So for the 6th time in 8 days Nero just peed on my bed!

He's been outside for the last 5 hours while I was out with friends. I get home go out to the back, give him some cuddles and take him inside. I was on the phone in the kitchen for 10 mins, while he was roaming around the house, i get to the bedroom and there's a huge soggy wet patch on the bed...

He's been peeing on the bed for the last few days while I'm at work. I know he can hold it because he does perfectly fine when we are home together...

WTF?

Haha. He's establishing his dominance over you AND the bed. Peeing on your bed is like him saying "Ha- I'm the boss of YOU!" Clearly that's not what you want.

Have you been doing/practicing Nothing In Life is Free(NILIF) training? Google it and read a couple of articles about it. It's VERY easy to do and it should help alleviate this problem rather quickly.

He could also be bored and angry at you for leaving him, which contributes to it. So I would up his exercise a little bit and his training time. Giving him enough time to think about things like who's the boss definitely doesn't help.

Make sure he understands that YOU run the house and not him. NILIF training will really work with you on that. If you have more questions, feel free to ask!

And don't worry- even Koda did that 2 or 3 times to us when we first got him.

It may sound wrong but He knows full well who is boss/alpha. NILIF started after you advised me about it the day I got him;

He listens to 'whatever' i tell him.
Never challenges his position.
Always waits until I finish eating before eating himself.
Sits before I have to tell him to sit, when going through doors, play time etc.
Sits after the food is down and waits until I say ok.
Never takes food or toys from my hand unless he is sitting and I have said okay. (I can even wave it in front of his nose but until I say 'OK' he won't touch it.)
Never sleeps on the bed, only sits.
Gets off the bed and sits/sleeps on the floor as soon as I get on.
Howls on 'howl' command
Shuts up n calms down with 'relax'
When he's naughty all I have to do is look at him and he stops immediately and always looks away once I give him my 'Look' (stare)

Lastly why I'm pretty sure he knows who's alpha is because he cowers behind me when scared. (long story involving a staffy)

In other words he never gets his own way. The only thing I do give him is I let him out when he asks, to do his bizniz and again he sits at every door before I open it, but that's it.

Somebody else suggested it's because he's excited and because he misses me? Seperation anxiety perhaps.

Hmm... I forgot we'd already suggested NILIF for you and Nero Glad to see you following it!

Although you mentioned it, I also didn't pick up on the fact that it only happens when you are gone (my bad!). It could definitely be related to separation anxiety, but peeing on the bed is a VERY bold statement, so I'm a little surprised that it's not being accompanied by anything else in terms of destruction.

Two things. One- why is he able to access the bedroom when you are not home? My first reaction when Koda did it the first time was "Okay, someone doesn't get to go in the bedroom when I'm not paying attention now" and the bedroom door stayed shut. Don't give him the chance to do it! You're setting him up to fail there, not succeed.

Two- how are you reacting when he does it? Do you catch him in the act or find it later? Clearly the best thing would be to catch him in the act, but it sounds like he's doing it when you're not around, so that's not possible. If he's doing it from separation anxiety, it's a call for attention. Every time he acts out it's a call for attention, so if you're reacting (even negatively) you're reinforcing his behavior.

Here's my suggestions...
1. CLOSE THE DOOR when you're not home :p He should be getting VERY limited access to your house when you're not around because if he's doing this now, then when he hits his teenage rebellion years, you're going to have MAJOR problems. Can you clean out a room or puppy proof it, so that he only gets one room? What about gating off the kitchen area? He shouldn't have the run of the house when you are gone. I do highly recommend crate training him (see the Crate Training Sticky), but I know that you're in Australia (right?) and sometimes crates aren't cheap or readily available. If they are, this is hands down my suggestion. Do it now when he's a pup or in a few months to a year, you're going to have a LOT of problems.

2. When we have been leaving the dogs to have limited "free roam" of the house (we shut the office, bedroom, and bathroom doors so they only get the living room and kitchen) we have a game that we play when we get home. We don't look at the dogs OR touch them when we get home. We say, "Show me!" and we walk the house together and check to make sure nothing was destroyed, knocked over, chewed on, peed on, etc. We can usually tell by their demeanor when we get home if something happened. IF ANYTHING is out of place, we do one firm "NO! BAD!" and then both dogs (unless we know which dog did it-- it's usually Hailey) get IGNORED for about 5-10 mins. They don't get pet, they barely get looked at. Sometimes we'll shut ourselves in the office and not let them in. Punishment needs to fit the crime. If we're going to chew/destroy/pee to get attention, then their punishment is going to be to get completely ignored. By giving him any sort of attention, you are reinforcing and rewarding his behavior.

Make sense?

Hope this helps!

Yeh im in Aus

I actually went crate shopping last week. Cheapest large one I found was almost 400 bux!!! I'll probably build one when I get chance this week ain't no way in hell I'm paying 400 bux for a wire framed box!

