Dog goes in the house even after going outside.

Question
We adopted a dog from the local shelter in Feb. of 09. Lucy is a basset/labrador mix and she is about 2 years old now and has some behavior issues. She has been urinating in the same spot of our apartment of and on for about 4 months now. We clean it up as best we can but she keeps going there time and time again. The frequency is not on a daily basis but it is often enough that it has become a concern. Occasionally she will poop there as well. The thing that is most aggravating is that we walk her 4 times a day around our complex and she usually does both when out but always urinates and usually in the same spots outside. It appears that a lot of times she "cuts it off short" as she often stands back up with a stream still coming out. She is a very smart dog. She knows "sit" "stay" "shake" and even knows to stay beside me when we walk unless it is in the area that she does her business. She knows that she has done wrong when she goes in the house because when we come home or get up in the morning (she does it sometimes even when we are in another room) she will be skulking around and waiting for her scolding.

She also chews on different items in our apartment when we are gone. Anything from shoes to mail is fair game. From reading other articles it seems like there may be some separation anxiety but I am no expert.

We do not keep her caged or gated in an area but we are not ruling out anything at the moment as a treatment but something needs to change and the sooner the better.

How can we keep Lucy from going in the apartment? Is there a reason why she goes in the apartment even after going outside? What are the best methods to deal with her chewing issues?

Thank You,
Lucy's Daddy

Answer
Clean the area Lucy likes to go in and block it off or cover it with a piece of furniture or at least a rug. Preferably an annoying scratchy one. Reasons? I'm sure she has a reason. It's hard for me to say without observing the area and the situation.

I think Lucy needs to be crate trained ASAP. This will solve both your housebreaking and your chewing issues. She should definitely be confined whenever she can't be supervised, but do be kind and get her out as often as possible with at least two good walks a day. Tips on crate training can be found at http://www.examiner.com/x-7644-Detroit-Pet-Training-Examiner~y2009m7d29-Pet-Trai...