Hi I am confused, I think my recently one year old pom is house trained. She barks and runs to her spot when she wan't to go out most of the time she goes after sniffing every inch of the ground or barking at people or leaves. Recently ( the past two months) she has been going in the house it is always in my daughters room. I don't understand she is on a schudule, I used the creat when she was a small puppy, and have done every thing right that I could think of. Usually I find her little mess in the morning or when I come home from work. What can I do is this a form of acting out or is she just not house broken? HELP!!

If the dog is being left alone in the home during the day, then yes, this is probably just the dogs way of PAYBACK for being left alone.

Cro may be right, they do question their status in the pack as they mature. Any behavior problem needs to start with a vet check, explaining the problem so the vet know what to look for. It is also possible you are asking too much of her. All day is a long time to leave a dog. Can anyone make it home for lunch? Could you find somebody else, a neighbor, or a professional dog walker to give her a break?

Go back the crate. Your house and dog
Will be much safer with the dog in a crate when you are away. The dog may be
Happier in its den than loose in the house. It relaxes, it feels safe in its
Den. It rests, the body slows down reducing the need for water and relieving
Itself. Dogs that have been crated all along do very well. Many of them
Will rest in their crates even when the door is open. I think the plastic
Ones give the dog more of a safe, enclosed den feeling. They are harder for
Dogs to open too. Metal ones can be put in a corner or covered with
Something the dog can't pull in and chew. Select
A crate just big enough for the full grown dog to stretch out in.

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.

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.

Finally take over as top dog. Too many people do not understand what dogs need from people, more so people with smaller dogs. The 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 http://www.dogsbestfriend.com/.