bad doggie

Question
Hi, my boyfriends mom has a seven yr. old great Dane. prior to her pooping in the house for the past year, she always went to the bathroom outside. they have an invisible fence so they leave the two dogs (the other is a pitbull mix) outside for a good half-a-day. now, she stopped feeding her people food like i advised and it seemed to help a little but she will come in the house after being outside for a good two hours and as soon as she comes in she'll go all over the floor. i don't understand this. and after she's done it, before anyone realizes it (because i know dogs pick up on energy. you portray anger at a specific behavior and they get scared) she'll run to the door to be let out, but she's already gone!!! now, she feeds this dog AT LEAST four cups of food a day if not more and its most certainly not very active. I've exhausted every idea of why she does this...help!

Answer
Hi Allyssa,

Because this is an adult dog who was reliably housetrained until recently, she should be examined by her vet to rule a medical problem.

Until the medical condition in ruled out, or the dog gets a brush up course in housetraining, the she should not have the run of the house. When nobody is watching the her like a hawk, she needs to either be in her crate, or contained in a small room,  with the help of a child gate.

Just because the dog is outside in the yard, doesn't mean she's going to the bathroom outside. This dog needs to be walked on a leash, and rewarded with praise or a treat (or both) when ever she eliminates during the walk.

Take her for walks often, so she doesn't have the opportunity to have an accident in the house. If an accident happens, clean it up with an enzymatic cleaner, such as Nature's Miracle, don't yell at the dog. Accidents are NOT the dog's fault! The fault is always with the owner, for not getting her out on a walk in time, or not watching the dog close enough!

I hope I've been a help.
Best of luck,
Patti