dog urinating in house

Question
We have begun to have a problem with our weimaraner urinating in the house as of late. We have had duke since he was 8 weeks old. he was crate trained from the beginning and was fairly easy to do so. He was very rambunctious as a puppy which we fully expected and he has grown out of we guess. Duke is now 2 1/2 years old. He seemed lonely for a long time so we got another dog as a companion about 2 years ago and they have always seemed to get along fine until it comes to a dog treat laying around. We sort of felt bad him being cooped up in the crate all night so we began to leave the crate door open about 6-8 months ago that way if he wanted he could get out of the crate stretch or what ever and get back in if he so desired, the crate is in an enclosed room from the rest of the house so there was no worry of him wandering the house at night. My son had brought over his dog to stay for a few days which isn't exactly house broke 100% and wondering if that is the culprit, but she lived with us for several months with out a problem from Duke during that time. We have found urine in all sorts of places around the house much beyond the occasional accident and at heights that Dolly our other dog could not reach. One shes a female and half basset so she is vertically challenged to say the least. I have taken Duke to the vet to be checked out and was asked to get some urine to bring back in and am in the process of waiting on the results of that.But I think this is more of a psychological problem. In addition we went even further several months back with the dogs' freedom at night and allowed them to sleep on the couch at night where they love to lay, but then the urinating had started a few months after that and it was during the day not at night as I would expect and it isn't letting up, we have reverted back to keeping Duke in his crate when we are not at home but there are times when the last person to leave the house does not put him up. I feel that we have just confused him beyond repair. We are going to be replacing all the carpet with laminate flooring which is something we had planned even before this problem started but are very reluctant to do so now. Can you help and is there hope we love him very much but this cannot continue.

Answer
Dear John,
Thanks for the question and the great details!

I can help but I'll need more information.

Are we sure Duke is the "inside eliminator"?

You can begin step 1 regardless of the actual cause for the inside elimination.

Step 1: Clean the soiled areas and treat the problem  
as if you were house training a new pup. That means you would always crate him when he is inside the house, unsupervised.

For free House Training instructions, please visit http://howsbentley.com

If he is distressed when in the crate, follow the free information on this web site for crate training.

http://www.ddfl.org/tips.htm#dog

Step 2: We'll need to investigate or figure out the reason for the behavior.

Does Duke eliminate inside only when you are present?

Does Duke eliminate inside only when you are absent?

Does Duke eliminate both in your presence and absence?

Does the amount of urine indicate full-fledged eliminations?  

Are the soiled areas on vertical surfaces? on the floor?

Will Duke readily urinate outside while you are standing beside him?

Does Duke have any other behavioral issues?.. . shyness, fearful behaviors, foraging disorders such as eating non-food items?; aggressive behaviors such as excessive barking, lunging, growling, snarling, snapping, biting?  - if yes, are the aggressive behaviors directed at people or animals?  

IF yes to any other behavioral problems listed above please give details. Please get back to me with the answers and I'll be glad to help you.

Happy Training!
AT