Expert: Alan J Turner, SATS LL1 - 4/18/2007

Question
Rocky is a mix breed with the predominant characteristics of a Ridgeback.  He's been to doggy "bootcamp" and has settled down a great deal since he was a puppy.  He was neutered at the right time.

We had 2 dogs in the house at one point and Rocky seemed to need to mark his territory by peeing on furn, floors, etc.  After the dogs were separated and after bootcamp, Rocky seemd to not need to pee nearly as often and went weeks between "accidents".  There is also a cat in the house and they tolerate eachother, but aren't great friends or play pals.

Now it seems Rocky's fallen back into the habit.  It's never (or very seldom) in the same place and I clean like crazy to get it up and get rid of residual scent.  He seems to know that he "did a bad thing" and heads for the outdoors when I come home from work after he's peed somewhere.  I scold and show him what I'm upset about then send him back outside.

I have an automatic dog door that allows Rocky to go in and out as he pleases, an automatic water fountain that is constantly full and pumping clean water.  In short I've done just about everything but put a diaper on him when I leave for work.  I guess I need to know what, if anything I can do to break this behavior once and for all.
Thanks!!

Answer
Dear Jeff,
Thank you for the question. Just curious, at what age was he neutered?

I'm not sure if it's marking behavior or incomplete housetraining. Has he ever gone three whole months with no accidents? Reply with the answers and I'll have a better idea. IF it's incomplete house training, then start again with house training as if he were a puppy.

Here's an informative house training article I recently wrote for a general audience.

Housetraining is a topic that I address very often. It’s unfortunate that I am contacted so late in the process. In 99 of the cases, the resolutions involve “undoing” mistakes.

Contrary to popular beliefs, the process of housetraining is largely governed by a natural occurring, classical conditioning process. Your actions can only hasten, retard or abort the automatic process. I propose we assign a more accurate label for house training. Let’s name it potty-area-conditioning!

Many people report their dogs always “go” on monkey grass or always seek out a particular type of ground cover for eliminating. This is because a “conditioned” dog automatically seeks out the same type of area that has been used most often in the past. A city dog that always eliminates on concrete may not readily eliminate on grass. If your pup was always led to a gravel parking lot, he will seek out gravel whenever he feels the pressures associated with the need to eliminate. A dog that is led to many different types of areas will readily eliminate anywhere, including our carpets and tile floors! Yikes!

If one always allows their dog the opportunity to eliminate in desired locations and never ever gives the pup access to eliminate in undesirable locations, potty-area -conditioning will occur without any other input from people. The dog will be conditioned to associate the desirable areas with the internal relief gained by elimination. The dog will naturally seek out the desired location.

I’m sure you’ve noticed. There are many different, popular strategies for house training. The methods range from using food rewards to using punishment.

All of your actions will alter the natural conditioning process. It’s your choice. You can hasten the process, delay the process or unknowingly condition your dog to eliminate inside.

For example, people that give their puppy a food treat when the pup returns to the back door are not really teaching their puppy about choice of location. They are teaching their puppy to hang out at the back door, for that is where the treats happen!

Instead of urinating or defecating, these pups happily wait at the back door for their treats. The owners, (who did not accompany the dogs outside) think the dogs have eliminated and do not understand why their dogs have accidents inside after spending 10 minutes outside. Oops!

Food treats may hasten the process and motivate some dogs to want to go outside. But of course, first, the dog must understand the treat is a reward for eliminating outside. Most owners skip this step.  

Owners that scold their dogs well after the incident are teaching their dogs that people become unpredictable and might attack. At best, the dogs learn to avoid soiled areas and to display submissive behaviors such as lowered tails and heads when the owners come home or when the owners approach soiled areas.

People believe (just as I once did) the dogs must know they have done something wrong because they act “sorry”! In reality, the dogs are only trying to diffuse or turn off their owners' aggressions.

Some families recognize the pitfalls of using punishment after the fact. These people choose to punish their dogs only when they catch them in the act. The dog does learn a valuable lesson. He learns it is not safe to eliminate near its people. Now the dogs will “hold it” during outings with their people. These guys will sneak off into a back room to eliminate-right after their walk!

House training is a topic that elicits misconceptions. Some of my clients feel their dogs deliberately defecate inside to ”get back” at them. Some dogs may eliminate to get our attention, but in my opinion, logic is out the window if we believe dogs eliminate to “get back” at us. About one half of all dogs eat feces at some point in their lives. They like it!

Wouldn’t it be as logical to assume that dogs who defecate inside are leaving us gifts?

These misconceptions and faulty strategies prevail because people attribute successful housetraining to their methods. People never consider that success should be rightfully attributed to the process of classical conditioning. Their dogs become house trained because, over time, the dogs use an outside location much more often than an inside location. The natural conditioning process usually wins out!

My advice is to discard all your ideas about house training and focus on your primary task. There are only a few places for an un-housetrained dog. The dog can be confined, in your lap, outside, or loose in your house under direct supervision.

In summary, your job is to always provide access to desirable areas and never ever provide access to undesirable areas. This can be challenging especially if you are gone during the day.

Regardless of your situation, there are tips and suggestions that will make your task easier. For example, if you will be gone for long periods, set up a confinement area with a bathroom. Other tips include:
   Place feedings on a regular schedule.
   Keep a log of all feeding, drinking and elimination. (This can be helpful for identifying your dog’s schedule of elimination.)
   Teach your dog to ring a bell when he wants to go out.

For more tips and detailed instructions, visit http://howsbentley.com sing up for the mailing list and get your free (for now) housetraining guide.