Sudden potty issues

475 Views 4 Replies 3 Participants Last post by PstelPaitten, Sep 4, 2021

PstelPaitten

Discussion Starter · Sep 2, 2021

I have 2 dogs, one is a 3 year old lab/chihuahua mix female (may). The other is a 1 year old lab/germand Sheppard mix male (jack).

I have always had a slight issue with may on potty training, as we got her at 1 and the pervious people did not train her. So she has the very occasional accident in the house.

Jack has been very well trained since we got him as soon as he was old enough. Never had any potty training issues.

We have a room downstairs that used to be an office and is now my sons room. When it was the office the dogs (mostly may) would pee and poop in there only if we hadn't used it for several days. If it was used regularly they didn't.

Now its my sons room and it doesn't matter how often he uses it (daily) the dogs are peeing and pooping in it all the time. We try to keep the door shut as often as we can but its hard to make a 6 year old keep it shut.

Anyone have any ideas on what to do?

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PstelPaitten

Discussion Starter · #3 · Sep 3, 2021

3GSD4IPO said:
Is it carpeted? If it is, then a totall steam cleaning and use of an enzymatic cleaner to eliminate smell MIGHT help. You may need to remove the carpet or rugs and toss them and put in a hard floor that is easy to clean. Closing the door is the other answer (but training a 6 year old is harder than training dogs) or confining the dogs when you cannot watch them.

You also need to go back to house training 101. Crate, take out, praise and food for going to the bathroom outside. You may find greater success by taking the dogs out one at a time and really focusing on reward for going to the bathroom outside. Use really top of the line treats too.

It is carpet, and we have a carpet scrubber we use regularly with pet enzymes soap. At the moment replacing the carpet is not somthing we can afford but we are saving for it. I think we will go back to basic potty training but we already let them out one at a time. They usually tell us when they need to go but they have stopped and I dont know why

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PstelPaitten

Discussion Starter · #5 · Sep 4, 2021

Lillith said:
Yes, those carpets really absorb pet odor, so as 3GSD said, that may be part of the problem. If you can, let that cleaner soak in for a while before scrubbing the spot. We recently replaced some very old and disgusting carpet in our home, and pet stains from a previous owner had soaked all the way in to the sub floor! I was beyond surprised that my dog didn't try marking the spots before the carpet was removed, and especially after the stains were revealed and he spent 3 minutes sniffing each one! A steam cleaning isn't terribly expensive and might help get up that odor, too.

If you can't trust your son to close the door, try putting up a baby gate that has one of those spring loaded doors that will swing closed even if he forgets to push it shut. You can put it up in a hallway or any spot that will effectively block the dogs' access to his room if you can't put it across the door itself.

I would also recommend potty training 101 where you take it back to as if they know nothing about it. Take them out one at a time, on leash, and praise and reward for going in the right spot. Give them more breaks than you think they need, and don't wait for them to tell you they need to go out. Make sure they are supervised at all times, and if you can't supervise they should be crated.

We would try a gate but our dog is huge and can jump high. Plus our house is so open amd his room is right off the back dinning room, no hallways to block.

We are starting the potty training over, so hopefully that helps. And we have a carpet cleaner, no a steam one but no extra cash to put into anything basicly. Hopefully the potty training refresh helps

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