Hi all. I know this is not a new topic, but please help if you can.

I adopted a second Husky, Watson, in early February. He has a traumatic history - found as a stray, transported across the country, adopted and returned three times after arrival, and finally found his way home to me. I was warned that he had separation anxiety, which is not at all surprising.

When Watson first came home, he seemed to adjust quickly. He figured out how to use the doggy door on day 1 simply by watching Cayenne, my 5yo Husky. I thought I lucked out because I didn't have to potty train! He was initially marking excessively, but that improved somewhat when I put a dog bed in his favorite marking spots. Other issues such as resource guarding and startle responses resolved fairly quickly once he settled in.

I was able to give both dogs plenty of exercise at first because of the Husky-friendly weather. In March, I began working from home and was able to squeeze in some extra daytime walks. By late May, though, daily temps were reaching 80 and we had to cut back on exercise. (You understand.) Around the same time, Watson began peeing and pooping in the house.

The peeing and pooping happens only when I'm not in the same room as him. He does it mostly in hidden parts of the house and he definitely knows it's wrong. He cowers and creeps away whenever I discover it. Most often, he relieves himself in the dining room RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE DOGGY DOOR, which is always open. I even saw him on video once when he went outside for a minute, then came back in and pooped inside. I just started working in the office again, so now I come home to a mess every day. I can't crate him for the whole day, but that wouldn't even help. He has peed in the crate on multiple occasions, too.

I seriously need help. I know increasing his exercise as the weather cools will help, but I don't expect that to fix the issue completely. I run the dogs before work and then leave them with a bone or a Kong in the morning to keep them busy for a while. I can't give him an article of my clothing because he will eat it. What do I do??? I need training advice. I'm also pondering CBD treats, but I know nothing about them. If you have any good ideas, please share.

Please please please be careful with cbd. Just like with thc at some doses cbd in high amounts can kill your dog.

I tried cbd on spider once a few weeks ago to take the edge off her being in heat. 5mg did nothing. When she got the bottle that had about 200mg of cbd and 200mg of thc it almost killed her. That was not intentional she snagged the bottle in the middle of the night.

Dunno if youve tried anything like supplements or gone as far as going to the vet. Spider is pretty bad but its been years since she has been left home so for all i know its resolved. The very last time she was left alone she caused over 8k in damage and ate through the floor of the trailer.

Is doggy daycare an option. I have a whole list of things to try.. none worked on spider. Maybe a radio or a recording of you talking on a loop, or the herbal aromatherapy, then comes cbd or supplements or drugs. If you can afford to wire the house with cameras figure out when it starts and stop it before it goes to 100% freaking out and over time you will be able to extend the length of time you are gone. Now that did work on spider, atleast in the truck, but even then after about 90 mins she gets antsy and after 2 hours she starts panicking. And honestly THAT took almoat 3 years to where she can stay in the truck.

Sorry i cant be more helpful

I have doubts that CBD will help with this. I've tried cbd for various things and calming a dog down has not been something I've had success with it on. I've heard people do well with the thunder vests for anxiety, but if he does fine when he's having good exercise then that is not likely to work either.

I personally would attempt to schedule his bowels. Figure out about how long after meals he tends to need to go and try to time meals so that you can get as much out of him before you leave. When you are home tether him to you so he can't go off into another space and go without you knowing. Basically make it where the only way he can pee in the house is if he does it right by you so you can give immediate correction. You can also try leaving a radio on in the house while you are away. Some dogs are less anxious with normal sounds around. Sitting in the silence of the house only being able to hear, but not see, outside sounds can exacerbate things for some. Make sure that there isn't something outside preventing him from wanting to go out. I have a super frustrating dog that will go pretty much anywhere to avoid going down the back steps if he thinks he can get away with it. I have to force him down the back stairs and then sit at the bottom so that he can't immediately race right back up after he's peed because if he immediately goes up the steps he will without a doubt poop at the top of the stairs.

