Expert: Patti - 11/5/2009

Question
Our dog has been with us for a while now (awesome rescue dog). He had no problems before we moved into our new place. He will pee outdoors but we are having a major problem getting him to poop outside in our new house. Lately he will pee outdoors but we will find pee and poop in our new house. We moved back into an old house we had so it is familiar territory for him. He never had any problems before. Any ideas or suggestions would be super helpful!!

Answer

Hi Chris,

It's really not uncommon for a dog to have a lapse in house training after a move, even if the house was familar to him there's still a lot of stress and upheaval associated with a move.

First, be sure to clean the areas where your dog has been soiling with an enzymatic cleaner, such as Nature's Miracle or Simple Solution, so he won't be as likely to be attracted back to those areas.

Next, supervise, supervise, supervise! If you can't trust your dog not to have accidents, he needs a brush up course in house breaking. Just as you probably did when you house broke your dog the first time, you can't give your dog the run of your home when you aren't able to be watching him, or when you leave the house. During those times, your dog needs to be contained to either a dog crate (if he's crate trained) or to part of a room with the help of a couple of child gates, or with an inside dog pen. Give your dog frequent opportunities to go outside on leashed walks, and praise him the moment he's done going to the bathroom outside. Notice I say "leashed walks". If you just let your dog outside in a fenced yard, you won't be able to praise him. Praise is an important part of training. If he doesn't do "everything" on a walk when you expected him to, take him back to your house and put him in his containment area. In 20 minutes, take him outside again for another try.

Since your dog has already been house trained once, it shouldn't take long before this little lesson is re-learned.

Best of luck,

Patti