1 year mature Shitzu. Is potty trained BUT he loves to pee on mat. How do we stop this behavior?
We have had him since he was 7 weeks aged and the Breeder paper trained him. We pulled up all the area rugs and he did great near the hard wood floors. We also crate trained him. He will scratch at the door when he wants out. We own returned the area rugs and he is fine with them. But he will sneak into the bedrooms (where there is carpet) and pee every accident he gets. I don't know what to do and my family is so frustrated they want me to find him a new domestic. Any ideas?
My small dog has one and the same problem. Fine on the wood and tile but will go on carpet. I keep the doors closed to rooms near carpet unless I'm in there.
Most likely, you are dealing with the dog mark inside the house. We are all familiar with males who easy target to claim territory, but some dogs mark when they feel threatened approximately someone (or another dog) coming into your house. If this dog is not neutered, then you need to do that soon. That will abet you in your efforts.
To learn how to completely shake-up the dog from marking, check out the AKC Gazette magazine, April 2008 issue. A lot of libraries carry them. If you can't get a hold of that, nearby is also info in my book, Training the Hard to Train Dog. This can be a challenging habit to redeployment, but it can be done with the right techniques and the right tools.
Peggy Swager
APDT-Behaviorist
Author of Training the Hard to Train Dog
www.peggyswager.com
Is he neutered? He should perhaps go to the vet and have a urinalysis done? Maybe he has a urinary tract infection?
Let me break this to you, but you own never "potty trained" your dog.
Happens often with these breeds and their owners.
Late Entry : fixing the dog will not resolve this problem.
The big problem beside paper training is it teaches the dog to pee inside. He has never gotten over that.
I agree - prevention him from the bedrooms entirely and clean the carpets thoroughly. I prefer a product call Urine-off available online and from vet over Nature's Miracle. I think it does a much better job. I would use that and have the carpet professionally cleaned. Leave no trace of odor.
If necessary, shut off access to the bedrooms with newborn gates or keep doors closed all the time. Another technique is to tie him to you near a leash so that he is never out of your sight. If he shows signs of needing to go, rob him outside. If you can't supervise, then he needs to be within his crate and he must absolutely have no access to the bedrooms.
It will take some time to break this impossible habit that the breeder started with paper training. Until it is broken, he can own no access to the bedrooms and he has to be under your supervision at all times. So discipline contained by training is th key.
Just hold on to him out of the bedrooms. Close the doors. Clean the carpet with Natures Miracle to remove all the smell.
Answers: This is quite common for dogs who hold been paper trained. It's never too late to try to crate training method, which is a much more important way of house breaking dogs.
