Dog Peeing in House, But Won't on a Walk

[Mellkat86]

We have recently acquired a female Husky from a Dog Home and are trying our hardest to help her as much as we can. She's jumpy at most things and is starting to be more trusting of me and my partner. She follows us around and watches my partner all the time, and takes her queues from him.

When we were visiting her at the kennel she always seemed to be desperate to go to the toilet and would immediately do it once exiting the building. From this, my partner assumed she was house trained. The kennel weren't fore-coming with any information about her, as they were more busy going on about her being 'scared' and wanted her out. But we know that she doesn't have a problem of going outside as she did it at the kennel grounds.

After bringing her home, we walked her for a good hour to an hour and a half. She hadn't done anything, but we put it down to not eating much that day and having peed in the house when we had gotten back, which we assumed was because of being in a new place and marking.

It's been a couple of days now and it's gotten to the extreme where she'd done it in every room. This also includes pooing. We've spent most of the day cleaning the carpets with an odour remover, thinking that maybe she smells the previous dog we had. Today hasn't been so bad, as we have kept her outside all day.

We've been trying to get her out of doing it by bringing her back to her mess, sticking her nose in it and telling her off before putting her outside in the garden. We know this breed is not easy to train, but it just seems weird that she just wants to do her mess in the house and isn't interested in doing it when we are out on a walk. We give her plenty of time to smell things and even stand around and let her do what she wants to do, but still doesn't do anything.

It is getting to the point of frustration now, as we have recently moved into a new home and with the amount of mess she is making, my partner is coming to the decision to take her back to the kennel. It is either we work out a way to cut it down or can stop it completely. We have even cut down the amount of water she has and only give her something to eat in the morning, so she doesn't do anything at night, and that she shouldn't be peeing during the night.

We don't want to see her go back, as we both love her so and know that she could be a really good dog. If we can get this sorted, everything else would just fall into place.

[Karen]

It is likely behavioral right now. And no wonder, given all she has likely been through, but it IS solvable!

When you take her out, be prepared to stay outside until she does something, then praise, praise, praise!

You can skip the "rubbing nose in it," as that is not gonna penetrate.

What you do need to do first off is get a good cleaner that will eliminate the enzymes that tell a dog "good spot to pee here!" - there's one in stores here called "Nature's Miracle" that does the job well.

Is she being crate-trained at all? That's something to consider as well, as a healthy dog will NOT mess where it sleeps.

Sorry so many questions, and I am sorry that the shelter was not more forthcoming with information on the poor girl. How old is she?

[Mellkat86]

But that has been the problem. We leave her for ages out, we've walked her nearly every hour. But still she won't go. I've even sat outside with her for an hour after she tried to go in the house, and she still won't do anything.

We got a cleaner stuff from the local shop that does what you suggested.

[Karen]

The trick here is to out-stubborn her, which, for a husky, takes some doing! An hour is nothing to a determined dog! How much exercise is she getting? Can you take her for a run, or even ride a bike and have her beside you?

[Karen]

And do consider crate-training her, if you don't have a crate, this can still be accomplished by designating and blocking off an area to be her "crate. If all else fails, the bathroom can work, though my brother's dog's "crate" was the space under the kitchen table, blocked off with a child' playpen/baby gate. Put a nice dog bed in there (a pile of old blankets will do nicely), a couple of toys, and make it her place to be when you aren't there to supervise ...

She is still new to your home and family, and this is a big adjustment, it may take more time, so please don't give up on her, okay?

[carrie]

Sorry, Karen, but please do not try to crate train this dog. This animal is confused and scared and one of the outcomes is a lot more pee and poo!! If the dog does not understand where to put this then this creates more stress which create more pee and poo with nowhere to put it! You need to take a very deep breath (outside) and be very careful with your next step. This dog needs understanding and you need to forget behaviour you saw at the kennel - start again, this is a puppy who has no house training. It is also a very frightened soul and does not know what to do so naturally goes to the loo where it is less likely to be seen. This is not a marking issue. This is an everybody has always got really upset when I can't hold it in any more issue. Assume this dog has no idea what you want, start from scratch.