crate trained and mostly house trained dog going in house????
 

our 2 1/2 yr old male GSD seems to believe our daughter's room is part of the outside (even though it's upstairs and obviously, at least to us, in the house). he will not poop anywhere else in the house (well once he did in our room but it was liquid, literally, so we're sure that was an accident). but if is able to gain access to her room he will poop in there. usually we close her door because this has happened 2x before. but last night i went in to kiss my daughter good night, and i thought he would be ok since i was in there with him and the other times he had snuck up to use her room, but i turned around from kissing her and there he was hunched over one of her dolls. I know i read somewhere that dogs will not go anywhere that they think is part of their house. but how can i let him know her room is part of the house if i can't let him in there even with me? any advice? (and he's 111 lbs so picking him up when he starts to poop is out of the question) oh and one time he also peed in there, and has never peed anywhere else in the house. my MIL thinks it may be a dominance issue with our 3 yr old daughter but he shows nothing but affection and concern for her if she cries.
thanks in advance for ANY advice you can give.

Anne

What have you cleaned the stains with? If a dog can smell ANY remenance of poop or pee they will continue to use the same location. You need an enzyme cleaner - there are special ones for animal accidents - this will break down the scent that's there.
I would try and spend more time in there with him and your daughter. Do you have a rocking chair or something? Sit in the room and read your daughter a book; this will help him understand that this room is part of the house. If he begins to sniff and look for a place to go quickly take him outside. If you catch him while he prepares his "stance" to go, tell him loudly "NO!!" clap you hands or something and take him outside immediately. Praise him if he goes outside!
Hope that helps a little! :)

thanks for responding so fast. we've just been using the solution that came with our kirby vacuum cleaner actually. but i don't think that's exactly it. see it's not that he went up and sniffed around and smelled his stain and went again. when i removed the baby gate from the steps (there to keep both the dog AND my 10 month old downstairs lol) he BOUNDED up the steps and into her room, almost as if he knew he could go in there and poop. and he went about 2 feet away from where he went last time. i do intend to get a good cleaner for the rug next time i am out though. nature's miracle is one i've heard good things about (never worked for our cat tho lol he'd still go in the same spot over and over and over). and i still don't get why he wouldn't go outside. i took him was outside for about 5-10 minutes. then came in cuz he wouldn't go. then he started whining at the door, so my husband took him out. he came back about 5 min later and said the dog tried to chase a cat and that's probably why he was whining. that's when i went upstairs to kiss my daughter.
i will definitely try your method of introducing the room as part of the house though. can't hurt to try. i'll make sure my husband is there. he can be the take charge man should the dog try anything, which he undoubtedly will.
i'll let you know how it works out

Anne

Hi there. SammieC's advice is bang-on, IMHO. Our Phoebe learned to go outside fairly quickly, but because we kept her only on the main floor, she had a problem with peeing in the bedrooms upstairs and in the basement. After a couple of times, we realized that a) she was probably kept in an upstairs bedroom when she was born, which is why she'd consistently go back there to pee, or b) she didn't realize that those 2 areas were part of the house. We started introducing her to those areas under CLOSE supervision :rolleyes: . It didn't take her long to stop peeing there once she realized that we actually LIVE there, too! :p

We have a puppy and a young (11 mth old) baby as well. Ain't it fun?! :D

lol yep having the 2 is real fun. don't know what i'd do without my 3 yr old. she pushes the baby in the stroller when i take the dog out (dh works all the time) don't know what i'm going to do in winter time. yikes. probably break out the playpen for the baby. i can trust my other one (she'll be 4 in jan) to watch cartoons (or come with me if it's not terribly cold) for 2 min or so. guess sunday i will try supervising the dog in her room. definitely need DH to be there in case he starts trying to go. with a baby would never get the dog fast enough and then get him downstairs lol. and dh works 11am-12am tomorrow so 13 hours, poor guy. i'll post sunday and let you know if he behaved or not lol

Anne

There is something called Natures Miracle. This stuff is Awesome! You clean the area with it and it takes the odours away. You can buy it at any pet store and I also saw it at Canadian Tire.

Heather

I would teach him to stay out of that room completely, clean the room, keep the door closed, and if you don't teach him to keep out of it, you should watch him and have him in a sit or down position at all times. Feeding him in that room can eliminate the problem, but I'm not sure if that is an option.

hi spoiled, yes we do keep the door closed and even keep a baby gate at the bottom of the steps in case my 3 yr old forgets to close it when she comes down in the morning (she wakes up after me lol) but she's usually pretty good. we never did get a chance to try the other suggest yesterday about reading stories to our child in there with him. maybe try that tonight if DH isn't too tired. he always comes home from work exhausted. and walmart didn' carry natures miracle and with 2 kids i didn't want to make a 2nd stop. do you know if that out! stuff works? it claims to clean urine, feces, and vomit among other stains. i can't remember if it says it removes the smell to the animal tho. i think so

Anne