Hi all! I’m Kerry and this is Bella! We took her in after finding her tied to a pole with a note that read “free dog, take her home. Her name is Bella”. She was about 10 months old, completely untrained in every way AND in heat! That was about 2 months ago. She’s very sweet, smart as hell and she’s so funny! Completely psychotic with energy too! The whole family fell in love with her immediately - me, my sister and our English Lab, Richard.

Training is progressing, mostly. She’s good on the leash and off. Comes when called. Doesn’t jump on people any more and for the most part is a good dog.

However, yes there is a HOWEVER, she will not stop peeing and pooping in the house!! We are experienced dog owners and haven’t had a problem potty training before but Bella is different. When she first came to us, she wouldn’t do any business in front of us, which I’m told is most likely a result of her not being potty trained & getting in trouble every time she went to the bathroom because it was always in the wrong place so she learned to not get caught. She’s a master ninja pooper! Seriously, she is super stealth and lightening fast when she’s goes in the house!
So with that being where we started, she has progressed to being comfortable going outside (I even thinks she fakes peeing sometimes just to be rewarded) but she often comes inside and goes to the bathroom! And it doesn’t matter how long she was out or how many times she potties while outside! I think she deliberately saves some for when she gets home!!
She sleeps through the night in her crate and never soils her crate so we know she can hold it. I’m seriously out of ideas here. We have employed everything we can think of and nothings working. Please help!

You have my sympathy,  I have a new GSD who's still just a puppy and I'm having some issues with where he does his thing.

I'm going to make the obvious suggestion - which follows what I'm doing - at those times where I expect Zeus to have to "use the facilities" we go for a walk.  If he does anything while we're out he gets a treat, a whole lot of "Good Boy!!" and loads of petting. I literally make a big deal out of him going where he's supposed to go.
On the other hand, when we're in the house I use a house leash (sometimes) which lets me know where he is and what he's up to.  
On the other hand, if I'm not comfortable that he's going to let me know he needs out (he's doing better about that) then he's crated.  Overall too long for my comfort but it does help that when I let him out of jail, the first thing we do is take a walk.

You say that you have a ninja pooper so the house leash (that's a 6ft leash that's attached to you or the chair you're setting in) lets you know where she is - close! And lets you learn her signals for when she needs to go.  It also tells her that you're going to be watching and those ninja poops aren't acceptable.

Pretty pup you have there, looks a lot like my Sky.

She also looks a lot like my first Husky, don't let her run too much unless you have her in a fenced area.  I had my first husky down here for a couple of years ... I let her run and she came back every time I called until one time she didn't.

What Al said! I couldn't have said it better. To underline- use the house leash and a crate. No freedom until she earns it.

Beautiful dog.

I must agree with above. Our trainer said to limit their freedom. Close all door and put up baby gates if you don't want to do a house leash but limit their freedom to those areas where she potties. We had an amazing dog, very well trained, 4 years of advanced obedience but was a ninja pooper. If we left our basement open at night, even if she already went, we would find a turd down there in the morning. Always in the basement. We had to use a babygate for 13 years at night and Every Single Time we went to my brother in laws house, she would sneak up and poop in his wifes closet in front of her shoes. Everyone loved her so much because she was such a good dog, they would just not tell us and clean it up then keep the door shut. So weird! Limit the areas she has access to.

Thanks guys for the advice, much appreciated! I was going to ask how long I’m going to have to do that but Nicole, you said your dog left ninja turds for 13 years!!! Her whole life?!?! Ugh!! Is she going to stop this or will she do it forever? Are huskies known for potty training problems? I had to pick up my rugs in the living room and by the front door & I’d like to be able to put them down again some day! I just don’t get her! Sometimes She does everything she’s supposed to do - like tell me when she wants to go out and she does her business out there and I give her treats and praise when she does and then there’s the Mr Hyde dog that either comes right in from outside and goes again almost immediately or decides not to say anything and just go where ever she feels like it. I love her - and yea she is absolutely beautiful and I want to wring her neck sometimes!

Oh and Ali - I’m so sorry your dog didn’t come back!! For real? After a couple of years she just didn’t come back one time!? That’s crazy!!! Why would she do that? Did you ever get her back? Was she chipped? Have tags on? What happened to her I wonder?

She and Richard just love each other!

Hahaha, that's a husky for you, "oh i love you so much...you did WHAT, i want to murder you" just wait until 3am skunkings, hehe. She was potty trained and she never peed in the house but she loved to leave a little turd, she even left a nice yule log under the tree at the same brother in laws house one year. The nieces and nephew cleaned it up and didn't mention it til we were leaving cause they didn't want her to get in "trouble". Yes, the KIDS loved her so much they cleaned up dog poop and conspired to keep it a secret.
My two current males potty trained in like 24 hours, most amazing thing I've ever seen. Of course they had accidents but they were going to the door within the first day, it was just a matter of if we were quick enough to get there. Otherwise they had accidents in front of the door and it was the humans fault.
Just limit her access and give her lots of exercise, she'll come into her own. Merry Christmas everyone!

KerrySiddhartha wrote:

Oh and Al - I’m so sorry your dog didn’t come back!! For real? After a couple of years she just didn’t come back one time!? That’s crazy!!! Why would she do that? Did you ever get her back? Was she chipped? Have tags on? What happened to her I wonder?

Huskies, in general, have a habit of roaming. Well, they were bred to run and given the chance, most of them will run. Depending on where you are, they may be able to find their way back ... I live in the desert with lots of land around me (and lately too many people moving in) and she had plenty of space to run, though she did get brought back a time or two from 8+ miles up the road. The problem with them running is that they often are so intent on 'the run' that they don't see where they're running and have no idea how to get back.

She was chipped, had her tags on ... I have to assume that she had a 'discussion' with one of the critters out here (bear, coyote, cougar, ???) and lost the discussion.

I love living on the desert but it's rough on dogs and other pets. Cats and small dogs are regularly carried away, literally, by hawks and become prey to some of the abovementioned critters.

It's really best to keep them on a lead of some kind. My current two Huskies are on 30' leads ... sometimes it's a chain off my porch and sometimes it's a leash in my hand but it's rare that they get real freedom.

Lol . We used to let squirt and shadow run on the desert until the blm called and said they were raiding campgrounds in the national monument 12 miles away and over the state line. And then squirt killed some calves and ended up on chains. Now we have a fence.

Spider doesnt poop in the house. But she will pee on carpet at night. All the carpet was removed and replaced with vinyl downstairs and there is a gate to keep her from upstairs. Problem solved. Im a lazy leave the door open and let them in the fenced area dog owner.

Unfortunately, sounds like she was never potty trained.
Just treat her like a puppy, every time she eats wait ten min then outside.
Keep an eye on her for signals of potty time.
Crate her when you leave the house and at night until she learns.
If you have to take her out 10 times a day then so be it.
Praise her and give her treat every time she potties outside.
Only give her a treat when you come back inside when she potties.
She will learn.