Please help! Housebreaking issues w/ a "housebroken" dog

[K8Y]

Hello,

I just adopted a 1.5yr old pit mix and have had her for almost 3 weeks now. I was told that she was housebroken by the foster that she was living w/ for 3 months and that she never had an accident in the house. Well, that was not the case when I got her home. I thought it might just be the transition period and that once we established she cannot pee/poo in OUR home it would not be an issue. Wrong!

So, I take her outside every 2-3 hours (I work from home). She sleeps through the night (phew!) and doesn't have any accidents at night except the first night we had her. I've caught her "in the act" about 4-5 times now and said "no" sternly to which she stops and cowers. I then take her outside immediately and give treats when she pees/poops outside. So, I've gotten her to not have any accidents in the house while I am watching her. I keep her in the office w/ me during the day and crate her anytime I leave, no problems. But, if I am not watching her for a minute and she sneaks into another room she will pee. This is even if I just took her outside a 1/2 hour before. If I can never reprimand her when I am not watching her, how will she learn that she can't pee in the house even when I am not in the same room with her? Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Katy

[Rebecca]

Hi, Katy!

Sorry to hear you're having issues with your new dog! Unfortunately, it's pretty common that "housebroken" dogs have accidents in their new homes... it can be adjustment issues or confusion (particularly if the potty training setup is different from what she's used to - for example, she had a doggie door at the foster home and not at your place.).

Assuming she's in good health and there are no bladder or urinary tract issues contributing to the problem, I'd just recommend that you do a very strict crate training and umbilical cord training program with her for a while... probably at least a month. This will get her out of the habit of having accidents by allowing her NO opportunities for mistakes.

Also, be sure to clean up all accidents with pet odor neutralizer and if she's having accidents in the same spot, feed her with her bowl in that area to help her realized it's not a toilet!

I'd skip the treats for going potty outside... that can lead to accidents since dogs are often so anxious to get the treat that they don't fully empty out since they're trying to get the treat as quickly as possible and they go inside with a partially full bladder or bowels! Just praise and play with do the trick for rewarding a potty in the right place... save the treats for your obedience training!

Hope this helps!!