We have a 3 year old Husky who is house broken, when we are home at least. He sleeps in the bed room with us and can go all night without peeing. And when we are home he has full roam to the house and doesn't pee. But as soon as we leave even if for half and hour he always pees. We used to put him in a cage but it became so troublesome to clean his blankets, wash him and wash the floor so we moved him into the bathroom. First couple of days it was OK. He would make a mess and we would just wipe it up when we got home. Then he started to smear it all over the floor, walls, and himself.

We finally moved him into the garage. He no longer gets it on himself but he still goes. We go and pick up and wipe up every day, but the cement soaks up the smell and about once a week I have to mop it with bleach water. The smell is starting to get to me and Im sure its worse for company who aren't as use to the smell now.

I don't think he does it in spit, I think it is more of a separation angziety problem. I'll get home and look in the garage window and he will be paseing and crying. We tried giving him his toys which he pees on. We tried recording our voices and playing it looped in the other room to try to trick him that we are still there.

It is getting to the point where I am contemplating on getting ride of him. But I've had him for 3 years and couldn't like without him, just want him to stop. If anyone could give me any ideas I would greatly appreciate it.

Dogs don't do things out of spite. They do not think that way. Dogs live in the moment.

I believe your pooch is suffering from separation anxiety. If you leave, and he pees.. that is his anxiety coming through of you leaving. There is medication out that will help him cope with you leaving. You are going to have to speak with your vet about the medications.

You can also contact a behaviorist and ask their opinion on what is going on with your dog.

He could also have a urinary tract infect. Infections make the body do strange things.

Do you crate him? If not, maybe you should consider crating him. Crates keep good dogs good. Dogs will not potty where they sleep. This is an older dog.. Teaching him to be crate trained will be a lot easier then a puppy. He will get it faster and hopefully knows not to potty where he has to sleep. The crate should be smaller... Enough room for him to get up, turn around and lay back down. Don't get a big crate. If its big crate, he will potty on one side and sleep on the other. Also, while crating him, leave the TV or radio on. Don't leave him in silence. Sitting in total silence would drive anyone crazy.. plus, it'll help him feel as if you are still there.

As for cleaning up.. Bleach does not kill the smell and will actually attract him to potty more in the house. If it smells like urine, then why not go again? Cemet is very porous.. Liquids will soak into cement and it is harder then heck to get that smell out. What will help you is to purchase a cleaner with an enzyme in it. Natures Miracle is a really good cleaner. It kills the urine smell to the point where the dog can't smell it. For your situation, I would suggest to scrub real good with that solution straight. Go back over with clean water and mop it up. Results are immediate.

Good luck

We tried crateing him for a couple months and it was the same situation. We put the crate in our room and he wouldn't pee in it when we were there. But when we put him in it when we left he would still pee. I'll talk to my vet about the medication that you were talking about, didn't know about this.

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Originally Posted by adamculp

We have a 3 year old Husky who is house broken, when we are home at least.....It is getting to the point where I am contemplating on getting ride of him. But I've had him for 3 years and couldn't like without him, just want him to stop. If anyone could give me any ideas I would greatly appreciate it.

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Without knowing any other details, it sounds to me as though your dog is
Anxious/dominant. In other words, your dog gets anxious because the "pack" (i.e. you and your family) which he believes he leads, abandons him without his permission.

IF THAT IS THE CASE, then for him, you are doing things backwards. You see a subordinate dog never leaves a leader behind. The leader may leave the subordinate behind.

This is why he is peeing all over your house. He is marking it. With his urine. It has his smell all over it but you aren't getting the message.

I'm not suggesting that you urinate in your house. But I am suggesting that you claim your house back from your dog by proving to your dog that you are the leader of your pack and that the marking must cease.

Now, if your dog is exhibiting dominant behaviour, then he is probably exhibiting other symptoms. Let me ask you some questions to see if this is the case:

1. Is your dog aggressive to you when you feed him? Can you get near his food when he is eating?
2. Does your dog "hump" you or any member of the family?
3. Does your dog attack the door when people come to visit? Does he act aggressively towards anyone who visits?
4. Does he pull you on your walks?
5. Does he ignore your commands? Does he ignore you when you call him?

If your dog is exhibiting any of these behaviours, I suggest you read these books:
Amazon.com: cesar milan pack leader

Or visit this website:
Cesar Millan's Official Website | Achieving balance between people and dogs.

