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TC303 · May 26, 2011, 04:20 PM

I have a six year old yellow lab who has been house broken since he was a puppy and has now decided that he no longer needs to go potty outside... I feel that it is a behavioral thing and can be fixed if I can find the cause of it. He is alone throughout the day do to me and my boyfriend's opposite work schedules. I leave at 230 and my boyfriend gets home at about 630. So he's home for approx. 4.5 hours by himself. What makes me thing that it is a behavior issues is the other times. We will leave the house for 20 minutes to run an errand etc and come back and he has gone all over the floor despite having gone outside moments before we leave. Its ruining my carpets and causing tension between us and our roommate. I really need to get to the bottom of this. I feel like he can be retrained. He only goes in one area of the house. Not really sure what to do... help?

ballengerb1 · May 26, 2011, 04:33 PM

Sure sounds like he is acting out his emotions. Anything change at home recently like the schedule of when you work or when he eats. Any new pets join the household?

Aurora_Bell · May 26, 2011, 04:46 PM

Sounds like typical separation anxiety. I watched a study done on dogs who have S.A and almost all of the dogs did the most damage with in the first half hour of the owner leaving the house. I tried to find it on YouTube, but I can't remember what it was called.

Anyway, the best way to fix this is to crate while you are away. Even if you are only gone for 5-10 minutes, crate him. At first he may have a few accidents in there, but as long as the crate is only big enough for him to stand, turn and lay down, he shouldn't have any where's to designate as a bathroom area. For me and my dog it took me leaving her in a bare crate. No bedding, toys or even a towel.

You can do some simple techniques at home to try and break him of this. Leave the house and close the door, immediately return, if he is just standing there, say good boy, offer a piece of kibble. Exit the house again, and wait a few seconds longer, return and repeat rewarding actions if the dog is not doing anything inappropriate.

Only scold him when you have caught him in the act of doing something. So you will continue these steps and continuously increase the amount of time that you are away from the house. Start with small trips, a quick walk around the yard or down the drive way, gradually increase your walk to the end of the street and back, and then start to leave in your car. This can takes days, weeks or months until your dog realizes, you will be coming back and he doesn't need to fear being left alone. Make sure what you do is a consistent routine. If he falters on a more trusted, longer trip, you go back to square one.

Hope this helps! Please keep us posted, and good luck!

TC303 · May 26, 2011, 04:51 PM

No, not really. I mean the oly thing I can think of is that there was some relationship issues with me and my BF recently. There might have been some tension in the house but that's been over for a while

ballengerb1 · May 26, 2011, 05:21 PM

Tension in you can be tension in your dog. He may feel just like you feel but can't talk about it. I read,watch at lot of Cesar Millan info he frequently talks about the dogs sensitivity to the owners emotions. Aurora gives great advice but see if anything can be done about the tension in your human relationship