Can anyone tell me how to stop my dog going to the toilet indoors?

Question

My dog Mac is a 4 year old Lurcher, who three weeks ago started to toilet on the floor. I moved him into the kitchen at night and he still persists. His routine hasn't changed, he still goes out for the toilet before he goes to bed but it makes no difference. The other morning he had poo'd on his bed and today having been left alone for 3 1/2 hours he poo'd and wee'd in the kitchen despite having been let out before hand.

I have tried treats and praise when he's good but to no avail. He's been smacked and ignored and now tonight he is in the kitchen without tea (he'll do anything for food!) as a punishment.

If anyone has any bright ideas about why after 4 years he's doing this, and especially how to stop it please let me know.

Answer 1

its very unusual for a 4 year old to suddenly forget its toilet training!
there may be another animals smell in the garden and its putting him off! or maybe something has frightened him so has lost his confidence!
I put down toilets mats for my dog that u can buy from pet shops!
put one of them down every night and during the day when he is on his own. if he really needs to go at least it wont be on the floor.
u can slowly start reducing the amount of times u leave them down so should start to learn how to hold himself again!

Answer 2

This could very likely be a medical issue. You need to get him to the vet ASAP. When a housebroken dog has difficulty controling themselves it could likely be an internal growth, or any number of other things.

If your dog is healthy, have you introduced anything new into the household? Is there a new pet, a new family member, or have you moved? Often a dog can "act out" with change. This can mean reverting in their training. If you have had any changes, are they permanent? If so, it may mean retraining the dog. If not, it should go away when the changes do. The saying of teaching old dogs new tricks is not true. You can train him still, it just takes longer. Kennel training is a great way to go. There are a lot of posts on Yahoo Answers, as well as websites, on housebreaking and kennel training. Basically it may involve you starting from scratch again. Scolding a dog does NO GOOD if you did not catch the dog in the act or directly after. They are not logical animals, and cannot relate your yelling to his previous bad act. Medical problem and acting out are the two most likely answers, good luck.

Answer 3

I have a one year old collie/labrador cross who has been doing this.

He wees in the bathroom all the time (bathroom is on the ground floor in our house). Its at least better than him doing it on the carpet as the bathroom floor is vinyl and can be washed, but its still annoying.

He occasionally leaves solid "Presents" for my BF to find in the living room as wel. Very unpleasant.

He goes outside all the time.

I'm not sure why he's doing it, i think its a habit that he's got into.

Sometimes they can do it for attention, or because they are "stressed" about something and its their way of trying to tell us all is not well.

I'm currently 8 months pregnant so have changed my routine a lot - and I'm wondering if this has set him off. He has only started doing it in the last few months.

Also, do you have another dog? Because we have two and sometimes if Charlie (the Collie X) is dirty then Ginny (The Jack Russell) will copy him. One sets the other off. Its like a copy cat behaviour.

I'd check with your vet that there are no physical reasons for him doing this. It can be a sign of illness.

If there aren't any health problems then maybe your vet might have some ideas on how to cure him.

I have had lots of dogs who did this over the years, some of them just stopped doing it by themselves. Its rarely a sign of house training problems or not going out enough, it usually due to the fact that something is going on that they want to tell us about.

Answer 4

I had the exact same problem. All i did is whenever my dog went to the toilet indoors i would pick up the dog and put it by where it just went to the loo and shout no! it stopped or you need to train it like leave something outside the backdoor that it can go ot the toilet on.... then when it learns to go on there take that thing outside the door and it should learn to go outside rather then in... this may take time.

Answer 5

Try laying down news paper on your kitchen floor, he should use that to do his business on, then as the days pass, lesson the ammount of paper you put down...then start putting the paper outside in your garden, and leaving your door open so he can get out there to do it...MAXIMUM 2 WEEKS HE SHOULD BE CLEAN

Dont starve your dog as punishment, thats classed as cruelty, dogs need food just like humans.....

Have you had him checked by the vets maybe he has a bladder weakness, could be a sign hes diabetic....

Answer 6

Firstly, check him for worms... this is not unusual behaviour
in some dogs, but I am suprised at a Lurcher, unless there is
a tummy problem, your Vet may want to take a few blood samples ect....good luck

Answer 7

Well, you could always leave him outside. But this might be a sign of a medical problem - take him to the vet and see what he suggests. Or, you could also have the dog professionally trained by a dog trainer.

Answer 8

my 2 year old basset hound was doing that for like a month because sh ewasnt feeling good maybe that is what is wrong try taking him to the vet or lock him in the crate when you sleep or leave because the wont go to the bathroom in a small place

Answer 9

Has he been traumatized by something? Its unusual for a dog thats been house-trained to then regress to messing indoors. If he was my dog I'd get him to the vet.
Hope he is ok = )

Answer 10

maybe you never house trained him and are only noticing the effect now, or maybe you house trained him but the bis always came up when outdoors, or maybe your partner did it, cause he's/she's mad at you... have you thought about that!!!!! really what I'm trying to say is I don't know, think of house training him again if possible..