by Christine
(Lancaster UK)
We got our rottie Bruno from a rescue centre and have had him for 5 weeks.
He is a really well behaved dog and is rarely left alone, however when he is he has chosen the spare room as his toilet and urinates and defecates in there.
However he does not always do it – maybe 3 out of 10 occasions. Can you give me any tips on how to stop this?
Thanks Christine
Hi Christine
I’m not sure how old Bruno is, or whether this is actually separation anxiety or just the fact that he hasn’t really figured out that he’s not supposed to eliminate indoors yet.
I’d strongly recommend that you get a crate and start crate training him. It’s the best way to housebreak a puppy, or a dog of any age, and you can contain him in his crate while you’re gone (how long he can be in there depends on his age and level of bladder/bowel control) and he will be unlikely to soil – unless it’s true and severe separation anxiety. If that happens, I’d suggest checking out this article Separation Anxiety In Your Dog for advice.
Dogs are creatures of habit and as he’s now started the habit of using the spare room to eliminate indoors you need to prevent him from being able to do that until he ‘un-learns’ this habit. Using a crate, closing the door to that room, and supervising him whenever he has free run of the house are all essential.
Housetraining a pup takes a lot of time, patience and consistency… and if he’s an older pup or adult dog it will take a bit extra effort. But by using a crate and being very vigilant there’s no reason why Bruno shouldn’t get the hang of it soon.
Best of luck with him.