WHY won't she stop BLOODY pissing in the kids playroom?

[SilentBoob]

Me again. Needing yet more advice about my bloody dog.

I DON'T UNDERSTAND why she is going to such extraordinary lengths to wee in the playroom. She has plenty of access to the garden. She is allowed out whenever she likes. At this time of year (not in UK) the door is usually open all day so she can go in and out. The playroom door is permanently shut. She is NOT ALLOWED in there.

This morning my 3 yr old forgot and left the door open for less than a minute. In the time it took me to notice and heave myself off the sofa (9 months pregnant) and waddle over there she had managed to squeeze out a wee all over the floor cushions and teddies.

WHY???

She didn't even really need a wee. She has BEEN OUT.

I have never once got cross with her for weeing. I ignore the mistakes and praise the ones in the garden. I clear up all the wees VERY thoroughly and without comment.

She is 13 months. Rescue. Horribly anxious and hard work.

Please give me practical advice.

You need to remove the smell of the pee using biological washing powder otherwise she'll keep marking that spot.

You have my sympathy, my 5 month old puppy started peeing/crapping randomly all over the house (despite having got the house training down pat) during the last month of my pregnancy and it's not bloody funny trying clear it up . She hasn't done it since DD was born

Just a thought, but maybe she thinks nobody lives in there and it's a bit like going 'outside the den'? As in, it has similar status to the garden.

Some sort of anxiety I reckon. Mine pees on beds if we have visitors staying. She's done it in two different houses we've lived in.

Stairgate at the bottom of the status and we're sorted.

Your best bet would be to find an APBC refused registered behaviourist to help you. Minimu might be along soon with better advice.

My house is currently more stairgate than house.

No behaviouralists where we live.

Yes, she is anxious.

Any practical ideas on discouraging her?

She only doesn't wee in there when she can't get in there. We go for a couple of weeks where she doesn't set foot in there because the door is closed, then the very first opportunity we forget for a moment she races in and wees whether she needs to go or not.

I will do another big biological wash of everything in there.

I also found a can of spray stuff that is supposed to discourage dogs from weeing in certain places. You spray it on the surfaces. Any good?

Feesh. How do I let her know that it is in the den?

I wouldn't bother with sprays etc. Have you contacted the rescue for support?

Are you still rewarding her +++ whenever she goes outside?

Sometimes I find it easier to solve a problem by thinking 'I want my dog to do this" rather than 'I don't want my dog to do that'.

I was also thinking that having the door open always can be unhelpful because it means the distinction between indoors and outdoors is less clear, although I'm not sure that it's all there is to your problem.

Very good point about the door being closed = makes it outside. Particularly as the playroom door is right next to the garden door at the end of the corridor.

If I begin leaving it open it will be wee-fest in there, but do you think that stairgating the door but leaving it open would help with the distinction?

Although the garden door stands open more often than not...

I do reward her for going outside, but she is anxious generally about weeing so I go for days and even weeks without seeing her go sometimes.

There is no rescue for support. We live in a middle eastern country. There is no support. There is just me doing my best and occasionally throwing a wobbly on Mumsnet when we have a bad day. And you guys helping, which I appreciate enormously.

Given that my dog once stopped weeing in the garden as we had started to feed her out there (raw diet) I would get right in that playroom and have a full on picnic on the floor and give some to her as well. On more than one occasion to really rub it in. Also play hide and seek with treats in there and hide foody surprises in there occasionally (yes I know you don't want her in there, but just for now while she learns this lesson).

I am totally not an expert, but it wouldn't do any harm to try it. My dog would never pee in the kitchen when she was little and still being house trained, because she ate her dinner in there. She would always take herself off to the quietest part of the house instead (ironically the dining room - nobody ever eats in there in this house!).

And yes to lots of treats for outside wees. I don't think there is some massive 'ishoo' with the dog here, it's just that she's not properly house trained yet and is confused about what the best place to pee 'away from the den' is. You just need to clarify what is part of the human's den and where is a good place to go pee.

SilentBoob I am in the Middle East too, so I can relate to feeling very unsupported when it comes to dog behaviour. You have my sympathy.

We had a dog-door put in and it changed our lives - we got the compound maintenance guys to wedge open the patio door with a sheet of wood and the dog door was mounted in the wood. When we move out, we just remove the wooden panel, slide the door closed and Bob's your uncle - no issues with the landlord! Worth a try? We did it off the small office room, which is now the dog's own bedroom!

Could you put a self-closing mechanism on the playroom door? A soft-close one wouldn't slam shut on your dd, but would deal with the issue of people forgetting to shut it.

Also - have you got her a DAP collar - it is a rubbery collar that's impregnated with pheremones (I think) that are supposed to reduce the dog's anxiety. We've just adopted a rescue dog, and the shelter sent her home in a dap collar.

Okay, latest news...

She has spent the last couple of hours in the garden - through choice, she likes it out there. She started barking at something so I got up and called her in. She came racing in delighted to see us, leapt all over the sofa. Dh and I carried on with watching a film while she did her rounds of the kids high chairs and kitchen floor - less than a minute later she has done a small wee on the sitting room carpet.

Urine infection?
Excitement?
Pure misunderstanding about where to wee?

The sitting room carpet is IN THE DEN.

I would stop her from having free run of the garden when she wants to. Close the door and take her out for the toilet/walks/play when you want her to.

I think you are going to have to enforce toilet training rules again, positive praise and treats for going outside and calm behaviour inside.

Todays wee episode sounds like excitement.

Really?

Not a urine infection then?

God this is all very hard. I am 38 weeks pregnant. Most days I really wonder if we can realistically keep her. There is no alternative for her though so we just have to keep muddling along.

And I know that if I had more time and more energy to give her the training and attention she needs she would be better. The guilt.

More guilt: She is SUCH a people dog. She LOVES to be with the people. But because she is so bloody antisocial she often ends up being shut out, which means she is not learning how to behave with people - it's a vicious cycle and it's not her fault.