My dog was housetrained from day one. He was already 9 months old and although I had no history on him, after 2 or three weeks, I pretty much trusted him not to have accidents. I stopped crating him at night and he has slept in the floor by my bed with no problems. I only crate him when I'm not home and can't take him with me. Which is seldom.

I don't make over him or spoil him, but much of my day is spent with him. My kids are older and have their own things they like to do. My boyfriend is around quite a bit, and has taken part in the feeding and walking and such. Ollie loves him...although he tends to let him get by with too much. (We're working on that.)

So, the other night, we were watching a movie late. The kids were with their grandparents and Ollie had already been walked and been taken out to potty for the last time. We woke up after the movie had ended and Ollie had urinated on my rug. I didn't see it, so I couldn't correct him. I just started cleaning it up. I decided to start crating him again at night. No big deal. Well, last night, I came home walked him, fed him, trained a while, then BF comes over. We eat dinner, walk Ollie again and settle in for a movie. We cuddle up...it's about 9pm, and I here him urinating on my floor right in front of us!! He had just been out and relieved himself.

Now, Steve thinks he's jealous, I think that's silly, but could he be becoming anxious that I'm not focusing on him and doing this out of nervousness?? I caught him in it, so I stopped him and gave a stern "NO", took him outside and then crated him, calmly as not to make him think it was a punishment.

I'd like your thoughts on how best to deal with this, or am I doing all I can do? Is this a common behavior?

9 months old is still a young dog.
There could be some underlined anxiety from having your boyfriend around, but I am not to sure about that in all honesty.

I take up my dogs food for the day at about 6PM and their water at about 7 pm. Does the dog have an open water source at night that he could be drinking out of that is making it so he might have to pee in the middle of the night?

What is the length of time you let the dog out to use the bathroom? Sometimes my young dogs will pee several time while outside, because they are more concerned with being outside then using the bath room.

Something else I do with dogs that stated with Thoroughbred racing and something we have to train into our horses....
Thoroughbreds have a pee command. Due in part to if they win a race, their urine is tested for performance enhancing drugs. With most Thoroughbreds it is a series of whistles.
But, with the dogs when they go outside I say "use the bathroom" with the same tone in my voice every time and when they do use the bathroom I say "good boy/girl/dogs".
This helps put the dogs focus in using the bathroom when they get outside first, instead of running around and maybe not doing all their bathroom stuff at once. Then I give them sometime to run the yard before bringing them back in.

Also, are you sure the dog is not showing signs of needing to go outside, or trying to que you that he wants out?
You can also train the dog to que you when he needs to go outside.

Hope some of this helped.
Keep us posted.

I would first rule out a medical condition (such as a bladder infection) that might cause a sudden loss of housebreaking like this.

If that's all good, then pursue training/behavior modification tactics...but I'd start with a quick urine culture just to make sure.

So, just to make sure I have it: you've had this dog for only 3 weeks? If that's the case, you may simply have incorrectly assumed he was housebroken. If he has no bladder infection or other medical issue, then you'll have to start over with housebreaking 101--as if he isn't housebroken, because he isn't.

(btw, I'm not buying "jealousy.")

Thanks for the quick responses.

Dave - The last walk is always around 8pm, and then last pee break around 10pm. Picking up the water bowl is a good idea. He didn't show signs that he had to go. Usually, he whines and goes to the door. The walk is about thirty minutes and fast. Then we play ball...pretty much the whole evening is in and out with him. The last pee break is maybe 10 minutes. Should it be longer?? I will try training a pee command. Good input. Thanks.

Tracy - I'm sorry I was unclear. I adopted Ollie on June 25th. The rescue said approx 9 months old, my vet says probably closer to a year. I will call my vet to get him checked. I didn't consider that. I am going back to square one with housetraining, *sigh*.

I definately don't buy the jealousy theory. But I wondered if it could be anxiety over my attention being directed elsewhere. This was literally no more than 10-15 minutes after coming back inside.

Someone said in another thread just to deal with the behavior and not worry about the "why"s. That's probably what I should do. THanks for all the suggestions.

First things first - check for a UTI.
On that note, my dogs always seem to have to pee at least twice before they are done. I think it has something to do with allowing the bladder to 'shrink' enough to be able to contract enough to empty completly.
Second, is he neutered? If not, this may be due to a testosterone peak. My 10-12 month old boys seem to really have urinary issues about this age. (I even notice that the urine smells stronger). That fades with maturity. I don't normally neuter mine until after 2 years, so I don't know if that would help or hurt. My vet keeps trying to tell me that I should neuter them before that 'peak time.'
I would make sure he has had plenty of time to fully empty his bladder and go from there. And, definatly go back to the basics with housetraining.
Best wishes.

It might be helpful to keep him on a leash when you are sitting there watching tv (since this is when it happened both times) so that you will be more aware of him if he gets up to pee... Hopefully the UTI shed some light! (Had a cat who did this years ago and it was a uti.) Good luck!

Waiting on results from the Vet.

Barbara - Yes, I kept him tethered to me the first two weeks but had stopped that since he was doing so well. We're bck to the drawing board.

Last night I took the water bowl up at around 8pm and crated him at around 10pm. He doesn't mind this so I guess keeping him on leash and crating at night will be the best thing for a while.

Lisa - He is neutered, part of the adoption agreement, but it's been only a month. He is a nuerotic marker...doesn't ever seem to fully relieve himself. He even poops in an odd way. (Lifts his leg and aims at trees and wont poop in the yard at all!)

We had a nice run last night. He has gotten to where he doesn't even look at the dogs we pass along the way. THere are so many...and they are either free to run or chained to a doghouse in the yard. Makes me so sad.

Off topic, I've lost almost 10 lbs. since I got Ollie! A nice bonus to pet ownership I think. ;/

Ok, I'm rambling.

I am sure he will come around. Consistency is key.

Hey, Congratz on losing the 10 pounds. That is wonderful.