[samanthakathleen]

I have had Nala, my 60 lb female pitbull, since she was 6 weeks old. She's right at 3 years old now.

She has not had an accident inside my apartment in two years--since I moved here. She signals to be let out and holds it all day while I am at work. Likewise, if I bring her to a place where no animals have soiled before, I know I can let her run around free and she will not have an accident. I bring her to work a lot too.

My boyfriend's family has 3 dogs that are completely unhousetrained, if anything, they've trained themselves to use their house as a toilet. None of them go when you take them outside. They will **** or piss on the bed, couch, floor, stairs, whatever, right in front of you. The house smells very bad.

If I don't watch Nala here, she WILL **** and piss on the floor. What gives? It happens very seldom, say once every couple months. I still scold and correct her harshly, but at the same time, can I blame her?

Any advice? She would probably have accidents more frequently there if I didn't keep an eagle eye on her at his house. If I can't keep my eyes on her downstairs, she's in my boyfriend's room where she has never had an accident and I can trust her.

 

[cassied25]

First off, your dog is beautiful and adorable. Second, some dogs have a tendency to pee indoors in places that other dogs have gone before. And since these other dogs seem to have gone to the bathroom everywhere in the house, the chances of her going in a place the other dogs have gone before (or recently went) is quite likely. If this behavior keeps up, I would recommend treating her almost like an untrained puppy when you are at your boyfriend's house. Keep her in a more confined area instead of having the run of the house with the other dogs. If you can help it, try to allow this confined area to be somewhere around where you are (X-pens are great for this), instead of putting her in a room. Also, give her more frequent bathroom breaks (this might help). Another thing-before you go over to the other house, try to take your dog on walk outside or play around a bunch, and then let her go to the bathroom before and after you get there. This may minimize her chances of having to go at the house, and just doing it right where she is standing. Good luck!!

 

[annageckos]

I strongly suggest you stop scalding her harshly if she has an accident. You are not teaching her not to go inside, but rather not to go in front of you. The reason she is going inside is because she can smell the other dog's accidents there. The only thing you could do is tether her to you while in that house to keep an eye on her. You can't really expect her to not go where the other does have soiled.

 

[Thisisme19]

I agree with @annageckos.

First off you should never scold your dog for going to the bathroom, accident or not. If you see her start you can try and get her attention and then quickly usher her outside, otherwise just clean up the accident quietly and go about your business.

Second - You can't reasonably expect your dog to have free reign in a house that smells like a bathroom and not treat it as a bathroom. You're not even talking about a single spot in the house that was soiled a long time ago and you could potentially teach the dog to stay away from. From your description you pup would be bombarded with a 100 places to pee and have to chose not to because of such an arbitrary concept (to the dog anyway) as being inside.