# Dog was housebroken....not anymore.



## MissNikki (Aug 2, 2010)

Hi all.

My mother adopted a 6 week old Chihuahua mix one year ago. She is a loving and tiny (3lbs) dog and very smart. She has another dog, 8yr old female Fox Terrier mix and an old cat. She does great with both and was housebroken in a short amount of time. My mom had crated her only when she was a baby and she was accident free until recently.

About a month ago the dog started refusing to go pee outdoors and I mean she just flat out refuses. She will go to the back door (mom's taken to closing it) and sit there for an hour or more. My mom sits in the yard while the girls are out but she refuses under any circumstances to pee outdoors. She will wait until she gets back in the house before she pees. Yes, she actually holds it till she gets back inside.

As if that wasn't bad enough, the dog had taken to jumping up on the couch to pee on the cuishions and has peed in the middle of my mom's bed several times as well. 

There has been no trauma, no routine change, nothing. The dog has access to the outdoors at all times threw open doors but for some reason she is refusing to do her business outside anymore. She prefers to pee in my moms bedroom floor now (since she can't get up on the furniture anymore). At one year old, this is really disturbing behavior, especially since she was accident free until a month or so ago. 

What can cause a smart, loving dog to decide she is going to soil anywhere she wants in the house? Especially since she already understands, knows fully and has been trained for 9+ months that she is supposed to go outside only??

We are at our wits end. Leashing her and standing there for hours hasn't worked, long walks haven't helped, crating her (unless it's 24 and 7) hasn't worked, praise/treats hasn't worked - she'll just pee inside the next time. The other dog is still fine btw. My mom wanted (and had in her) a free roaming house dog (though the doggies have a beautiful yard to play in when they want). Crating her all day, every day or following her every single second she's not crated is unreasonable and unrealistic. We just can't figure out what the heck happened to the sweet, well behaved dog???

Any ideas, suggestions, experiences....anything, I would sincerely appreciate your help. 

Thank you very much!!!!

Nikki


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## Elana55 (Jan 7, 2008)

It does not matter why this is happening UNLESS she is being hurt by being outside (any possibility of an undergroaund electric line leaking electric into the yard? Does the other dog have any problems going to the bathroom in the yard?). The point here is that this dog is no longer house broken and so you need to go back to potty training 101. 



> Crating her all day, every day or following her every single second she's not crated is unreasonable and unrealistic.


This may be what you have to do. For now. This means taking her out for 15-20 minutes. If she does not go, bring her in and crate her. Wait 1/2 hour and repeat.. until she goes outside. Have treats at the ready and feed those to her when she does her duty outside. Leave her NO opportunity to go inside the house. Clean up all the pee spots inside with an Enzyme cleaner (Nature's miracle or white vinegar and water). 

I know it is a pain but as long as you are unwilling to do what you describe as unreasonable and unrealistic you dog will continue to eliminate in the house. That has become her bathroom for whatever reason.

Sooo.. the question is.. can you do what you need to (take her out every 1/2 hour for 20 minutes and put her back in the crate if she does not go and repeat and repeat until she does go)? If you can outlast the dog you can cure this. It may take a week or it may take a month. It will take serious commitment and consistancy on the part of her owner.


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## Willowy (Dec 10, 2007)

Is she spayed? If not, she might be going into heat and marking to attract the fellas. Hormones do funny things.


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## Shell (Oct 19, 2009)

First thing in any big change in behavior like this is a vet check.

Then, does she refuse to pee outside anywhere or refuse to pee outside in the yard? Try taking her to a park for the entire day. Give lots of water during the day and give high value (particularly tasty) treats when she pees outside. If its one specific area like the yard, could she have had something bad happen to her while she was taking a potty break out there? You wouldn't necessarily have overlooked something, it could have been a bee sting for example. Like stopping to pee on an ant pile and getting bit would create a bad association with peeing outside. 

Your job will be to create a good association again and that means back to basics like Elena describes. You can use an ex-pen instead of a crate but you do need to confine her and prevent the opportunity to eliminate on furniture etc.


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## Thracian (Dec 24, 2008)

> First thing in any big change in behavior like this is a vet check.


Ditto this. I wouldn't be surprised if there was something going on here.


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## MissNikki (Aug 2, 2010)

> I know it is a pain but as long as you are unwilling to do what you describe as unreasonable and unrealistic you dog will continue to eliminate in the house.


Thank you all so much!

