My pup is just over 6 months. I thought he was housebroken, but as I started to give him more freedom I'm finding he is soiling indoors quite a bit. It was just urine up till now, but this morning he had a bowel movement indoors. Any ideas what may be causing this?

I'm gussing he doesn't view it as his den yet, and so thinks it's the same like outside (since he doesn't go at all in the area he has had access to before). How can I explain to him that indoors is never ok?

And just for further info, he goes in the same spot outside. I give him commands to eliminate. He had just eliminated outside about 15 mintues before the accident this morning and gave no signs that he wanted to go out again.

 Quote: Stephanie Wilson

My pup is just over 6 months. I thought he was housebroken, but as I started to give him more freedom I'm finding he is soiling indoors quite a bit. It was just urine up till now, but this morning he had a bowel movement indoors. Any ideas what may be causing this?

He's not house trained yet, and you are giving him too much freedom.
If you can't be directly supervising him when in the house, keep him crated or tethered to you. You don't want this to become a habit. Don't rely on signs from the dog that he needs to go again...

Also, if he's peeing more frequently than usual, you may want to take a sample to the vet to be sure he doesn't have a bladder infection...

When he goes outside, really make a big deal out of it; as Connie likes to say 'Throw a party!'

Make sure you are giving him plenty of opportunity to relieve himself outside; you don't say what kind of pup, but smaller breeds can take longer to become reliable in the house... (and so can larger breeds that are given the opportunity to pee inside! )

He is a GSD mix. How do I know when he is ready for more freedom then? As I said, I thought he was ready. At some point I want him to have freedom in the house.

It was about 7 months, for my dog, when the light seemed to turn on re potty training. Up until then, although she'd gone a long while without peeing inside, I just didn't feel that she was reliable enough without close supervision. Obviously it's different for each dog, but for sure you want to be very diligent now to keep him under close supervision, to avoid creating a bigger problem down the road.

Once the light went on for my dog, she has never had an accident in the house...
(I know that's kind of vague, sorry!)

Even if toilet training weren't an issue, a 6 month old large breed pup shouldn't be left unsupervised in the house anyway. They are an adolescent and will very likely get into some sort of mischief.

I like to keep the youngster close by attaching to me with a leash as much as possible when not actively focusing my attention on the pup. When that would be difficult, then put him in the crate or in a safe outside pen.

There is no magic time or age when he will be able to have the free run of the house. Instead, have each increment be earned. Some pups will relive themselves more than once in a short period of time. After toileting outside, and you've been exhuberent in your praise; engage in some outside play time to be sure the pup has emptied himself. Supervised indoor free time should follow, but as he displayed 15 minutes was long enough for him to relieve himself again, crate him or tether him to you before the 15 minutes are up. Gradually increase his supervised free time. No unsupervised free time should be allowed at this age, and especially as he has been allowed to toulet indoors. Each time your dog has toileted in the house, increases the time it will take for him to be toilet trained. It takes longer to unlearn the habit if toileting in the house, than the toilet training to outside would have taken if he had not been allowed to go inside at all.

I regularly raise and train GSD guide dogs and service dogs from as young as 7-10 wks to 18-24 mo. I have only one young pup at a time, so I can devote my attention to its early development. I usually have no more than one slip up per pup, and often not even one; as indoors the pup is never let wander off by himself unsupervised.

 Quote: lynne barrows

... He's not house trained yet, and you are giving him too much freedom. ... If you can't be directly supervising him when in the house, keep him crated or tethered to you. You don't want this to become a habit. Don't rely on signs from the dog that he needs to go again...

Huge gigantic neon ditto. Not jumping on you (because it's very common!), but this is handler error. That's good, actually; you can fix it!

This: "I'm finding he is soiling indoors quite a bit. It was just urine up till now, but this morning he had a bowel movement indoors" is explaining exactly how you let an unwanted habit become entrenched.

As mentioned, I'd drop off a urine spec at the vet's. Also, was the poop diarrhea?

And I'd pretend he was a new puppy and take him out so often that there is never any need for him to go inside. And yes, throw a party for each outdoor potty. A backsliding dog is so much easier and faster to bring back up to speed -- that you shouldn't become discouraged over this advice at all. (I've had to start over. Many of us have.)

And tethering to you is something that I wish we could somehow make a big flashing billboard about. There is nothing like it for jump-starting potty-training, bonding (with a new dog), and aiding in environmental management.

Giving him only the freedom he is ready for is really setting him up for success.

 Quote: Joy van Veen

... Some pups will relive themselves more than once in a short period of time. After toileting outside, and you've been exhuberent in your praise; engage in some outside play time to be sure the pup has emptied himself.

I also walk either all around the yard with the one who goes in increments to get the peristalsis going before we go back inside.