housebreaking

Question
QUESTION: We rescued our dog, Gracie about 2 months ago and she is almost a year old.  She appears to be housebroken, goes all night and can be left for several hours during the day with no accidents. Since I'm a stay at home mom, I let her (and my 2 year old dog and 14 year old dog) out frequently during the day, though they don't really "tell me" when they need to go out.  I also have all three dogs on a feeding schedule to manage pottying.
The issue seems to be that she randomly pees.  For example, yesterday we were gone for several hours and when we returned there were no accidents in the house.  Gracie went out and peed and pooped right away.  About 15 minutes later, she peed in the house!  It seems like she is upset about us leaving, because it often happens when we return, not while we're gone.  Mostly she will pee (usually in our bedroom) but occasionally she will also poop.  She's otherwise the perfect dog and gets along great with our other two dogs, who are completely housebroken.

ANSWER: This is a very young dog and you haven't had her long enough for her to habituate to your household.  She is most likely following the lead of the other dogs by urinating and defecating outdoors but this does NOT mean she is fully house trained.  Dogs are dumped for a reason, and one often doesn't begin to see the reason until the dog has been in the home for several weeks.  You need to make a clear statement to Gracie that urinating/defecating outdoors is REWARDING so, unfortunately, you'll have to go OUT WITH HER EVERY TIME for a few weeks.  Every time she urinates or defecates, praise her in a very soft sing song voice and offer her a treat as she comes back in with you (very small tidbit of cookie)...EVERY TIME.  You will be reinforcing her choice to eliminate outdoors.  Her urinating indoors as you explained (and sometimes defecating) only happens WHEN YOU RETURN.  This is a sign of anxiety and suggests her former owner "disciplined" her if s/he came home and found urine or stool in the house; the dog may be responding to the fear of this "discipline" without being able to connect it to her own choice of elimination (dogs do NOT connect being yelled at or "punished" to their choice to pee/poop if it occurs more than five seconds after the fact, but the presence of pee/poop can and does cause fear in many dogs who were inappropriately managed.)  This may also be a marking behavior (a reminder: "I am here") when you come home.  You have to close the doors to any rooms she has marked in this manner.  If you are able, put her on very long lightweight house leash and watch her closely during those times she has snuck away to eliminate indoors.  If you observe her beginning to squat, interrupt by clapping your hands (do not yell at her and do not make direct eye contact) and use the house tab to lead her outdoors (even if she's just been out.)

Dogs repeat behaviors that are rewarding for them; when a dog marks the house, it is somehow rewarding for the dog, either because the dog needs to eliminate, or because the dog is making a statement (sign of anxiety).  It can also, of course, be the result of incontinence, not uncommon in spayed females.  I'm assuming here that you've already addressed this behavior with the veterinarian; if not, do so.  REWARD what you want, IGNORE or INTERRUPT what you don't want and redirect the behavior.


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks for your quick response! I definitely think she may have been disciplined harshly in her "former life".  I do praise her verbally and phsycially with belly rubs when she goes outside but I'll start treating her too.
If it is an anxiety marking issue, other than putting her on a lead when I return (after taking her out...and I always stay with her when she's out btw), is there any other ways to address the anxiety?  or will that just take time for her to feel safe here?  thanks so much!

Answer
Right now, I'd just let the dog habituate to your household without any other intervention.  If she's still demonstrating anxiety (or if it escalates), positive reinforcement training (ClickerTraining.com) can do wonders to give a dog self confidence and help develop a bond of trust with its new owner.  Because she may have been mistreated or mishandled, instead of the clicker I'd use a visual cue: your forefinger to tip of your nose, or introduce the clicker from your pocket (where the sound is muffled).  I'd wait on this only because she's been with you for such a short time.