anxiety?

[PuppDaddy]

ok Abby is almost 6 months old now and she's doing really good with not peeing in the house as long as we are home with her. She sleeps through the night and even though she wakes before we do, she's content with laying in her crate until we let her out. I think it must have been 2 months or so since she's peed in the house while we are home with her. It's a completely different story when we're gone. We give her run of most of the house while we're gone and try to puppy-proof it as much as possible. She's never damaged anything and the worst she's done is torn up the potty pads and left pieces all over the floor. When we come home to her, she's usually on the couch. We never allow her to do that when we'lre home, nor has she even tried. There are also pee puddles scattered around that we get to clean up. My question is how do I correct that? We put potty pads down for her and even bought that "potty-patch" gimmick in hopes that she would pee on that instead of the floor but we've had no luck at this point. I obviously can't correct her without catching her in the act, and she doesn't do it when we're home. I don't know if she does it due to separation anxiety or because there's nobody to let her out. Any ideas?

 

[whiskers]

How long are you leaving her alone? She is still very very young, so odds are likely that she just can't hold it that long, or she is not fully housebroken yet and doesn't understand that she needs to hold it if she's not let outside right away.

I would not give her free run of the house yet. In time she will understand the concept of holding it, but for now you want to prevent her from peeing in the house before it becomes a habit.

 

[PuppDaddy]

she gets left at home for upwards of 8 hrs. Obviously this is too long to leave her in her crate, so we've done our best to make the house safe for her while we're gone. We've tried leaving her in the kitchen, but she gets out (she's a good little jumper). We close off all the bedrooms and confine her to the living room where it's all hard floors and no carpet. I guess that makes sense that she just can't hold it that long. If it was anxiety then she would maybe show more destructive behavior besides just peeing all over the place?

 

[prittiegirl]

Even at over a year I won't trust my girl in the house for that long. If she has to go, she has to go. I have read under other posts that it can be up to a year and a half... I'm sure other posters will have more to say about this.

Is there any way you can crate her so that she holds it, but have someone come in to walk her for you or send her to daycare if that's an option... If she gets used to peeing all over the house, it will make it harder to stop in the future.

 

[PuppDaddy]

yeah that makes sense. i'll look into some other options, see if we can figure something out. the peeing while we're gone wouldn't be so bad if she'd go in the right place. i just don't know how to encourage her to pee in one place when we're home (outside), and to go in a different place when we're gone.

 

[boxerdale]

Hi

With my two i couldnt leave them for even an hour without coming back to a mess. When i had to work, i would come home to find pee and poo everywhere and they would occasionally go through the bin, and i too would come home to find them chilling on the sofa. With Mollie i couldnt leave her out until she was atleast 18 months old going on for 2 years of age. Since we got Toby ive had to put them both in their crate while im out even though Mollie has gotten well past that stage or making a mess, until he is used to being left. you might think its cruel on your dog putting her in a crate for up to 8 hours but its alot easier to clean the crate out than it is to keep scrubbing and ruining carpet, like i said...my two would mess all over the carpets and after a good few times id had enough and so in the crate they went, they never once poo'ed or pee'ed in their crate. My guess would be that most dogs wont want to pee or poo where they have to lay down.

Perhaps not straight away but over time she will learn to hold it in and they you can start giving her some run of the house while your gone when shes ready.

 

[sargboxerluv]

I'm not sure I understand why you can't leave her in her crate for 8 hours but she can be loose in the house for 8 hours. What is the difference? Either way she is stuck alone to entertain herself and unable to go potty where she should when she needs to.

I know it seems mean to crate them, but it's safer for them - especially when they are young. They chew everything, and no matter how much you puppy proof, you can't take everything out unless you literally empty the room.

She will never stop peeing in your house if you continue leaving her out of her crate. At this point she thinks it is ok to do, because of the simple fact that she has been able to do it. Unfortunaelty for all of us puppy owners, potty training takes a long time for them to be reliable. (trust me I wish mine was 100% trained)

If you are really uncomfortable leaving her crated, confine her to one room. At least that way you only have one room to clean. And as far as using the kitchen and having an escape artist, I have seen baby gates at walmart for $10. You could get more to block the entire door by stacking them. I had to do that for a previous foster dog. It looked stupid, but it worked.

When I was getting stuck with overtime, I seriously contemplated getting a short 3 x 3 rubbermade tub with dirt/grass to leave in the patio area for my adult dog to use! Like a litter box. LOL I swear I would have but I quit my job instead.

Do you by chance work close enough to go home at a halfway point? Or have a neighbor who could let her out? I don't have a clue what doggie day care costs and if you could afford that, but if you can they do a great job of tiring your dog out with play.

I hope you figure out what can work for you.