[Froe20]

Eddie is nearly 6 months old and has been potty trained for several months. He has always been able to go for quite long stretches and at night can sleep in his kennel for at least 9 hours without a potty break.
We have just renovated our basement. Eddie didn't even know the basement existed until a week or two ago when we took him downstairs once the renovations were complete. At first he was hesitant to go down the stairs but now he loves going down there, often does so himself & doesn't seem stressed at all. But nearly every time he's gone down there in the past week he's peed on the new floor.
Is he marking new territory or something? He has never done that before and he has not regressed by going anywhere else in the house. Upstairs he maintains his regular behavior and he does not need to go out more frequently. He only pees inside if he goes down to the basement.
Any explanations and or suggestions how to deal with this new behavior would be greatly appreciated!

 

[DaySleepers]

Dogs - especially young dogs - don't always grasp the whole concept of 'all indoor spaces are no-potty zones'. Very often dogs learn instead 'these specific indoor rooms I spend time in are a no-potty zone, everything else is for pottying'. Having dogs pee in new spaces - a hotel room, a friend's house you're visiting, a room in the house they aren't usually allowed in - is fairly common! You need to make sure the new space gets redefined to also be a potty-free area.

So essentially, my strategy would be to not allow him into the new renovated basement unsupervised, and when you are down there with him, treat him like he was a baby puppy again. Regular potty breaks, reward for going outside, and interrupt any pre-potty behavior to rush him outside. Accidents that get by you just have to be cleaned up thoroughly with an enzymatic cleaner (so his much more sensitive nose doesn't think it smells like a potty spot) with no fuss. He should catch on that the potty rules apply in the basement as well as the rest of the house pretty quickly.

 

[Deacon.dog]

Whenever I bring my dogs to new places, I always make sure they are let out very frequently, because what Day sleepers said, the dogs don't understand that not every new place is a potty zone, and grasping the concept of outside only for potty is difficult for young dogs (or any dog) to understand.

My 7 year old dog still will pee in corners of places he doesn't recognize, you just need to manage it. Because the place your dog is going potty in belongs to you, make sure your dog is getting frequent potty breaks, and allow your dog to spend some time in the basement without pottying so that he learns to respect the space as his own and not pee on the floor

 

[Froe20]

Thank you so much for your reply. I will start the training again!

Whenever I bring my dogs to new places, I always make sure they are let out very frequently, because what Day sleepers said, the dogs don't understand that not every new place is a potty zone, and grasping the concept of outside only for potty is difficult for young dogs (or any dog) to understand.

My 7 year old dog still will pee in corners of places he doesn't recognize, you just need to manage it. Because the place your dog is going potty in belongs to you, make sure your dog is getting frequent potty breaks, and allow your dog to spend some time in the basement without pottying so that he learns to respect the space as his own and not pee on the floor

Thanks for your reply. I initially wondered if he was trying to 'mark territory' because he would pee downstairs every time very shortly after being down there even if he'd just been outside and done his business. Frequent potty breaks don't seem to make a difference. It doesn't seem he ever needs to go potty when he goes down there, but rather he's choosing to.

 

[DaySleepers]

Dogs - and boy dogs especially, though some females are also avid markers - do tend to like to pee on or in new things and spaces! But there's really not much difference in how to train them out of it when it's marking vs. a full bladder, except perhaps for how vigilant you have to be even when you know he's just pottied outside. Punishment is still out because that just tends to teach dogs not to pee in front of you, so he'll start sneaking around and peeing in places that are harder for you to notice. Or clean up. So just being consistent that potty trips outside are still expected when he's downstairs and get him better rewards that peeing inside will be you best bet.

 

[Froe20]

Dogs - and boy dogs especially, though some females are also avid markers - do tend to like to pee on or in new things and spaces! But there's really not much difference in how to train them out of it when it's marking vs. a full bladder, except perhaps for how vigilant you have to be even when you know he's just pottied outside. Punishment is still out because that just tends to teach dogs not to pee in front of you, so he'll start sneaking around and peeing in places that are harder for you to notice. Or clean up. So just being consistent that potty trips outside are still expected when he's downstairs and get him better rewards that peeing inside will be you best bet.

Thanks again for your insight. Its very helpful!