You could also potentially add a belly band to him but if he tears stuff off that makes that hard.

Thanks for the replies. I'm not going to use CBD oil. I hate medicating more than necessary and I'm no expert, so it's a little too scary for me.

I actually do have cameras in the house so I'm familiar with his patterns when I'm away. The messes are not related to meal time or the incontinence. Rather, he watches me leave and as soon as I'm out of sight, the panic sets in and he acts like a caged zoo animal the whole time. He also looks for trouble as soon as I'm gone. I have video of him climbing onto the kitchen counter ONE MINUTE after I left. He peed on a vase full of flowers, ripped the grease traps out of the stove exhaust fan and shredded one, and ate 4 of my vitamins. I thought the vitamins were safe up high! That resulted in a costly doggy poison control phone call, induced vomiting, and days of watching for danger signs. Ugh.

He's been to doggy daycare, but it's really expensive so I've cut back in that department now that I have two dogs.

I tried a male wrap while I was away for 2.5 hours yesterday. He did pee in it, but his fur was dry to the touch when I took the wrap off. However, I'm still worried that his skin will become irritated if he has to wear it all day while I'm at the office.

The tethering idea is interesting. It's challenging, though, because he already wants to be by side at all times. The messes only happen when I "abandon" him. The radio idea is an easy enough thing to try, too.

I read a suggestion elsewhere to soak a bandana in his urine and then tie it around his neck once it's dry. It's supposed to discourage a dog from marking because he can already smell his scent everywhere he goes. Has anyone ever tried this? It's kind of gross so I'd be more inclined to try it if someone else has had luck.

I’ve never tried that lol, why don’t you put him outside on a tether? That way he can have room to pee and poo wherever he wants. My two would rather be outside than in and I got them on 30ft tether each or I do have a large pen but they prefer the tether.

My neighbour has a very destructive Caucasian shepherd and when she goes to work she destroys there bungalow like bin ripped out sofas peeing on the bed and I mentioned to her a pen/tether and they got her a tether and she was as good as gold out side no destructive behaviour. I think sometimes we can’t undo thousands of years of them being outside and running hundreds of miles a day.

I wont leave mine outside without them having inside access. I just dont trust my fence, and i dont trust loose dogs to stay on the outside of the fence. But we do have a lion problem on top of loose animals. (Colorado also has a law that animals cant spend more then an hour a day on a chain)

Maybe if i had a better fence. About the fence. We had a major storm last week and trees were down everywhere. The neighbor whos property we share a line with was out with thier blind and deaf shepherd. I yell hold on let me get the dogs and the neighbor yells "its ok your dogs dont get out". Always nice when the neighbor trusts a fence that i know could go down if they jump on it wrong. That particular fenceline i have panels wire tied to aspens instead of posts.

https://www.canineprofessionals.com/housebreaking-adult-dogs

Hmm the person that wrote that never met squirt. Revenge pooping in your pillow is real. I wish that method would work on spider because she pees on the carpet in the living room at night..... but spider has an excuse, i have never met a wolfdog of any content that is 100% house trained. The saying goes if your wolfdog is 100% house trained its not a wolfdog.

@spicy sauce so something to think about is, is this seperation anxiety or is the seperation anxiety turning into a full blown panic attack. Squirt has full blown panic attacks at the vet, pees on me and the vet, screams like a toddler. Really anything can happen. THAT requires medication so no person or dog gets hurt. What we do with squirt is give her an 2 things and every time we do it we use a little less. We can now walk onto the waiting room without issue. The exam room is still a huge issue

My uncle's dachshund would revenge poop when he would leave town without her. She would never have any issues using the doggy door she had full access to all the time. He would be gone to work for long hours and she would have no problems using the door. He might would even be gone until super late at night or the wee hours of the morning and no issue, but if he packed a bag and left she would poop on the floor. Even if someone house sat for him and was there with her she would sneak somewhere and poop.