[LongOne]

Hi,
I have a problem that recently started. I have a Corgi mix about five years old. He was house trained before we got him at about age 1.5yrs. Up until recently, we've never had a problem with his peeing or pooping in the house.

About a month ago, though, he got a serious intestinal infection, actually passing blood in his stool. Obviously, during this period, we had some trouble with his pooping in the house. This has since cleared up and he pretty much went back to normal behavior. However, in the last couple of weeks, he has begun peeing in one particular area in the house.. the same area that he preferred for pooping when he was ill. It's happening primarily at night and its getting so that it happens most nights now (for last week or so). I've tried the old "rub his nose in it and throw him outside" trick, but that hasn't seemed to help at all. Although he's a house dog, he goes out with me numerous times a day and has the run of the yard (we live in a rural area).

Any suggestions would be welcome... this is getting to be a real drag!

Thanks.

[DesElms]

The first thing you must determine is if he has a medical problem. Blood in the stool -- even if it has since cleared -- could be Parvo virus. And there are other possibilities. Take him to a vet and make sure that he's got nothing wrong with him before you resort to behavioral modification.

If it turns out that he's healthy, then it may be as simple as that you're taking him out too many times during the day, so he's no longer used to holding it all night long. A dog can easily hold it all day... eight to 10 hours... sometimes longer. But if you take him out every time he asks -- indulging him, in my opinion -- then you may be, in effect, untraining him... conditioning him to not force himself to hold it for the duration.

That said, you've had him for a while, with no problems; so if your habits with him haven't changed, then what I just wrote, above, may not be applicable.

Other possibilities are changes you've made in your life which are upsetting him. Or a new animal in or around the house which makes him feel like he needs to mark his territory (which, unfortunately, would only explain the urinating, but not the defecating).

The most probable thing, however, is this: You said he's doing it in the same place he was doing it when he was sick. Dogs tend to do that... pick a spot, then stick with it. He may be doing it out of misguided habit which you've, so far, been unable to break through nose-rubbing and ejection out into the night. But it's far more likely that he's still able to smell the urine and/or feces from wherever it is that he's been doing it. It's not that you're not doing a good job of cleaning-up what you can see. The problem is that his sense of smell is about sixty-zillion times better than yours, and even a few molecules of urine or feces still left behind in that place may be enough to trigger his bowel and/or bladder and make him release there, in that spot.

You need to go to the local pet store and purchase a product that contains the organic materials necessary to both consume the molecules of urine and feces, and also convert them into inert ingredients. And I don't mean some kind of shampoo that merely covers the smell with perfumy scent. That won't do it. He can smell right through that. I mean a product which actually contains organic, non-pathogeic bacteria and enzymes that will both consume the remaining molecules of urine and/or feces (which you can neither see or smell), and also remder them inert materials which will not be detected by your dog's sensitive nose.

The product with which I've had the best luck is called SIMPLE SOLUTION STAIN AND ODOR REMOVER... available at (or orderable from) most reputable pet stores. There are others, of course... but I've found that one to be most effective. If the spot on which he's doing it is carpeted, then don't be afraid to pour so much onto the spot that it soaks right down into the padding and subfloor below. It'll dry... and it may need to do that in order to soak down as far as the urine and runny stool once did.

Once you're sure the last bit of it really is gone, then the behavior modifcation methods may start working better.

There are also sprays, mostly intended to help stop a dog from chewing, which may also be helpful if sprayed on the spot, once you've treated it with Simple Solution (or its equivalent).

Hope that helps!

[blackblue]

Try putting down a pee pee mat in that area as well if the problem continues.
But like DesElms recommended, check to see if it is a medical problem or not.