dogs coming in. My prior dog I kept outdoors at night for the first 7 months of her life. As the first winter approached and I was due to make a trip with her, I decided to see how she would do inside. Wow did her eyes light up when I invited her upstairs that first night! No problems. Basically the whole house she thought of as her den. She was a very territorial puppy dog. My current female I got from a rescue at 3 months. The pen she was being kept in was filthy and I had no crate for her. I tried putting her outside in my pen and she made an immediate racket. Amazingly no accidents the first couple of weeks inside! Of course that first week I was up all hours of the night taking her out.

What you are describing with your dog can be broken up into two parts:

1. It's obviously picking up the scent as where to go, and that's the place it goes. If the carpets are up and you are back to hardwood, try something like Murphy's Soap to clean the hardwood. It seems good at getting rid of scents.

2. It sounds as though your dog does have less control, and just can't hold quanity. Try feeding it less at night and more in the morning. Of course if you are gone most of the day, then your dog will be leaving you a surprise during the day. Or if you have the means to do so, go from 2 meals to 3 meals. Total daily amount is the same. That would give puppy less to hold per meal.