[redogowner]

I have just recently rescued a dog from the pound and she is a wonderful girl. I just have a tiny problem. M-F I have a different schedule than on weekends and she seems to pee in the middle of the night on my days off but not the weekdays. I always take her out before bed and when I get up. When I am done I will find the spots in the middle of the dinning room floor. I have seen signs where she cowers when I sternly say no and bad girl but I really would like to fix the problem so this doesn't continue to happen.

Any advise?

[labman]

Leave it some toys. Perhaps a Kong filled with peanut butter. Don't leave
Anything in the crate the dog might chew up. It will do fine without even any
Bedding. You will come home to a safe dog and a house you can enjoy.

A dog that has not been crated since it was little, may take some work.
Start just putting its toys and treats in the crate. Praise it for going
in. Feed it in the crate. This is also an easy way to maintain order at
Feeding time for more than one dog.

The "shut the puppy in a safe room" is a fallacy. Very few houses even have a
Safe room. How many of us have a room with a hard surfaced floor and nothing
Else? Most rooms have electrical cords to chew if nothing else. In addition
To destroying anything a bored puppy finds to chew, it may choke or have
Intestinal blockage from the pieces. I had a friend that left her dog in a
"safe" room. It ate a hole in the floor covering. The safe rooms fail to
Give the dog the comfort of the enclosed space their instinct requires. Nor
Do they restrict activity extending the time the dog can go without relieving
Itself.

Part of the important bonding is to give her good leadership. The key to most behavior problems is approaching things using the dog's natural instincts. Dogs see all the people and dogs in the household as a pack with each having their own rank in the pack and a top dog. Life is much easier if the 2 legged pack members outrank the 4 legged ones. You can learn to play the role of top dog by reading some books or going to a good obedience class. A good obedience class or book is about you being top dog, not about rewarding standard commands with a treat. Start at Raising Your Dog with the Monks of New Skete For more on being top dog, see Establishing and Keeping Alpha Position, Letting your dog know you are the boss

[RubyPitbull]

Please follow labman's advice. The only thing I would like to add is that you should brush up on basic housebreaking which labman has included in his "sticky" at the top of the dog forum. https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/dogs/i...t-labman-53153

Since you do not know what your dog has been through prior to your adopting her, it really does help to start from scratch, as if she were a new puppy, with the positive reinforcement methods. If you aren't catching her in the act of peeing, don't tell her "no." Dogs don't remember when they peed. She won't understand what you are irritated with. All she will recognize is that you have come into the room and you are angry with her. You have to catch her in the middle of act, give her a sharp "Ah, ah, ah" to get her attention and stop what she is doing, then get her outside as quickly as you can. Praise her excitedly, pet her and tell her "Good Girl" every time she does her business outside (not just when you catch her and rush her outside). She will learn that when she goes potty outside, she gets positive attention from you. When she does it inside, she is ignored (if you don't catch it, just clean it up) or she is immediately stopped when you are able to catch her, and brought outside. She will eventually make the connection. You may also want to give some thought as to if you are allowing her to drink water at a later time on the weekend. Pick up her water dish by 7 p.m. and walk her before you go to bed.