He only has the bedroom when I'm at work because the house is open plan so that's the only room I can 'lock' him in. Ive puppy proofed it, removed my big leather bed, taken out all the furniture, so theres just my matress, bedding and lots of his toys. I leave the ensuite open so he can eat or drink as thats where hes fed. However I think I'll start leaving him outside in the yard more often.

I don't usually do anything when he's made a mess because I never catch him doing it. And from my understanding I didn't realise you could actually 'punish' after the fact. At least now I know...

I love the show me game it sounds great, how did you start it?

"Show me!" was something that my sister does with her dog and we stole it. You're right in that you shouldn't PUNISH after the fact, but the dogs do know when they've done something they shouldn't... some people may disagree with me, but I do think it has been effective for us.

I would advise against leaving him outside unattended That's just as dangerous. Maybe for now, you can put a tarp or cover the bed? I know that sounds so weird, but there are so many things that can happen when Nero is outside alone. Someone could take him, he could get overheated, he could get loose, etc... it's just not something I generally recommend.

Have you checked the internet? I don't know the conversion rate, but here's a site that sells the X-Large (what I would recommend for a male husky) crate at $69.99 US. They also ship internationally. Maybe this would work?
[url=http://www.dogkennelsDog .com/dog-crates/wire-dog-crates/midwesticratefoldingdogcrate.cfm]Dog Kennel[/url]

ETA: Btw- with "Show me!", clearly if the dogs are good and didn't destroy anything, they get LOTS of love, kisses, and praise.

By chance, is he fixed?

He's really young. Rix, the OP, just brought him home as a 7 week old puppy at the beginning of August, I believe. So that should put him at about ~3 months old.

I know where you're going though, and you bring up a great point. Rix- you might want to consider getting him neutered sometime soon. GoneToTheSnowDogs is right-- that might help alleviate the problem.

im just gonna ask how well are you cleaning up his mess? it could just be he did it that one time but now your bed smells like his toilet and he is using it that way. our girl sierra was/is like that. she has/had a poo spot up stairs and after we put in new carpets she still went and used that area but we learned after that one mess. even thought we removed the carpet, pad and painted the floor. she also found a spot on the tile down stairs that she has peed at.
our solution has been to just block her off. so up stairs at night they are locked in our room, no more wondering in the hall = no more poo, also when left out down stairs we put up a gate and they can not go upstairs to the carpet.
for down stairs on the tile i have cleaned it with the pee cleaner from the pet store. and when left to roam the lower level of the house with us gone for more then 4hrs i put a towel down in the area = no more pee. i know she can hold it as in a crate for 8+hrs she can hold it. i think you need to get some gloves on clean the area really well and since you can't block him off try putting something on top of the area like suggested and that should help your issue.

Oo- Jenn brings up another great point!

Just to piggy back on that- Nature's Miracle is a GREAT product. You need an enzyme cleaner to get rid of the urine scent. Hailey had a couple of spots when she first got here, but after using Nature's Miracle, she stopped You can get it at your local pet store or even Petsmart

I figured out why he's been biting me hard recently.

It's when I'm handling my new phone!?! For some reason he starts on me when I pick it up or try n txt etc...LOL

How weird is that?

He wants ALL of your attention. Nanuk can get like that when I'm on the laptop!

Ewwww

Ok WTF? Nero just took a leak on the bed right in front of me? WTF?

What have you washed the sheets with? You need to wash them with an enzyme cleaner to make sure you get the smell out.

Also- how are you reacting? I don't think you ever said that. Your reaction should be FIRM. "NO!" Take him IMMEDIATELY outside to reinforce that he does his business outside, and then BAR HIM FROM THE BEDROOM.

I'm seeing a theme in your posts. You're giving him too much of an opportunity to screw up. He is a young puppy and he is not "just going to learn." He should be BARRED from all access to the room unless you are there and when he's with you, you might want to start using the tether system. Don't give him the opportunity to screw up. Tie him to you so he can't leave your side and you can correct any mistakes IMMEDIATELY and as they happen.

ETA: Okay... I've been thinking more about this and a thought occurred to me. How often ARE you taking him outside. A puppy can hold for about an hour per month old he is. So if he's 4 months old, he can only be EXPECTED to hold it for 4 hours and that's when he's not being stimulated. He might be trying to give you warning sign and you're just not seeing it. He's likely not completely potty trained yet, so you need to set him up to succeed more.

I'm sorry I know you must be frustrated.

The whole management part of training is one thing that really turns me off of puppies. From my limited experience I would say that until age two, the dog is going to be a pain in the ass. It will almost always have to have a long line on, never left out of sight (losing peripheral vision of a young Husky for .3 seconds is all it takes to get away), dishes and laundry must ALWAYS be picked up, guests can't come over because they don't close doors the same way I do...