I'm sorry De Maria but I'm noticing a pattern here... not all bad behaviour is caused by dominance issues. I see you are a fan of Caesar Milan but I think you may have watched his show a little too much ;)

Sounds to me like typical separation anxiety. The dog gets so stressed out by the fact you are leaving or have left that it urinates.

Some dogs do not like being left alone and some will think you are leaving them permanently and not coming back. Here are a few tips to help fix this problem.

When you leave, no matter how long for always have fresh water available. Toys are also a wonderful training tool as it will keep the dog distracted, I use kong toys stuffed with yummy food as a cure for boredom, having special toys or treats that the dog gets only when you go out are also a wonderful idea.

When training my own dogs for separation anxiety I first distract my dogs with their favourite toy and then exit my house through the front door.
I only leave for a minute or two, just long enough so that the dog does not bark or cry.
I then re-enter the house and give them praise for not crying.

Next time I go out I leave for a few more minutes, again only entering the house if the dog is not crying and giving praise.

Increase the amount of time you leave for and always come back before the dog starts crying (you will learn how long that threshold is pretty quickly)

This teaches the dog that you are going to come back and they are not being left alone forever.


Another technique is to not "baby" the dog.
Some dogs become overly attached to their owner and don't even like their owner being out of their line of sight, in this case the training needs to begin before you start going out

Start paying less attention to the dog, when he pushes for attention, don't give it to him
If he wants to be petted, make him wait.
As harsh as it sounds it is the only way to get the dog to start becoming less dependent on you.

After you have trained the dog to be less clingy you can move onto things like leaving the dog in the living room while you have a shower, or leaving him inside while you are out hanging up washing on the clothesline.

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Originally Posted by shazamataz

I'm sorry De Maria but I'm noticing a pattern here... not all bad behaviour is caused by dominance issues. I see you are a fan of Caesar Milan but I think you may have watched his show a little too much ;)

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I am a fan, yes. But I believed in dog psychology before I heard of Cesar Milan. Actually, no. I first heard of Cesar Milan when he was a poor waif in Mexico walking around with a pack of dogs. I don't think he had heard of dog psychology either at that time.

In any event, before I next heard of him on TV or read any of his books, I was already studying dog psychology.

Why? Because I love anything to do with dogs. I was a dog lover before I left the Catholic Church for atheism. I was a dog lover all the while I was an atheist. And I remain a dog lover today.

However, you are correct. I believe Cesar Milan has an amazing knowledge of dogs.

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Sounds to me like typical separation anxiety.

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Perhaps. But I think it's a dominance issue. 99% of experts believe that dominance has to do with aggression. Or that it always leads to aggression. But I don't. Whether that is my own theory I don't know.

To me, dominance is not synonymous with aggression. A dominant dog is not necessarily an aggressive dog. A dominant dog is a dog who manipulates and gets his way by many and various means. Cute puppies and little dogs are experts at getting their way because they are cute. They work it man!

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The dog gets so stressed out by the fact you are leaving or have left that it urinates.

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Do you think this husky is afraid to be alone? Or what do you think?

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Some dogs do not like being left alone and some will think you are leaving them permanently and not coming back.

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True. And you may be absolutely right. But I believe most dog issues have to do with leadership problems. Solve that problem and the other issues go away.

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Here are a few tips to help fix this problem.

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I've always resolved my dogs issues by applying dog psychology. It works for me. However, the person asking the question is free to apply your solution. I'm just one of the people answering a question. Mine may not be the one he prefers.

Dog dominance and peeing while leaving does make sense.. However, I think this dog is suffering from Separation Anxiety.

I think it comes down to the person not spending enough time with their dog. I think every time they come home, they are upset with him because he pottied in his crate or on the carpet.

Maybe to resolve this issue so the dog stays in his home is to attach an outdoor dog run to the garage with a doggie door. If the dog is having bladder issues, this would solve it. One nice days.. lock his butt out! Hes not going to die. My dogs get kicked out all the time if it's a nice day.

Dominance and aggression does come in many forms. A lot of owners don't know what their dog is doing and will automatically assume the dog is being spiteful towards them. However, dogs don't think that way. They live in the "now".

I think the OP needs to contact an animal behaviorist or a an inhome dog trainer. Getting advise over the Internet isn't sufficient enough to solve the problem. I could also bet money on the fact that the OP is gone for more then 8 hrs at a time and this dog may being having anxiety attacks and/or bladder problems *UTI*