[cNicely]

Hi everyone,

My Siberian Husky is about 4 years old now, I love her to death but she is a bad girl. I have her trained to ring a bell when she needs to go to the bathroom, but she continues to piss in my apartment. I clean it up whenever I notice, but have missed some and now the smell is starting to accumulate. Already rented a carpet cleaner, no luck, going to try the vinegar/baking soda route this weekend.

Whenever she has an accident she knows it is wrong, and I continue to drag her over to it to show her and say "no!", followed by taking her outside.

Any tips for how to correct this behavior would be much appreciated, she can't have the best of both worlds, ringing her bell to piss when she wants to go outside, and doing it inside when she feels lazy.

 

[georgiapeach]

You need to use an enzyme cleaner, such as Nature's Miracle on all of her accidents ASAP. You may need to soak the affected areas down to the subfloor to really treat them effectively - buy a gallon of the stuff! She's getting the message that it's okay to use your appartment for her potty area. She's not being "lazy". She's confused as to where to go potty. How often is she getting to go outside? Do you leave her for long periods of time? She may have some separation anxiety.

I'd go back to potty training 101. Either crate her or tether her to you (with her leash) when she's inside. Take her outside every hour for awhile, eventually lengthening the time between visits. Crate her when you can't do this (when in class/at night). Close doors to rooms you can't see (bedroom, bathroom) so she can't go in them and potty behind your back. Don't make her wait too long between potty visits - crate her at night. Reward her when she potties outside - do you have a clicker? Some dogs respond well to these? Click, then give her a favorite treat. Eventually, wean her away to the treats and only to the clicker (treat randomly after awhile).

 

[Hambonez]

It seems like she actually is NOT trained to ring a bell when she needs to go since she isn't doing it. Housebreaking do-over! Crate her when you aren't able to watch her, keep her within arms length of you when you're home, praise her and treat her when she goes outside.

You are accomplishing nothing by dragging her to a pee spot and yelling at her. Dogs just don't think that way. Obviously she doesn't know it's wrong, because she keeps doing it. You're just training her to be scared of you when there's pee on the floor, the dog probably has no IDEA how it got there by the time you're yelling.

 

[Nev Allen]

Whats said above - back to basics and crate train.

 

[GottaLuvMutts]

You are accomplishing nothing by dragging her to a pee spot and yelling at her. Dogs just don't think that way. Obviously she doesn't know it's wrong, because she keeps doing it. You're just training her to be scared of you when there's pee on the floor, the dog probably has no IDEA how it got there by the time you're yelling.

Yes, this! Instead of punishing the behavior you don't like, reward the behavior you do like! The only time you're allowed to make a big deal out of peeing inside is if you catch her in the act. In this case, usher the dog outdoors as quickly as possible, but do not yell or hit. If you didn't see the accident occur, then it's water under the bridge as far as the dog is concerned.