IDK what the heck my pup is doing, but since day one we havent really had any issues with peeing in the house. she has been very good about going outside, and letting us know when she needs to go out side. but she is starting this new thing of if we leave our bed room door open, she will run in as fast as she can and pee in the first spot that she can. it seems to be more with the gf then me. and i just recieved a phone call telling me she peed on my mattress, its a good thing i just bought that and its brand new or i may be more upset....oh wait i think i said that back ward...lol... does any one have any idea what this is about?

ps. she is 9.5 weeks

She's just not potty trained yet. Keep the bedroom door closed and don't let her out of your sight. Praise and treat when she goes outside, interrupt her if she does it inside and rush her right out to finish. Don't wait until she asks to go out, keep her on a schedule of every half hour to hour, or crate her if you can't. Her bladder is tiny, and if she drinks/eats/plays you can bet she'll have to go very soon after. I went through a similar thing with my little guy, and realized that I just expected too much too soon. His early success was because I was putting in the effort to take him out frequently and praise and treat him for it. When he started to ask to go out, I thought he had it and I relaxed my routine, then he started having accidents again. Or, sometimes, he would ask, and by the time I had my shoes on and leash in hand he'd had an accident in front of the door. He would also sneak off in the the bathtub to pee, so bathroom door was kept shut for a while until I ended that habit. If he went down the hallway toward the bathroom, I would immediately grab him and go right outside. So, back to step 1. I don't think you can get out of that until they are at least 12-16 weeks and they start to develop the ability to hold it for more than a few seconds. Also I think bladder control takes longer to develop in females. You may want to take her to the vet, because it could also be a UTI, that will make them have to go more often and more urgently.

First, dogs don't do things out of spite, that is a human trait not one that dogs are capable of.

Second, you have a baby on your hands! She's not yet house trained (obviously) and she's going when and where she sees an opportunity because you aren't taking the steps to get her out and prevent accidents. You can't get mad at her for that, she's just a baby and hasn't learned yet. Yeah, maybe she was doing well but some dogs regress a little or get confused or complacent. You need to go back to square one with her and treat her like the young, un-housetrained puppy that she is. In this case, as in most house training failures, it is the fault of the human, not the dog. I know it's frustrating but you have to remember she's only a puppy...and a very young one at that, perhaps you have your expectations a little too high for her.

He hasn't had an accident for quite sometime, but I still consider us on step 2 of potty training. He asks to go out, but I still take him on a schedule. Also, if he has a bully stick or something yummy, he won't ask, so I have to keep my eye on him. Make sure to take her out right when she wakes up if she falls asleep. I can guarantee she will have to go, even if its only a 20 min nap. As to why the bedroom? No reason she picked that room, she probably just did it once or twice and got away with it, so now its a habit. Set her up for success and keep the door closed.

oh we understand 100% percent that she is a puppy and we take her out about every 30min - 2hours depending on what is going on (if she just ate- 30min, playing- as soon as were done, in a crate we -2 hours...etc) she was out side for 25 minutes before the incident and peed just before she came in. she knows exactly what she is doing cause she does it with the girlfriend. if that door is left open and she knows it, she will go dead sprint to that room and pee on something of hers or close to her stuff, and she does it fast as she can, because she knows that she is not suppose to pee in there. she doesnt do this too me, shell run to the room but she wont pee on anything. its almost like she is testing the gf or something

It sounds like you have already decided what's going on, so I guess our advice is moot. One thing I will mention though is has your girlfriend ever punished or scared her while peeing? She could actually be afraid to go in front of her, so she runs away from her and pees. Also she could have gotten distracted mid-pee and not finished and that's why she peed inside right after she went outside. Your puppy is an innocent soul and is still learning the rules. She may seem like a little devil sometimes, but whatever your human brain might tell you, she DOESN'T know better, and she doesn't experience spite. That's why dogs can fight and be friends 5 min later. If you want to solve this problem, keep the door closed and go back to square one with potty training. If you want to believe you have an evil, spiteful 9 week old puppy, that's up to you.

