in the act and yell "NO" very loudly and firmly. This helps him make an immediate connection between your displeasure and his actions. Next, take him outside and give him his command to go potty in a pleasant tone. If he complies you can reward him with affection. If he does not, you return to the house quietly without reward. You have to be diligent about monitoring him for accidents when he's free to roam the house, and you have to be just as diligent about taking him outside on a regular schedule.

I think you might find our articles on Potty Training Your Dog and Dog Training Books helpful to your situation. You might also want to look for one of the recommended books about potty training at your local library or bookstore.

Thanks for your question, and good luck with getting your dog back on track.

~~ Kelly

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