Our puppy has accidents on his rug. Help!?

Question

He is 9 weeks old, and has no problem in letting us know when he needs to go to the toilet. He quite happily goes outside on the grass and when he is left inside he uses the kitty litter box with no problems at all. He never has any accidents anywhere else in the house, but he continually has accidents on his own rug. I wash this rug in hot water to make sure there is no scent which may be attracting him to the rug, but nothing seems to work. We take him outside if we catch him doing it, but sometimes it is too late so there is no point disciplining him after the fact as he will have no idea what we're talking about!

Has anyone else had this happen or any advice on how we can combat the problem?

Thanks!

Answer 1

Sorry about the rug. Dogs have super sniffers and can smell things that we can't so the rug may still have the smell... or the floor under the rug may still have the smell.
(You can try changing the location of the rug - but put newspaper down, or an old towel, on the old location on the floor, if you want to experiement.)


In any case, wash the rug, +soak the rug in vinegar to eliminate the smell, then wash, again. Don't use ammonia, because it smells like urine.

Also, wash the floor under the rug with vinegar to remove any remaing smell, there.

Consider this analogy. Imagine that you are in a dark room and someone light a tiny birthday candle. You WILL see the light. That's how powerful a dog's nose is with smells !

Answer 2

You have a couple of issues going on here.
First, the rug needs to either treated with an odor eliminator and the floor below the rug also needs to be treated.
Second, you need to decide if you want the puppy to use the litter box as the main place to potty or outside. Doing both can confuse the puppy at this age. The adult size of the puppy will be the biggest contributing factor on which you want to use. Very small breeds are about the only ones that this will work for well as adults. The bigger breeds will either not fit or produce too much stool and urine.
The best method for training to use outside only, is with crate training. This means the puppy stays in a kennel big enough for it to turn around in and have food and water with a small play area. If it is too large the puppy may still go potty in it. Times to take the puppy outside are as soon as it wakes up in the morning, any time it leaves the kennel if locked up, after playing hard, within 30 minutes of eating, and just before bed. Then the puppy should be near you at all times when outside of the crate, so it does not urinate or poo when you are not watching. A couple of correction methods would be squirt with water from a spray bottle or shake a can with a few coins in it. Then take outside to potty. If using treats, give the treat as they are potty or immediately afterwards. If you give the treat when they come inside, the puppies is going to associate coming inside with the treat versus going potty.

Answer 3

he probably thinks the rug is like the outside and the litter box- acceptable "pee spots."
it is not true that the dogs will not understand what you are talking about after they have done it. we potty trained our dog by throwing him outside after he peed in the house, and praised him every time he used the outside, and even though it took along time and A LOT of consistency, we eventually got him potty trained. the key here is don't give up hope!

also, try scenting the rug, instead of just washing it in water. this should make the rug not smell like pee. dogs pee where they spell pee. It may just be time to get a new rug.

Answer 4

Washing the rug with hot water will not get rid of the scent. You should go to a pet store and find one of the enzymatic cleaners like Nature's Miracle that actually do get rid of the scent. And expecting a 9 week old dog to be accident free is asking to be disappointed.

Sorry.

Answer 5

Soaking the rug in hot water really doesn't do anything. You're underestimating the strength of your dog's nose.

After rain, buried and burned dogs can still pick up on scents.

Try using Simple Solution or Nature's Miracle. They are safe to use in your washing machine, steam cleaner or just a mop and bucket. It comes in gallon size down to a spray bottle.

This actually breaks down the enzymes your dog is attracted to. Other than that, w/o banning him from the blanket there is no other way aside for keeping an eye on him. That way you can train him not to do it. However if you can't catch him in the act .....Good Luck

Answer 6

first off you are confusing him with the kitty box its ethier outside or inside..Also he maybe marking this rug my puppy seems to be doing this to his bed. only his bed. put him in a small room where you can keep a close eye on him you have to catch him in the act. If you do clap your hand say no in a firm vioce and outside no attention wut so ever. this worked for me. leave him out here crying fro 3-5 minutes let him know outsides where he has to go. then go outside no attention lead him to the grass and when he goes praise him. This works. they learn outside i get attention. the rug thing im having the same problem do the samething as if he had an acident. hope this helps. also is he doing it when your not home?? if so try creating him.

Answer 7

I second the advice on Nature's Miracle. It will remove the scent completely. All you do is soak up as much urine as you can, and spray on the Nature's Miracle. But the puppy is still very young and will have accidents. Just be patient. Our vet told us your puppy can hold it's bowels for 1 half hour for every month they are in age (up to a certain point of course). So if your puppy is only 9 weeks, it can probably only hold his bowels for an hour or so. To be safe take him out every half hour.

Answer 8

He's peeing on his rug because he doesn't know any differently, or been told this is wrong or right, if you do not want him to do this remove the rug for good.

Answer 9

sounds to me like you should get rid of the rug.

Answer 10

Get rid of the rug, then he can't pee on it.