If she feels more comfortable going in the house and finds that she can get away with it then she will...which it sounds like she is doing. I have had this problem with my pup and have had to be extremely vigilant. I like to use the tether method when he's not in the crate so that he cannot sneak off to potty in the house even for a second. Free run of the house is only allowed for 30-60 minutes if he does his business outside. If we take him out and he does nothing, he's either tethered or crated...no ifs, ands, or buts.

okay vengeful wasnt really the correct word for the matter, it just sounded good. I don't believe she has ever punished her or scared her while peeing, she has put her in her crate after(whether it was after she took her outside idk) but that is only so she can clean up the mess with out the pup seeing it(and the crate is her happy place not punish place). I dont know what it is for sure that was just my theory cause the gf doesn't show much dominance i guess? she loves animals too much and kind of gives in to them, and its fine for her Boston terrier but she knows that she cant with rikku. but i feel that rikku can still sense that she can put dominance over her, and this is her way of challenging my gf.

she is more then confortable going out side, she has no issue with that. you open the door, she runs out to the same spot everytime and pees. there have been two accidents in the house and those were, just a simple we missed her sign. and the miss her sign pee happens by the door that we let her out to pee. when she pees in the room, its around the corner up some stairs and its a dead sprint and the second she gets in the room she finds her stuff and will pee

Sounds like she's designated herself indoor pee spots too. No matter how you choose to analyze it, she's not house trained and you both need to be more vigilant and do whatever it takes to ensure she doesn't get the opportunity to go inside the house. She's not being spiteful, she's just letting nature takes its course where she wants when she sees an opportunity to do so.

im going to have to take a video or something...lol.. you can tell she is doing it for a reason, that is not due to potty training, she has a look when she goes in the house on accident, because she couldnt hold it, then she has this look when she does it in the room. and the pee comes from like a reserve tank lol.. shell go pee out side untill she is only getting one drop, let her in side and if she knows that room is open, dead sprint to the room and as quick as she can, she'll pee on something of the gf's.

The video would be hard to do though since we are trying to redirect her from the room

She pees on just your GF stuff?  Not the floor or your stuff, just your GF or something with your GF smell like the mattress (her side possibly)?  Trying to get a clear picture in my head.

Okay, so you're saying that your 9 week old puppy knows when the door is open, thinks that she wants to dominate a human, and plans ahead to pee on her stuff? So, she goes outside, saves up half her pee, then runs up to your bedroom, selects something your gf owns and then pees on it?

Have you considered that she may be marking? Although I wouldn't expect a dog that young to do it. I had a female that marked inside the house, it wasn't peeing because she had to go, it was definitely marking. Your pup has her reasons for going where she does but I assure you dogs are not capable of doing things out of spite or vengefulness. Those are human qualities you are trying to place on a dog, but it seems you have made up your mind regardless of what anyone else has to say about it. Regardless, the accidents would not be happening if you don't give her the opportunity to do it which is why the failure is on the humans, not the dog, no matter what reason you make up for it.

yea it was directly on her side of the mattress, and its always on or near her stuff, it may not always hit her stuff but its always right next to it and only in the room (we keep the rest of the house clean of cloths and belongings) and she has a look on her face saying "what do you think of me now" type look. you can very well tell she is doing it for a reason, and that is what im trying to figure out. its easier to fix/redirect behavior if you know why its happening (which means i need to know more then "shes just not potty trained" because i know that, a dog isnt potty trained or considered till at least 8 months)

The girl friend is a dominate person, and it almost seems like she is trying to show her place in the pecking order and say she is above my gf. but she is also 10wks so i don't know if they start wanting to challenge people or alphas in dominance at that age.

as for "huskyluv" i already stated that vengence was not the correct choice of word. i know its happening for a reason. the reason we are trying to figure out. we are doing our best to not give her the oppurtunity, but once and a while a door does get open, and even at that, i feel it has little to do with the room and more to do with the gf or sscent of her.....

and you can not claim failure in the human in a pup that young. it would be no failure on any one. it would just be an accident, it will happen. failure would be not trying to correct the behaviour and just allowing it, or trying and not succeeding.

wpskier222 wrote:

Okay, so you're saying that your 9 week old puppy knows when the door is open, thinks that she wants to dominate a human, and plans ahead to pee on her stuff? So, she goes outside, saves up half her pee, then runs up to your bedroom, selects something your gf owns and then pees on it?

add a couple things here, im not saying that she is trying to dominate humans, or has this devise plan, im just trying to paint the picture. we almost always have the door shut to the room, and we take her out a lot, we praise and treat her for going out side, we interrupt and redirect her to go out side if we do notice her attempting inside.

