Dog still having "accidents" in the house

[Ninjasquirrel]

I love our new dog, don't get me wrong but I just wish this would stop. We have figured out a few things so far about her:
1. She was trained to urinate in her crate and abused by the previous owner
2. She pees out of anxiety
3. She doesnt let us know if she has to pee
Duchess will pee in the house...specifically in our sun room...if she is anxious. I'm working with her on this and I have seen improvement. She gets anxious if "daddy" is working outside. I'll take her out to pee and she will refuse to leave the porch. I'll bring her back in after walking her around and she will run away into the sun room and pee. Now that we know this I'm keeping her attached to me while daddy is outside and it is working. The problem is the crate peeing. My SO worked midnights last night so he's been sleeping all day. Duchess asked to go potty before he layed down and she went, came inside, and hopped in bed with him. No problem, right? Well I was quietly cleaning the restroom so as not to wake my dear SO and I heard Duchess jump off the bed. When she didnt come out of the room I went in to check on her. She was sitting in her crate...licking a spot. When she heard me she looked immediately guilty and put her ears back. Oh What happened? Oh no...lets go outside. Here in lies my problem...she KNOWS not to pee in there. She is scared she will get in trouble and is generally afraid (something from her previous owner I'm guessing). She intentionally got out of our bed to go urinate in there and did not come and ask me to take her out. How can I reinforce her to come and ask me to go to the bathroom? We have tried the "bell" method and she will use that to poop. Peeing though...thats always been an issue. I have never had to clean up poop in our house, just pee. I try really hard to make everything positive for her but it is very frustrating. She will go weeks...maybe a whole month...with no accidents. And then all of a sudden...puddle of pee. Large puddles too. Shes had probably 3 urine tests at this point and everything is always negative. I'm worried because I might be taking a full time job here soon and I wont be able to take her out every hour to have a potty opportunity. Advice?

 

[Ninjasquirrel]

Possibly a weekness after the spay and possibly won't be corrected.

The fact that she got out of our bed to go into her crate to urinate tells me it's behavioural and not accidental

 

[cassie]

Is there a cleaner you can recommend? Ive been using Resolve and Lysol Nutra Air. I absorb as much of it as I can (if it's washable I use Tide) and then I hit it with Resolve and scrub the stain out. I hit it again with Nutra Air and let it air dry.

I just got off the phone from chewy.com. They have a product called Nature's Miracle. It breaks down dog urine, feces, vomit, and drool. It comes in a 32 oz hand held spray bottle, and is also available in 64 oz and gallon sizes.

I like doing business with Chewy. They offer excellent service and have a 24 hour help line if you have any questions about their products. I have called it more than once.

Hope this helps

 

[Ninjasquirrel]

Possibly a bladder infection or something wrong with her urinary tract. A Vet visit is needed.
Is she spayed ?

Yes and as I've said she has been tested multiple times. She is currently undergoing heartworm treatment. I'm not sure but I dont think this behavior started until after she was spayed. Then again we had only had her 3 weeks by then

 

[Tortoise]

Don't let her have access to the cage during the day. Reinforce going outside to go potty by giving her a treat when you say let's go potty or whatever you say, use some excitement in your voice about going potty and then a treat. Then take her out and give her a treat as soon as she is done going, not when your back in the house but as soon as she is done. Take her out more often.
You could also try feeding her in her cage. Most dogs won't potty by their food.

 

[Ninjasquirrel]

She's a border collie. I've trained her out of most of her aggression. It stems from fear. She is no longer aggressive towards us but she still is to other dogs. She only gets aggressive now if she is anxious already and then urinates in the house. I suppose I should also mention that normally she does not have access to the crate during the day. She is only allowed access to have "nap time". This is usually when no one is going to be home. She knows to urinate before hand. During naptime she does not have accidents. Nap time has lasted the longest at 6 hours when I had to work late. The last time she had an accident in the crate was because she went on a "potty strike" before I had to go to work. I couldnt wait any longer because I was already late so she had to go to "nap time". I called my SO and told him to rush home when he got off to take her pee because I KNEW she would have an accident.

 

[Ninjasquirrel]

Well then I don't see you having any issues other than a dog that needed to pee..

Well thats my point. She didnt come get me to go potty. She just did it where she felt it was safe to go. Its not...but she needs to learn that. The question is how can I get her to come to ME to go outside to pee. Or at least go to the back door. She has to want to do the correct thing. I already know she wants to please us and she wants to get treats. It was just easier for her to go pee in the crate so she could go back to bed. Maybe shes just lazy?

 

[Ninjasquirrel]

It was an accident. Remove the crate all together..

I have considered this but the SO is not fond of the idea. She just woke him up and ran to the back door and rang the bell to pee. Went outside and peed right away. I dont get it

 

[rosemarythyme]

I'll ask the vet about CBD for her anxiety.

Don't be surprised if the vet responds with either "I don't know if that will help" (as few medical studies have actually been done on it) or "I'm not allowed to advise you on that" (in some states, vets cannot recommend CBD).

I bought some for my big dog but it was too sporadic for us to get good results as her anxiety was noticeable all the time (you need to dose a certain amount of time before you're leaving or whatever else may be causing anxiety) so she's now on Prozac, but the CBD does work really well for my middle dog who is scared of fireworks or other loud noise - it doesn't make him lethargic, but takes off the edge.

 

[Tortoise]

Am I right in this is a border collie? Lots of exercise is needed with this breed. They need to have things to do. More exercise and stimulation may help.
If it's just and accident here and there and she doesn't peeing in the play pen then use the playpen for sleeping and nap/night time and forget using a cage.