Please understand, when I said it was _'unreasonable and unrealistic'_ to follow her around 24/7, it's because mom is a senior and that's just too hard for her. My mom's health is not so good lately and she can't handle all the crating/un-crating, every half hour outdoor business, nor all the shampooing/cleaning/scrubbing etc. I cannot drop everything and drive an hour each way to do it for her daily either. She is stressing out and her health is suffering. So it's not that my mom is unwilling - my mom is not capable of doing what needs to be done anymore. But thanks for pointing that out.

For better or worse, as of last night, the dog is now at my house. 

The dog likes my house and has spent time here before and often comes to visit. 
She gets along great with my 7yr old female Chihuahua and they have great fun together. I think at this point, the move is permanent.

*Mom did the vet check a couple weeks ago, nothing wrong with her physically. 

*She's not fixed yet but mom wanted to wait 'cause she was just so darn tiny. 

*No, she will not pee _anywhere_ outside, not just the yard. 

*No electrical currents, all lines above ground.

*Other was dog was just fine with peeing outdoors.

*Mom did shampoo with enzyme cleaner (every time) but she'd still go back to her room to pee in the same area anyway.

Mom lives in a quiet residential area, no noisy neighbors/kids etc... and she's lifelong, awesome dog owner. That's why we were so disturbed by her sudden change. In all our years and all our dogs, we've never had one revert this way.

You know a bee sting or ant bite is completely possible. She never ran in crying or anything but you never know. Hadn't thought of that. Thanks!

If it was a traumatic experience outside, that would explain her peeing inside from fear - but not her peeing on the furniture. That seems like she knows exactly what she's doing. If it was simple fear, she would pee on the carpet but to take the time to climb up on the bed/sofa to pee? That doesn't seem like fear to me. I know if my dog has has an accident (on the floor) you can see the "uh oh...sorry about that" look all over her face lol but not this one. You know what I mean?

But I guess it's a moot point. The dog is here now and my problem to deal with. So far, she is refusing to pee outside for me as well. That has never been an issue at my house before. She would run right out, go and run right back in to play some more. 

Now when I take her out she just tries to run for the house and sits and cowers. She did poop outside so lots of praise and treats but so far I'm thinking this is going to take awhile.

Okay, doggy training 101 it is. 

Thank you all for your replies and if you have any other suggestions, I'm definitely open!

Thanks again.
Nikki


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## Shell (Oct 19, 2009)

Peeing on furniture means she is higher up. If the outside fear is related to an injury (sting, bite, cut, etc) that occurred on the ground or from something attached to or coming from the ground, she may be trying to get away from that when she pees. Like if there was a neighbor dog or stray dog that frightened her outside, she could be putting herself in a "safer" position before making herself vulnerable (by stopping to pee).

You can use your other Chi as a good example. Take them both to the park for a long walk and when the other Chi stops to pee, treat her (the older Chi; even though I'm assuming she's long past the training stage and you probably haven't treated her for potty training purposes in a long time).


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## xxxxdogdragoness (Jul 22, 2010)

hmmm i have never had this prob before LOL. i would ban her access to any furniture & you may have to go back to having a leash on her which is attached to you so she had no choice but to go everywhere with you, thats how i house trained all my dogs. & with you thinl she needs to go, go out with her & WAIT until she goes no matter how long it takes, be sure to praise her (& be genuine about it) if she does go outside, perhaps she was outside & got spooked, or stung by something? chi's can be tough to housetrain from what i have read & if she is not spayed, i suggest that you get her spayed, it will be better in the long run for her & you.


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## MissNikki (Aug 2, 2010)

Just wanted to give a short update...

Thank you all for your suggestions and help. I sincerely appreciate each and every answer.

It has now been a full week and she is doing perfect! Not one single accident in the house, not even a near miss. Yay!

I use my best cheery voice, ask if she needs to go out and praised the heck out of her when she does her business. I also rewarded with a small treat and she got the concept down in 1 day lol. 

She is not allowed on furniture at all and is quite content to nap and sleep in her own bed. She is a very happy doggy and plays continuously with my Chi, listens and behaves perfectly and seems to finally be content.

I think the problem may have been mom. She babied her constantly and I don't think the dog knew her place. My mom is now stress free and beyond excited at how well she is doing here with me. Oh, and the dog is going to stay on with me permanently. 

Just wanted to let every one know. 

Thanks again for everything! You guys are awesome!

Nikki


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## Cracker (May 25, 2009)

Glad to hear the problem is under control.

Just a thought, but could it be your mom's ill health caused stress in the pup? When was the last time your mum was at a doctor? Dog's are extraordinarily sensitive to changes in their people...and this can show up in behaviours that look like this.


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## Thracian (Dec 24, 2008)

Glad things are going so well. Now post pictures.


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