# my dog keeps reverting to old potty behaviors



## k8lyn (May 31, 2013)

My Dog Checkers is a 9 month old Cavachon. We were pretty sure we had him potty trained, but he keeps reverting to going potty in the house. Last week we took him in to get a summer hair cut since his fur was so long, but since then he has decided he doesn't want to go potty outside. We will take him out and he will go poop or pee but not both and if we let him stay out of the kennel when we bring him back in he will do the other on the floor... so of course we started putting him back in the kennel if he doesn't go both.. but it just seems like he is spending a lot of time in there and i feel bad about it. The other day I had him out of the kennel and i was doing my makeup in the bathroom and he hopped in the tub and peed and stared at me the whole time (I didnt think anything of him jumping in the bath tub because he loves to go in there after we take a shower and lick up some of the water.. which i think is weird).

I guess where I'm going with this is... is there anything else that i should be doing? Am I doing something wrong? When he does go both pee and poop outside he gets a treat and gets to stay out of the kennel. 

He also reverted like this when we got new neighbors in our apartment complex who have a dog that goes potty in Checkers' area.


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## doxiemommy (Dec 18, 2009)

There are lots of things that can cause potty training setbacks: illness, teething, changes in environment or routine, fear stages, etc. Now, some of those, like teething, probably isn't the cause here, because he's too old for that. And, besides those things, there's also the fact that a good many dogs just aren't totally, 100% potty trained, until about a year old. I mean, of course, there are lots of dogs who get it right away, and are good by 6-8 months old, or so. But, there are plenty of dogs that still need supervision until they're older. 

It doesn't mean they can't be successful, it just means that they need your help to be successful.

If you know your pup hasn't peed and pooped, and you think he should really NEED to pee and/or poop, then, when you let him back inside you have to supervise him, eyes on him totally, so that you can see when he's about to go and you can rush him back out.

Basically, the supervision is serving the same purpose as sticking him back in the crate if he hasn't gone potty. It's containing him so he can't just wander off and have an accident. Except, there's one difference; when you are supervising (as opposed to crating) you can actually SEE when he's about to pee/poop in the house and you can rush him out, thereby PREVENTING that accident. 
I prefer supervision to crating (for potty training) because you really can provide hands on training (by rushing them out) at the exact moment they need it. You see they're about to have an accident and you redirect them outside.

Of course, the crate method usually works, too, but I prefer to have eyes on them, so I can take them out exactly when they need to go. And, you were mentioning that you feel bad about him being in the crate so much, when he doesn't potty outside.

The other thing I'll mention is, my dogs don't always pee AND poop every time they go outside. Lots of days they only poop 2-3 times, but, they pee 5-6 times. So, you may be expecting him to do both when he doesn't need to do both.


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## coatlegs (Jun 3, 2013)

So I have a similar situation but a little bit different. 7 month old Great Pyrenees. We crate trained him to the point where he wouldn't go in there. graduated him to a bigger area in our kitchen. After a long time he was still peeing and pooping in the kitchen. But he would also go outside with no problems. started crating him again. Still won't go in the crate and still will go outside with no issues, but its to the point now if we leave him alone in the kitchen for 5 minutes to run out to the car we'll come back in and there will be something there. We have another 1 1/2 year old pyr with him in there at all times and there are usually toys in there to help try to keep him occupied. The crate to kitchen method worked for our first pyr so I'm at a loss as to where to go with him now. Is there something else I can try? He's already in the crate more than i really want him to be.


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## doxiemommy (Dec 18, 2009)

@Coatlegs, When he's in the kitchen, is it because you are gone at work? Or when you run out to do errands?
I guess what I'm asking is, are you home during the day to supervise him? Because extra close supervision can really help. By this I mean, you watch him so closely that he doesn't even have the chance to have an accident. Every time it even looks like he's about to have an accident, you interrupt him and rush him out. By doing this, you're doing a couple things: first, you're taking away the opportunity to pee/poop inside, you just don't give him the chance; second, you are physically showing him where he is supposed to go when the urge hits. 

If the accidents happen, and THEN you try to deal with it, well, you've missed the opportunity to prevent and train/redirect.

Of course, if you have to work, that doesn't work, because you're not home to supervise.

And, make sure that you clean every mess with an enzymatic cleaner, not just a regular household cleaner.


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## coatlegs (Jun 3, 2013)

doxiemommy said:


> @Coatlegs, When he's in the kitchen, is it because you are gone at work? Or when you run out to do errands?
> I guess what I'm asking is, are you home during the day to supervise him? Because extra close supervision can really help. By this I mean, you watch him so closely that he doesn't even have the chance to have an accident. Every time it even looks like he's about to have an accident, you interrupt him and rush him out. By doing this, you're doing a couple things: first, you're taking away the opportunity to pee/poop inside, you just don't give him the chance; second, you are physically showing him where he is supposed to go when the urge hits.
> 
> If the accidents happen, and THEN you try to deal with it, well, you've missed the opportunity to prevent and train/redirect.
> ...


When we are at work he is in the crate. If he is not in the crate we are home. But he does't even attempt to go inside when we are around. At this point its not even errands really, if i leave him in the kitchen for 2 minutes to walk out to the car and grab something and walk back in there may be something. but I can be with him all day in the kitchen (or wherever) and he won't do anything. It seems like its more of him trying to get our attention, but he doesn't do anything in front of me so he can't be in trouble because I didn't see it immediately, and he succeeds in getting our attention and i'm worried about reinforcing that more than it already is.

I am guilty of not using the enzymatic cleaner, perhaps I will have to run out tonight and grab that.


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## doxiemommy (Dec 18, 2009)

Yes, on the enzymatic cleaner. A regular cleaner cleans well enough so that we humans think the stain is gone, but, a dog's nose is so much more sensitive than ours, and there is still enough scent left for them to tell.
An enzymatic cleaner will actually break down the enzymes in the urine/feces.

I wouldn't say it's to get your attention so much, but, dogs have been known to pee out of anxiety, just being nervous or upset and kind of losing it. It doesn't have to be severe anxiety, either. So, if she's nervous or upset when you're gone, that could be part of it.

Otherwise, it's just become a habit. And, actually, if she's still doing it because she's gotten in the habit of doing it, that's the hardest to deal with. You actually have to break that habit. Perhaps you can find a way to contain her other than the kitchen, because that has become her habit. Maybe you can dog proof another room for the time being, until you get this habit broken.


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## seaboxador (Sep 23, 2012)

Your feeling bad probably is the issue. For the dogs own sake you have to train it properly and you need to get the emotion out of the way. 

I'm not buying the floor smell as being the problem at all. I'm pretty sure your tub didn't smell like pea and it's not that young of a puppy.

Did you discipline the dog for peeing in the house when you caught it in the act? Does it know that this is not proper behavior. Honestly, you need to take things back to the start. Crate it, take it out to pee, if it doesn't back to the crate and then out again. Breaking a habit isn't easy and it will be impossible if you're soft about things.


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## doxiemommy (Dec 18, 2009)

@seaboxador, the tub issue was from the OP, k8lynn. The person I recommended the enzyme cleaner to is coatlegs, who jumped in on this thread with a similar situation, but coatlegs' dog is peeing in the kitchen when left alone in the kitchen, when they are gone. So, in that situation, the dog has somehow decided the kitchen is the place to pee. So, I suggested the enzyme cleaner, not as a final solution, but, simply to say that sometimes dogs are attracted to the smell of previous accidents, and that helps them assume it's still fine to pee there.

I also suggested that it has simply become a habit, since he's been doing it for awhile, and that breaking the habit by denying access to the kitchen for the time being might be another option.


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