My Brothers dog....

Question
Has a potty trianing issue! she has already been trained not to go in the house but apparently she decided to go back to her old ways. She's 4 years old and does have her own crate, she's a rescued dog if it helps or changes any thing. My parents have threatened to sell her over and over agian but now their really angry! Please help my sittuation!!

Answer
Hi Ash,

If you are quite sure that this dog is really house-trained, then she may be having a medical issue that is causing her to have these accidents. It's not uncommon for female dogs to develop urinary tract infections. Hormone related urinary incontinence should be also ruled out. These would be a simple things to treat, but it requires a trip to the vet.

After ruling out a medical reason for the dog's accidents, I'd say  don't let the dog have the run of the house when she isn't being strictly supervised. If nobody can be watching the dog, then she needs to be in her crate. If an accident happens, don't blame the dog, blame yourself because she wasn't being watched closely enough!

The dog may just need s "refresher course" in house-training. Treat this like you would when if have a puppy that isn't yet house-trained. Prevent her from having accidents in the first place. Watch her like a hawk, crate her when she's not being watched, and give her frequent opportunities to go outside. She will learn (or re-learn) this lesson.

Areas where she has soiled in the home need to be cleaned with an enzymatic cleaner, such as Nature's Miracle. The scent of where she's gone in the past can be attracting her to re-mark in the house.

Please have the dog examined by the vet. If this is a medical problem then no amount of training will fix it.

Best of luck,
Patti