Pottying in the house...on purpose!

Question
Hi have two yorkies; a boy and a girl. They are both two years old and have been through so much. We have been in our new house since June of 2006, and my dogs have not changed their bad ways of pottying around the house. My boy, Beemer, is worse than Alexis. We also have a cat who roams around the house at night. During the day, Beemer will lift his leg and mark his territory anywhere that the cat has been. Occasionally, Alexis will follow his lead and potty as well.

Oddly enough, Beemer also seems to be pottying all over our floor in our master bedroom. This is where we keep them when we leave the house. They also have access to the doggie door from this room.

Beemer and Alexis seem to know that they NEED to go potty outside. I just can't quite understand why I can't break him of this bad habit of marking this territory ALL over the house? I have tried re-training him to go outside, but that hasn't done the trick. When I realize that he did something wrong, he will run under our bed, as if he knew that he did something wrong and wanted to do it anyway.

We took a black light to the carpet in our master bedroom and it seemed like there were thousands of spots! We have to get our carpets professionally cleaned every two to three months. I feel that it's a bit excessive.  

If you can relate to this or have a solution, please let me know, because I just can't live with him like this.  Thanks!


Answer
Hi Monique,

My first question is:  are the dogs spayed/neutered?  If not, I suggest doing this right away as that usually helps with the "marking".  

When you clean the carpets, be sure to use a special urine neutralizer to get rid of the smell because regular cleaning/carpet shampoo doesn't take away the smell good enough for the dog not to be able to smell it.

I suggest crate training until the problems is resolved.  The dog with the problem should be kept in the crate when you are not home and when you can't supervise.  The only way to get this under control is to prevent the accidents from happening in the house completely and that will take consistency and hard work on your part -- but will be well worth it in the end.  If you can keep this us for several weeks, the dog will learn outside is the only place to go.  Anytime they go outside, they should be rewarded.   Even when the dog is in the house and not in the crate, you may want to try keeping him/her on a leash to give you complete control.   If he starts to lift his leg - give him a gentle tug on the leash with a firm NO and take him immediately outside.    For more pointers on crate training, see www.paw-rescue.org   Look for Robin's tips.  It gives step by step instructions, very detailed instructions for crate training as well as tips for other behavioral problems.

Cathy