potty training a second time around.

Question
Help!
I have an almost two year old dachshund, and up until recently he was potty
trained and it was on the rare occasion that he had an accident. Then recently  
I moved in with my room-mate who also has three cats and a dog, and my
little dachshund Oscar has been having accidents up to three times daily,
everyday. I can not take it any more I am at my wits' end I can not figure out
what to do or where I went wrong.

Answer
Hi Jaclyn,

Just the act of moving to a new home is enough to cause some dogs to become distressed or anxious, never mind moving in with three cats and another dog!

I'm willing to bet that Oscar isn't having house training accidents, as much as it's either stress caused by the new living situation and the other pets, and possibly combined with the need to mark. Don't fuss, or punish him (unless you catch him in the act of soiling) as this may make the problem worse. Dog instincts can be overwhelmed by the scent of past accidents. You should clean the areas where these accidents have happened with an enzymatic cleaner, such as Nature's Miracle, so he's not as inclined to re-mark those same areas.

Make sure that you stick to your usual routines, as this will help Oscar to settle, so feed and walk him at the usual times. Don't give him more or less attention than he is used to having from you, this may cause him to become anxious or over dependent on you and lead to behavior problems.

Give Oscar the same supervision you used when you house trained him in the first place. Don't let Oscar have the run of the house until he's been shown that he's trustworthy again. When you can't be supervising Oscar, he should either be crated, or contained in a small room (with the help of a child-gate) that has plenty of newspaper on the floor.

Give Oscar frequent opportunities to go outside, and praise or reward him when he "does his business" outside. Besides having the extra chances to relieve himself outside, more exercise will help him settle in, and help him get used to his new surroundings.

Though you'll need to be diligent, just as you were when house training Oscar the first time around, but he'll probably catch on faster to this refresher course, than he did the first time you trained him.

You can also try using a "belly band", which is a soft fabric belt-like thing worn around the tummy to catch urine. It can be helpful in managing urine-marking, but could foster infection if overused. You can see examples of the belly band here: http://www.decotogs.com/bellybands/bellybandinfo.htm

If your dog hasn't been neutered yet, this can contribute to the marking problem, so that's something you should consider.

Best of luck,
Patti