Unique Housebreaking Issue

Question
Hi there...I got my dog Dlyan (he's an affenpischer) when he was 9 months
old, he's now 11 months.  I work during the day and live alone, so I created a
room for him before he came to live with me.  In the room he has his crate, a
puppy pad, food, water and toys.  The room was secured with a 3.5ft tall
gate.  Dylan is a magician or something because after being in there for
about two days (and crying for 8 hours straight each day I was gone) he
finally mastered how to get out of his room - over the gate.  The funny thing
was that after he had gotten out, he had no where to pee, so when I'd get
home, I'd always see pee stains by the gate, as if he was trying to get back in
to go in there.  

So....I decided the best thing was to just let him have free-reign of the condo.  
And it was successful until recently.  He would have accidents in the
bathroom every now and then, so I thought maybe that's where he would
prefer to go and moved his puppy pad in there and turned his room back into
a closet.  I came home the other night to his having peed twice on my sofa
and not at all on his pad in the bathroom.  I realize the little guy is confused
because I've changed things up on him, but he wasn't that great (toward the
end) about going potty in his room anyway, because he'd do it in the
bathroom.  Now not the bathroom at all apparently.  So, i read on a website
that if there's one wet mark anywhere in the house the dog should be put on
"house arrest" for 4 weeks.  Since his room is no longer his room (and he'd
get out anyway) I decided to try putting him in the bathroom with his crate,
water, toys, potty pad.  WELL, when I got home that evening I have a note on
my door from a neighbor telling me that he had been crying for 8 hours
straight.  Awesome.

Long story short...I don't know what to do with him.  As you can see I've tried
several different things and all I really want is for him to potty in his pad and
no where else.  I'm not home during the day so I can't be there to praise him
if he does right and when I am there I take him outside at scheduled times
(morning, when I get home, before bed) because he won't pee in his pad with
me there.  He has stage fright or something.  When I put him on his pad he
just looks at me and then sits down and makes himself comfortable.  

Oh, and I've tried putting him in his crate during the day and he soils it
everytime.  Pee and poo.  You can imagine what a mess that is and I don't
want him sitting in his own crap all day long!  And the only other thing I can
tell you is that he has not been neutered.  Do you think this will help at all?  
We are taking obedience classes and he's doing fairly well with that, it's just
the potty thing.

Please help, I'm desperate and I feel like I'm doing all the right things, at least
as much as I can when I'm home (mornings, nights and weekends).

Answer
Having him neutered will keep him from wanting to 'mark' everywhere, Tara, but it will not stop the issue completely. I would still recommend that you have it done. He's plenty old enough now.

I seriously doubt that he had been crying for 8 hours straight. However, I can sympathize with your neighbor, because we had a neighbor not too long ago that would put his Husky puppy out on the front porch at night. She was not happy about that and would cry and bark and howl for HOURS off and on. What you might try doing is leaving a radio or TV on for him, and see if that helps with his separation anxiety.

At 11 months, there is absolutely no reason for this behavior. It sounds to me like he does not really understand that the potty pad is the ONLY place he should go potty. I would recommend putting the pad inside something, to make a litter box for him. That often helps them understand.

When you're at home, you must keep an eye on him at all times, and it wouldn't hurt to leave a leash on him so that as soon as you see him starting to go potty, you can clap your hands to startle him, and use the leash to take him to the litter box. Do not pick him up and put him in the box, but encourage him to get in on his own. Stand there (with your back to him if you have to) for up to 5 minutes and, if he has not gone potty during that time, go about your business but keep ahold of the leash because he WILL need to be taken back to the litter box, probably within a few minutes!

The following page has more suggestions: http://housetraining.angelfire.com