Lab suddenly using bathroom in the house. Help!

[ScottyDoesntMow]

Hi everyone. New member. I joined specifically because we have a problem. Back in August, we adopted a black lab from a shelter here in Southern California. He's around 2.5 to 3 years old. He was very timid, but opened up well after about a week in our house. Up until the end of October, he was great. Then, he started pooping on the carpet downstairs in the middle of the night. Soon after that, he started peeing inside as well. It's always right around the same spot, and it doesn't seem to matter whether he goes outside or not. Lately, he's been not going when we take him out for a walk, and pooping downstairs as soon as we go to bed. We don't hit him, but we do scold him when we discover his messes and put him outside. We're on the verge of putting him in a crate at night. However, him and our other dog (an older husky) are also home about 4 to 6 hours during the day while we're at work. Keeping him locked up that long just isn't an option, and neither is keeping him out back as he's digging under the fence into the neighbors yard. Any advice would be much appreciated!

Sorry if this is in the wrong forum. It's my first day here.

[POPTOP]

Hello and Welcome!

First, use an enzymatic cleaner, like Nature's Miracle. Even though you can't smell anything does not mean he can't. That should help with his going in the same spot.

Scolding after the fact does no good. He is unable to connect a previous action to what you are doing to him now. Dogs live in the now, not in the past.

Do crate. A dog will not soil it's own bed. 4-6 hours is not too bad as long as the crate is big enough. A crate should be his safe zone, his home, his den. Don't leave him outside, too many bad things can happen especially if he's already digging under the fence.

Start with puppy potty training 101. Out often and when he goes, tons of praise, even a treat. You can teach a potty word at the same time if you like, kinda like a cue to go. Out first thing in the morning, after meals, every 2 hours, before bedtime. The key to this is to make going outside a fabulous thing, party time, all positive.

Good luck.

[Snowshoe]

Since he was ok for a couple of months and then this started I think I might Vet to see if there is a physical problem. It does sound more emotional maybe, as if something outside frightened him? Guessing. But a trick I used in potty training puppy might help you. If he chooses the same spot all the time, as well as proper cleaning mentionned by POPTOP, you might try feeding him in that spot. Usually they don't like to pee or poop where they eat. Of course he might just pick another spot but it's worth a try?

[Labradorks]

Hi everyone. New member. I joined specifically because we have a problem. Back in August, we adopted a black lab from a shelter here in Southern California. He's around 2.5 to 3 years old. He was very timid, but opened up well after about a week in our house. Up until the end of October, he was great. Then, he started pooping on the carpet downstairs in the middle of the night. Soon after that, he started peeing inside as well. It's always right around the same spot, and it doesn't seem to matter whether he goes outside or not. Lately, he's been not going when we take him out for a walk, and pooping downstairs as soon as we go to bed. We don't hit him, but we do scold him when we discover his messes and put him outside. We're on the verge of putting him in a crate at night. However, him and our other dog (an older husky) are also home about 4 to 6 hours during the day while we're at work. Keeping him locked up that long just isn't an option, and neither is keeping him out back as he's digging under the fence into the neighbors yard. Any advice would be much appreciated!

Sorry if this is in the wrong forum. It's my first day here.

Vet would be a good first step.

And, nothing wrong with crating at night. Puppies are crated throughout the day and at night as well and frankly, most dogs don't move much all night. So, as long as he is comfortable it is not a big deal.

Your dog sounds like he could have some anxiety, so scolding him and throwing him outside won't do anything. Even the most emotionally healthy dog has no clue what the scolding is for if you don't catch him and I'm willing to bet your dog is not trying to be bad. Something is going on.

[ScottyDoesntMow]

Thanks for the replies! So, crating at night and then later during the day (I leave for work at around noon, my S/O usually gets home around 5 or 6) would be okay? It seems like he'd only have maybe 5 or 6 hours outside of the crate...

[Labradorks]

Thanks for the replies! So, crating at night and then later during the day (I leave for work at around noon, my S/O usually gets home around 5 or 6) would be okay? It seems like he'd only have maybe 5 or 6 hours outside of the crate...

Crating is just a management tool, it's temporary while you figure out what the issue is and work on it.

[Tanya]

if he gets the all clear at the vet, then i'd go back to house training 101. limit his movements (baby gates, crates, closing doors) and take him out regularly to praise. if he is pooping at night i'd consider his schedule and see if anything can be moved around to get him to poop before bed (evening walk, feeding earlier, etc.).

Clean with odor neutralizing products.
praise when he goes and start training to go on command.
make sure you know he IS going outside. maybe he's a wuss about the cold and not going.

[ScottyDoesntMow]

if he gets the all clear at the vet, then i'd go back to house training 101. limit his movements (baby gates, crates, closing doors) and take him out regularly to praise. if he is pooping at night i'd consider his schedule and see if anything can be moved around to get him to poop before bed (evening walk, feeding earlier, etc.).

Clean with odor neutralizing products.
praise when he goes and start training to go on command.
make sure you know he IS going outside. maybe he's a wuss about the cold and not going.

Southern California doesn't really have a good appreciation of what "cold" really is lol. We're currently limiting his movements while we're out of the house. We set up a gate in a little 4x4 area off of our kitchen, and we put his big fluffy bed in there. Hopefully that will be okay until we get a kennel for him. He's not a huge fan of it, obviously, but he's been getting a lot of positive attention while he's in there and positive reinforcement on his walks. So far so good on day 1.

[Abulafia]

Yes, do crate. Our 6 month old sleeps in a crate, is in the car in a crate, and goes to work w/ my husband... where sometimes she is crated. It's her safe spot, here den. A few times recently we've realized that we haven't even latched her crate at night, but she doesn't come out until the morning. It's her place, and she won't every soil it. We started this when we brought her home at just under 8 weeks, and she's been there every night.

It's not a punishment. It's a safe place. I know that might sound wacky (I'd have thought so, a little over a year ago), but it's freaking true. We even tried to move her into a too-large crate (a "cage," really) a couple weeks ago, and she couldn't settle at night. It was too large, and she didn't like it. We had to pull her den in to the bedroom (from the garage!) at about 4:30 one morning. She walked right in, flopped down, sighed, and started snoring.

Good luck! Sounds like maybe anxiety and a need for some training. I hope this goes well for you.

[smartrock]

I'm in agreement with the others about using the crate at night as well as when you're at work, at least until this issue clears up. I know some people aren't keen on crating for that length of time. Your confining him to a 4'x4' space might be fine. If he still goes in one area and sits in the opposite corner, I'd try just the crate. It will be OK for your lab to be crated and your husky to be uncrated at the same time. Every dog is different and can be trusted to have freedom at different times. You probably do not know what his life was like before you adopted him- 2-3 years of haphazard or no training or frightening training or spending all day outside may have lead to some of the behaviors you're seeing now. Even thought he's technically an adult, you should probably act like he's a puppy. As long as he has no physical health reason for his behavior and cannot help what he's doing, then restricting his movements and teaching him to understand what you want is a kindness as well as a necessity.

I agree with not scolding him if you find an accident in the house. Since he is sneaking off to do it, I think on some level he knows it's not a good thing anyway. If you catch him in the act, then you can certainly react to startle him and take him right outside. If it happened even 5 minutes ago, he won't understand the connection between the act of peeing or pooping and your reaction to finding a pile of poop, dragging him over to it and scolding him. That would only increase his anxiety about the situation and you don't want him to decide to just eat the poop to avoid the punishment.

I hope things improve for you all!