yes i am saying she knows when the doors open its pretty easy to see when a door is open, if the door happens to be open, and she notices it, she will dead sprint to the room ( even right after we go out side and she pees) and pee on or right next to something of the gf, i dont know why she is doing it, but i do know there is a reason, and i feel its more then just being un potty trained. that is what im trying to figure out. if i knew i wouldnt have posted this to ask, so i could be talked down to,

there has been good advice we are going back to square one, we are trying to keep the door closed, she is never unsupervised. i dont feel there is failure on any ones part, just looking to see what others have dealt with and how they have dealt with it

No one is calling any person a failure, but in terms of house training, each time a dog goes inside no matter the reason that is a house training failure, plain and simple. And the fault is always going to be with the human because they are the ones who allowed it to happen whether they meant to or not. Because each time there is an accident (for any reason) the behavior of going inside is reinforced which is the opposite of what house training is designed to teach. No one expects you to have a completely house broken pup this early and no one would consider you a failure for not having her house broken, so don't take my use of the word failure the wrong way. There is no magic age where a dog is considered house broken, they're house broken when they no longer go in the house and only potty outside (save for the occasional true accident such as diarrhea or something like that that they cannot control). Your situation seems so easy to manage considering she only goes in a certain room yet she still finds opportunities to go in there somehow. Believe me I know how easy it is to forget to close a door. I have a toddler who gets into all kinds of stuff in our pantry andwe try our hardest to always keep the door shut but somehow with all the craziness in the house it manages to get left open multiple times a day considering we're in and out of the pantry all day long. I'm also house training a 10 month old puppy and I'm happy just that we've gone a week and a half without any accidents. *knock on wood*

Have you considered using a tether method with her? That would prevent her from dashing into the room when she sees it open. I've used the tether method on my hardest to house break cases and it really does work amazingly well. I am using the tether method with my current pup who's proving to be rather stubborn.

My question wasn't that she knows whether or not the door is open, of course that's obvious, my question was that if you think she plans ahead to pee in there. Also, you did say you thought she was trying to show dominance over your girlfriend, several times. I'm sorry I got snippy, but its frustrating when someone asks for advice and then continues to just insist on their original point of view. I'm not saying I know everything, but I get really annoyed with people project their thoughts, motivations and emotions on a puppy. I definitely could have stated my point without being sarcastic, so I do apologize for that.

How will the reason change the action you take? The reason she goes in the bedroom is the same reason she goes in her spot in the yard, habit, smell (she can still smell her urine), and comfort. Somehow its been established as 'okay' to go in there, just like the yard.

Does your girlfriend only go in one room in the house? It seems hard to believe the pup is marking over your gf's scent when I would expect her scent to be all over the house, not just in one room.

Also are you using a cleaner like natures miracle to clean it up? It's supposed to sit for 5 minutes before you wipe it up. I tell my roomates to keep their door closed if not London sprints full speed in there to sniff and pop a squat. I think she's still learning the difference between the grass and carpet (the only carpet areas are the rooms) so until she learns our doors stay closed

P.s how is she getting on the bed? My pup is almost 9 weeks and can't jump on mine yet thankfully

I have not tried the tether method yet, because it just started happening this week. and we have been pretty good about keeping the door shut, but it was something i mentioned to the gf. i also asked her to be more consistent with the NILIF training as for making the dog sit before getting what it wants (going inside/outside) walking in before her. more less making rikku earn everything.(except on the "o shit" shes gotta go out side times...lol...)

I also heard something about maybe letting her eat her food in a room for a bit due to they wont go potty where they eat type thing...dont know how much truth is behind it though...

I just dont understand why she jumped back in her training cause she was going in the room with out this incident before, and its not like the opps i went in the house face lol.. she really wants to go in there and has a special bladder reserve for that room   ...lol....

wpskier222 wrote:

My question wasn't that she knows whether or not the door is open, of course that's obvious, my question was that if you think she plans ahead to pee in there. Also, you did say you thought she was trying to show dominance over your girlfriend, several times. I'm sorry I got snippy, but its frustrating when someone asks for advice and then continues to just insist on their original point of view. I'm not saying I know everything, but I get really annoyed with people project their thoughts, motivations and emotions on a puppy. I definitely could have stated my point without being sarcastic, so I do apologize for that.

