Okay, so as some of you may know my fiance and I just bought a house.

We've brought Mishka over there a few times already to try to get him used to the house before we make the permanent move (we had to clean and need to paint, etc.).

Last night mom and I went to the house to clean and brought Mishka with us. He has doggie door access to the backyard and learned to use it very fast. He is refusing to potty outside. He was outside for a good 30 minutes and came inside and took a HUGE dump in the middle of one of the bedrooms. He also managed to pee like 4 times in the house. Once was right after I took him outside on his leash like I normally would at our current house and he just started to pee on the floor right in front of me!

Now I know it can be stressful for them to be in a new environment and that can cause them to not go, but I took him out a few times in the backyard and the front yard just to see if he would go and nothing. Maybe there's too many distractions? Idk. He does fine at our current house, he knows to go to the door or come get me when he has to potty. He doesn't have many accidents anymore and most of them are usually my fault anyway.

How do you get them used to pottying in a new yard? The previous owners had a dog, maybe a cat too, and I plan on spraying my enzyme cleaner on every surface in case that is triggering him peeing in the house but man. I don't want him ruining this house before we even can move in.

You might want to go back to the basics with the potty training, and treat him the same as you did when he first came home. Super high value treats and lots of praise.

Ghost had a really hard time when we moved in December, these guys are really sensitive to change. Mishka knows something is up, his little life is changing again, and he's probably pretty stressed out. We gave our dogs some extra special treats and praise for things, and just tried as quickly as possible to settle into the new routine. Things might be a little shaky for him until you're all the way moved in and he adjusts to his new place.

The enzyme cleaner will probably help too, the other animals have probably pottied on the floor a time or two in that house.

Congrats on the house!

Have you tried tethering him to you in the new house? If you catch him in the act you'll have a chance to interrupt him and take him to the correct potty area. You're going to have to pretend like he's 8 weeks again in the new house and start over with the potty training. I'm sure once his own scent is spread around the yard, he'll get it!

One thing I did when I first started potty training Stark is when he'd make a mess on the floor, I'd wipe it up with paper towel (and then use the enzyme cleaner with a different paper towel). I'd take the soiled paper towel and put it outside where I wanted him to pee.

The next time he had to go outside, I would take him, and set him by the paper towel. Once he caught a scent of his pee, he peed right over it! Lots of praise and positive re-enforcement did it for me.

I'm not sure how well this works in general, but it might be something to keep in mind.

UndarthAngipoo wrote:

One thing I did when I first started potty training Stark is when he'd make a mess on the floor, I'd wipe it up with paper towel (and then use the enzyme cleaner with a different paper towel). I'd take the soiled paper towel and put it outside where I wanted him to pee.

The next time he had to go outside, I would take him, and set him by the paper towel. Once he caught a scent of his pee, he peed right over it! Lots of praise and positive re-enforcement did it for me.

I'm not sure how well this works in general, but it might be something to keep in mind.

That's actually a really good idea. I went put his poop in the yard but that didn't help. Maybe the pee will! Or it's been raining like crazy and maybe that will wash some of the old dog smell out of the yard.

We shall see!

Thanks guys! I guess it'll be back to basics and just watching him like a hawk until he gets used to the new house. I definitely will be mopping / cleaning with some enzyme stuff soon though. Hopefully that will help.

Good advice so far, I would hire a pro floor cleaner and clean the carpet good. One reason we tore the carpet out of our house stained to the sub floor
Good luck, maybe bring some of his toys over the next time and start making him feel at home while your there cleaning and such

We don't have any carpet in the house thankfully. There is laminate wood and tile throughout the house. He's stopped peeing this last time. He finally went pee in the front yard (the back yard was full of water and muddy). And I have brought some of his toys and his crate mat to the house so there is some of his smell there.

I still plan on mopping with the enzyme cleaner just to be on the safe side.

We had issues with our two that it took time to learn what areas they couldn't go in i.e the whole house now. But when we first got them it was a free for all, and then they got used to routine, the house etc and the house gradually became their whole sleeping area which changed how their thought of it.. Good luck, back to basics is the way to go, and congrats on the new house - my husband and I bought our first house last September and then got the two pups a week later

I only read the first few posts so I apologize if somebody already mentioned this but we recently experienced the very same thing and it was because the previous owner had dogs of their own that Kato was smelling all over! It only happened a few times before we figured it out. Just a possibility! Make sure if there's carpeting, you spray everything, then shampoo and vacuum. Hardwood floors are a little trickier. I had to keep bedroom/bathroom doors closed for a while because I think regardless of whether or not he smelled Bucky, he wanted to mark his territory. That helped until he got used to everything. We've been settled in well over a month now & haven't experienced any issues for quite a while. Good luck!