In short, you have to control all of these quirks until the training has sunk in and the brain "matures", around age two to three. It's a lot like averages in my mind. If he has peed 10 times and two of those were on the bed, it's going to take 25+ successful outside potty/reward experiences to bring the average up from 80% to an acceptable level.

A while back I had a friend come over with a Great Dane that pissed on a bar stool the instant he walked in the door. Since I didn't see it happen, my boys made their rounds and I had a gallon of urine to clean up. It took me almost four months to get them to stop marking the stool, and that was when I took it to the dump. That's the only thing close to housetraining that I've done. When I started watching the Bernese puppy, it was a breeze because I'm home all day. Housetraining is more the human nudging routine tendencies within the dog in the proper direction.

But you DO still have a healthy happy pup. Take a deep breath, commit to constant observation and start again.

This is my take on it. Stop me if I'm off the mark.

When I'm getting dressed for work Nero hates it and always scrambles around for attention, sometimes even hugging my leg without letting go. He HATES me leaving him behind. He would much rather sit in the car while I'm going to see clients than be stuck at home alone.

Yesterday he saw me getting changed at around 4pm I had a meeting that lasted about 2hours. Prior to my leaving, I sent him outside to relieve himself, which he did.

I got back at 6:30, found he had destroyed a paper bag with some papers n stuff in it. Other than that no soggy patches.

He was excited to see me and I did "Show me" which he yet to fully grasp. Cleaned up the shredded papers and left him for 10 mins. Went back in gave him some play time and went to grab some pizza. He sat next to me at the table nicely while I finished my grub. Then I left him for 5 mins while I went to the store for some milk.

Got back, nothing destroyed, nothing wet. Proceded to get changed, at which point he squats on the bed and let's go...I took the quilt off and stuck it in the washer, he followed me, sent him outside, he came back in after finishing (it was raining otherwise i woulda left him there) went back to finish changing and he does it again on the sheets. (which are, were new)


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I don't think the tether system would make much difference because he is never more than 2 steps away at any time anyway. He follows me everywhere indoors. The only time he doesn't follow or listen is when in the back yard, never comes in when I call him, unless bribing with a treat. He might wander to the door n sit there, if he doesn't come in after 20 sec I'll shut the door, leave him for another 10 mins then try again. The door is glass so he knows he's missing out because he sits watching the whole time.

Also will the tether system not reinforce separation anxiety if that is indeed the underlying issue?

I think the peeing on the bed is that he hates me leaving him rather than anything else.

Oh and I react exactly the way you described. Give him a stout "Hey!" (my no), take outside and tell him to do his bizniz. Praise during and after. But I have not been barring him from the room afterwards. He also knows when I want him to because I say the words "do your bizniz" and usually take him outside every few hours unless he asks prior by sitting n whimpering by the door.

Hope that makes sense.

i think your issue is you should have left him out side to pee after he showed you the mess of papers. from what you wrote you did not let him go out at all once you returned home. no matter how long or short you were gone the first thing should be to let him out to "do his thing"

Sorry, it was actually outside that I left him after he shred the papers. Shoulda make that clear, sorry.

At this point, I think there's too many potentials playing into your scenario. I would go to your local petstore and get an enzyme cleaner. In the states we have something called Nature's Miracle. It's made specifically for pets to break down urinary enzymes. Buy this or something like it. Then go home and wash your comforter and your sheets normally but toss about 1/2 cup or so of the cleaner into the load. You'll also want to spray down any spots left on the mattress. It's POSSIBLE that he's not thinking anything of taking a leak on the bed because at this point he thinks that it's okay since it smells like him (clearly their noses are a lot more sensitive than ours and something we think is clean may still have traces to them).

Then, I would step up his house-training and start over at step 1. Take him outside more often. Every hour if you have to. Increase the praise and affection when he goes outside. REALLY get him to understand that OUTSIDE is where the pee belongs.

Lastly, I really would look into finding a crate. I know you said that they are expensive there, but you can order them online for really cheap. There's lots of places here that ship internationally.



If after all that, he's STILL doing it, then it's likely something else. Perhaps separation anxiety is right, but the only way to fix that is to desensitize him to it. Take a weekend day or a day off and spend it "faking him out." Go get changed, then come back and sit down on the couch or play with him. Pick up the keys and go to the door, then sit back down and play with him for 5-10 mins. Then step outside and shut the door (all the while going through the motions of any rituals that you would normally do to leave-- give him a treat or whatever). The idea is that you gradually leave for longer and longer periods of time, but you keep coming back immediately and playing with him. Eventually, he shouldn't associate you getting changed or leaving with something bad because he knows when you get home, he's going to get playtime. You may need to take a couple of random days/weekends to do this for it to really be effective, but it should work.

Let us know if all of that doesn't help, then I have maybe one or two more ideas.