Our Male Maltese is having some problems.

Question
About 5 years ago, we purchased a Maltese puppy. Basil was bought from a breeder who, as we later found out, kept her puppies and female dogs caged inside her home. She kept her more than 15 male dogs outside in a fenced area. So, when we received Basil he had been in a cage for the majority of his puppy life.
When we brought him home he was no problem. A year and a half later all sorts of problems emerged. He would pee all over the house and bark all hours of the night from his crate. We got tired of the peeing and restricted him to one room. He would bark and pee in there as well.

We tried alternating between letting him stay outside and in the house. It didn't work, and now instead of just peeing the room he's been confined to (which we scrub and bleach on a constant basis) He poos all over everything.

The other 2 dogs we have (two non-neutered females) sleep in their crates in the room with him at night. We had to remove the crates in the daytime so he wouldn't poo in those anymore.

Is there anyway to remedy this situation? We are very frustrated and can't think of anything to do. Basil started off so well and nicely house-trained. Now he's beyond anything we can think to do. (And no matter how frequently we take him out, he never seems to run out of pee!)

Any help or advice you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
A Family Of Four.

Answer
Dee-

Is Basil neutered? I would be concerned that that is your main problem, if he is not. An unaltered male is notoriously difficult (or darn near impossible) to housetrain with intact females in the house... even when they are not in season. They are also prone to bark, whine, and cry if unable to patrol their "territory". IE being confined. They are bad enough without unaltered females in the house, but having a mixed set of unaltered dogs is just asking for housetraining woes!

So, if he is unaltered, my first recommendation would be to neuter him.

Secondly, get a bellyband or two. You can get them on the Internet and in smaller pet shops. You attach a pantyliner/maxi pad to the inside, so when he pees, he pees on the liner and not on his intended mark. You just take the pad off and put a new pad in when he pees. Pretty soon he realizes he isn't actually marking his territory when he lifts his leg, that gets very frustrating, so he eventually realizes its impossible to mark in the house and stops. In the meantime.. no more pee on your furniture. Bellybands are the male dog owners best friend.


As for the pooping, its time to go back to square 1 with housetraining. he needs to be at your side, at all times. Go outside every 2-3 hours, and praise, praise, praise when he poops outside. Give cookies. If you catch him pooping, a very loud NO NO NO NO NO, pick him up and carry him right outside to finish. If he is marking with his feces certain spots over and over again, then put food dishes or toys in those areas. He will not mark food areas. Finally- go back to a crate. If he barks in his crate as much as he barks in the room, then it shouldn't matter which one he is in, and it is SO much easier to housetrian from a crate.

Small dogs are very hard to housebreak, and puppy mill dogs are even worse... and unaltered puppy mill dogs are even worse then that! You just have to stay patient, and consistent.

Good luck!