How will the reason change the action you take? The reason she goes in the bedroom is the same reason she goes in her spot in the yard, habit, smell (she can still smell her urine), and comfort. Somehow its been established as 'okay' to go in there, just like the yard.

i also apologize if i sounded like i was stuck in my own view. i was just trying to push through that it was a different kind of pee. if she has an accident any where else in the house(generally by the door to go out cause we couldnt get it open in time) she has a opps i made a mistake.

We do not clean it in front of her because we dont want to give the impression of we'll clean up your mess.

we use natures miracle to eliminate the scent, when in the room and pees, it has not been in the same place its in a different area every time. yet its never on or near my stuff. (that is why i thought it may have something to do with the pecking order.) yes the gf scent is all over the house but is stronger in certain areas (cloths, her side of the bed, her blanket...etc)

i guess im curious to the reason because i think mechaniclly (everything happens for a reason) and if i have an understanding of why it makes it easier for me to deal with the situation

It is different then the yard pee. the yard pee she has like a "i did good?" look to her the house has a "sorry couldnt hold it" look and the room is more of a "how do you like that" look....lol...

Try having your gf stay somewhere else and see if the pup does not pee in your room?
IF she doesn't pee, BAM solution!

LOL, just messing with ya.

Anyhow from what I can gather here sounds really nice home with calm and relaxed regime. At 9.5 weeks the puppy has access to most of the house and the trouble area is the bedroom. Your puppy has a grasp of peeing outside but enjoys the finer things in life like peeing near or on your gf's stuff. You are raising a kid who is a different species from you, you will not be finding out the reason behind her peeing "on purpose", all you can do is correct it through constant, persistent, training.

Now look at a kid, do you let them have the same freedoms we enjoy as adults right off the bat because they can talk and walk? Hell No! They are earned. This should be the same mentality for your pup. Just because she can pee outside does not make her an adult dog that can roam your house unsupervised and responsibly without peeing on the gf's stuff.

You need to start with a small area and as she becomes better and better with her potty training then she unlocks further boundaries because she then understands that she has to prove that she is able to maintain the status quo you have set in a smaller environment to gain more ground. If she does not then she stays where she is till she get's it. You bend the rules or falter a little and she will see she can push a little more and more and more till it becomes a lot. She isn't doing this out of spite it's a liberty you have forfeited so why not take it. Second tether her, can't keep your eye on her all the time then this technique is your best friend. Keep working the fundamentals till she gets it, it will take some time but they all get there with strict and proper training.

A little bit on the failure part. You have failed and you must embrace that fact. Understand failure is not a big bad thing everyone makes it out to be. It does not make us bad, dumb, weak or a lesser person it gives us opportunity. Opportunity to improve and become better, smarter, stronger or more. You cannot attain that till you understand that fact though. Every single person on this forum has failed at one time or another. Guess what bud I failed to, my dog pooped on the floor at 10 weeks behind my couch and I did not find it till 4 hrs later. Stained the floor lol. You laugh, cry, shout and then learn about how to avoid the mistakes or accidents then move on.

Hang in there it get's worse then better then bad again then really good then it's like ahhhh yeah.

Don't want to re-state what previous posters wrote but i do agree with them saying it sounds like she's just not there yet. I used to have to keep our guest room closed ALL the time if Kiba was out because she would pee in there if it wasnt closed off. Id say she did this all the way up until about 6 months of age and we did a LOT of potty training work to it was frustrating. i mean i would just say keep the door shut unless you are actually inside the room to supervise that way you can correct her if she starts to pee in there. otherwise continue with potty training as usual. And what previous posters said about getting the special cleaners is very true. if you just clean up an accident with regular cleaners the dog will still smell urine and will continue returing to the same spots. Personally i dont think its got anything to do with your GFs scent, i think it just so happens that she's had accidents in there and can still smell them and is returning. If your girlfriend doesnt stop and correct her then that room is an "okay" place to pee b/c no one has told her otherwise.
Just keep at it- your pup will get there!!

To each their own, but I personally believe all that dominance stuff is hooey. When my pup was 10 weeks and I cleaned up an accident he just wanted to play with the paper towels and squirt bottle. He doesn't connect person cleaning pee means he's in charge, that's a very human analysis. By the time I walked to the kitchen to get paper towels, he forgot he had an accident. If you buy into the dominance stuff, then it would actually put me more in a position of power, because the pups mom cleans up their messes. At any rate I'm sure she'll learn, and if you start looking for reasons your husky does things, you'll have a long and confusing life Sometimes they just do, and those things can form habits that we have to train out of them.