If you have a dog, you’re familiar with the annoyance of entering a room only to discover a pool of urine or a large turd.
spot on the carpet
And although this is a typical and frequent issue with dogs, it remains unpleasant to handle. Nicole Ellis, a certified professional dog trainer (CPDT-KA) and an expert in pet lifestyles, notes that
Rover
, provides the following suggestions for halting a
a dog from urinating indoors
, allowing you to dedicate more time to play and less time with cleanup.
Begin Monitoring Your Pet’s Actions
Record observations of your dog’s actions such as feeding times, sleep patterns, hydration habits, and bathroom activities. “By doing this, you can monitor how long they wait before relieving themselves and establish routines for better outcomes,” suggests Ellis. Helping your canine companion urinate outdoors might just require synchronizing their toilet breaks with their natural day-to-day cycle.
Use Positive Reinforcement
As soon as your puppy eliminates outdoors, make sure to reward them immediately. You can offer dog treats, gentle tummy rubs, or engage in some playful interaction. Such positive reinforcements help strengthen the notion that outdoor eliminations are desirable and promote this behavior further.
Make certain to offer rewards immediately after it occurs, ensuring they grasp it’s for urinating outdoors rather than entering the room or another action. While they’re learning, slowly reduce the treats over time. In the meantime, celebrate greatly whenever they perform this task outside.
Keep Your Dog in the Room with You
Keep your puppy close until they’re completely housetrained. This way, you can spot the signs of an accident early and swiftly take them outdoors to conclude. Afterward, promptly praise them so they learn that relieving themselves outside leads to positive reinforcement.
Keep Your Dog Constrained When You’re Away From Home
If dogs are left unattended, accidents tend to occur more frequently. When you’re away from home, using a dog crate, an enclosed pen, or a small room can help manage these incidents. Since dogs generally avoid urinating near their sleeping or playing areas, restricting their space can reduce the likelihood of such occurrences.
You might want to consider putting them in a location where going is permitted, like a designated dog park or acrate equipped with a potty training mat.
Handle a Young Puppy in a Way That Is Different From an Older Dog
Both puppies and senior dogs tend to have more mishaps, though probably due to distinct causes, as per Ellis. Puppies require training to distinguish between indoor elimination and outdoor relief. It’s essential to demonstrate to the puppy where they should relieve themselves outdoors and provide regular opportunities for them to do so.
Older dogs might not be able to retain their bladder for as long as they used to. Regardless, it’s important to keep up with giving them rewards. The crucial factor here is modifying the schedule for taking your dog outdoors.
Identify If Anxiety Is the Actual Problem
Certain dogs urinate indoors due to feelings of nervousness, anxiety, or excessive enthusiasm. Both young pups and senior canines might exhibit this behavior. Your pet could be responding to thunderous sounds like raised voices, unfamiliar people, emergency vehicle sirens, or various “frightening” circumstances. Should such incidents happen, pinpoint the scenario instigating your dog’s distress or overexcitement.
You can assist your dog by gradually acclimating them to various people or circumstances they might encounter, or reducing such fear-inducing experiences whenever feasible. For certain canine companions,
a thunder jacket
helps ease anxiety.
Have Your Dog Fixed
“Marking” objects around the house is quite typical, particularly among unneutered male dogs. This behavior can be prompted by several factors such as relocating to a new residence, bringing in a new canine companion, or even
new furniture
— It usually happens because an unspayed or unfixed dog experiences hormonal influences and endures stress as a result.
Spaying and neutering usually reduces the inclination of dogs to lift their legs and urinate indoors as a marking behavior.
Eliminate a Possible Medical Issue
Ellis indicates that your veterinarian can identify whether the issue stems from aging, behavioral problems, or a medical condition such as a urinary tract infection. Sudden incidents outside of their normal routine, increased frequency of urination, and vocalizing while urinating are all indicators that something might be wrong.
Avoid Doing These Three Things If Your Dog Peeing Indoors Becomes an Issue
-
Ignore the problem.
Appropriate instruction or medical care ought to assist in identifying the reason. Ellis indicates that the majority of dogs can learn toilet training. -
Leave any pee behind.
If you fail to use an efficient enzyme cleaner every time your dog has an incident, they might keep being drawn back to that location and probably urinate there once more. Make sure to clean the area thoroughly.
Eliminate all signs of urine
Here are several approaches to
eliminate the pet odor from the carpet
. -
Reprimand or shout at your dog.
Avoid using fear as motivation—it can boomerang spectacularly. Rather than escalating your volume, swiftly take your dog outdoors to complete their tasks.
About the Expert
Nicole Ellis
is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer (CPDT-KA) and an expert in pet lifestyle with
Rover
.
