Hello all,

My 15 week-old female GSD whom I've had for only 4 days, has had some previous house training. She doesn't relieve herself in her crate, and really hasn't tried to around the house, except...

My wife and i are living in one of our guest rooms while we paint the master bedroom in a home we just moved into. We've never slept in that room. We screwed up and didnt latch the door on her crate. She walked in while we were painting (just small touch-up stuff) and the floor was covered with plastic. She found a spot and peed before we could get a leash on her. Handler error.

Since then, she peed twice more on the plastic. We said "no potty", took her outside, and let her finish, complete with praise (as ususal) after. Of course we cleaned the pee. And the next day, pulled the plastic up. My wife let her in the room off leash (handler error, I keep telling her), and Mia peed again, twice. Again, we cleaned with "Nature's Miracle". Oh, and all of these times were shortly after she'd been outside to pee or poop.

Two questions :

- Why in that room? No problems anywhere else in the house.
- Nature's Miracle seems to be failing me. I can still smell dog pee. Any recommendations on getting that smell out. If I can smell it, Mia must be able to!

Thanks in advance.

- Garrett

Could it be something about the smell of wet paint? Have there been any other cleaners used besides the Nature's Miracle? Both AMMONIA and BLEACH have an odor that can attract animals to it for toileting activities.

I clean with WHITE Vinegar and/or Baking Soda for most things including oder ... it is effective and costs less that Nature's Miracle. Both are natural deoderizers.

In the meantime, I wouldn't let that dog in that room at all, and later on, only on leash until you can be sure of the behaviour.

Well, she's still just a baby after all. 15 weeks is a little young to expect perfect housetraining (hang in there!)...especially if you've only had her for 4 days and she's new the the environment.

What worked for me: Get a drag line or leash and tether her to you for a week or two. Pups will usually give you a very clear signal when they need to go out if they are tethered to you (they don't want to pee right next to a person or another animal). She'll start acting anxious or whiney.

Having her tethered will do LOTS of good things for you, but specifically in housetraining, it will give you the opportunity to have excellent timing in putting her outside...thereby making a much clearer connection in her mind between the need to pee and going outside. Tethering a pup (while you're working on the computer, or watching TV for example) along with crate training are REALLY REALLY good ideas, IMO, on many fronts.

RE: Nature's Miracle.

I've had amazing success with it. What I do is wipe up the pee, then spray the NM on the spot (even stray droplets around the main spot) LIBERALLY and let it stand for a few minutes. Then wipe that up and do a light spray on the spot and let it air dry. I've never had a problem with staining or repeat offenses by doing it this way. For sure, if YOU can smell dog pee then your pup certainly can!!

Good luck, and congrats on the new pup!

PS-It's not unusual for a young pup to pee in the house right after you've taken them out. It's just like human kids who you try to get to use the bathroom and then need to go the minute you're in the car. "WHY didn't you go before we left?!?!"... "But dad, I didn't have to go then!!"

 Quote: Garrett Williams

Two questions :

- Why in that room? No problems anywhere else in the house.
- Nature's Miracle seems to be failing me. I can still smell dog pee. Any recommendations on getting that smell out. If I can smell it, Mia must be able to!

Thanks in advance.

- Garrett

Forgot to address these! It could be what Louanne said...something in the room triggering it like the paint or old animal smells (did you have a dog before that might have peed there? Their snoots are really powerful!)

But probably, she just had an accident in there the first time and, like you said, the smell remained. That would signal to her that it was okay to go there again (there is also some evidence to suggest that the smell actually triggers the need to go in pups.)

At any rate...first thing, get rid of the smell. Do multiple applications of NM (or whatever you go with...NM is my choice) if you need to.

Next thing...tether her. Knowing *why* she did it would be handy, but keeping her from doing it again is handier still! Tether, tether, tether! And latch that crate!

Thanks all. I just need to get my wife on board with the teather idea. Seems like it will solve lots of problems... that and moving her crate so Mia can keep an eye on us when we're home.

Oh, for the vinegar/baking soda idea, what dose or mixture?

Thanks!

We picked up a gallon of Nature’s Miracle for Starbuck.

She seemed to have some trouble with peeing in the house. She would almost always poop outside (only pooped in the house 2 times), but was less on her game with the pee. I would totally soak the spot with Nature’s Miracle; you need it to penetrate into the pad under the carpet. Then I followed the directions on the bottle with the scrubbing and dry towel.

She figured out the pee right after we purchased the gallon, I think we have about 90% of it left.