house training question- Please help.

[MeiMei's Master]

I had a dog when i lived in an apartment and she was trained after 1 month. ( was a mini schnauzer)
Now i have a different breed but i'm wondering if anyone has any suggestions. I'm still new to dog ownership, only has the other dog 4 months then the inlaws decided they loved her more.

Here is the info about my dog
DOB- Jan 20th 2011
Took her home April 10th 2011
Female
Breed- Wheaten Terrier

She doesn't pee in the crate or in the kitchen when gated. Sometimes she'll pee in excitement when we get home. Solution take her outside immediately then greet her.

But it's the peeing everywhere else in the house. She pees in the basement and poos.. and upstairs I have a back split she is usually on the main level doesn't pee there but goes up stairs and down stairs to go. I have a pretty good eye on her but she does sneak away.

I do have a cat. We caught the dog peeing the cat litter the other day.

So please help me with solutions. She isn't fixed yet as she isn't 6 months yet, but she will be fixed probably by 7 months though.

How to i get her to understand that upstairs and downstairs are also part of the "den"?

One last detail. I'm potty training a 2 year old so she occaisionally has an accident and i have a 6 month old so there are soiled diapers in the house. I'm just wondering if the scent of these guys might be throwing her off, I don't have a fancy diaper waste system.

Suggestions?

[Winston]

I would reccomend tethering her to you at all times! this way you can observe her and take her out when needed. I would go back to the basics and start fresh. Outside every 2 hours at least, after meals and as soon as they wake up! You can use baby gates to keep her out of unwanted areas!

Good Luck

[2Greatbulldogs]

Just a perspective that I have heard. We all know dogs are clean animals and don't like to do their business in their 'home'. Its just that their definition of their home may be different than yours. If they are crated or confined to certain areas (not that I disagree with that), they will view those areas as their home. So they will go to the perimeter of those areas and beyond to eliminate. So if your dog rarely ever goes into the dining room, he/she may think thats a perfectly suitable place to go. They do not necessarily see the exterior walls of your house as the deliniating barrier. If your eyes are 8 inches off the floor, you are not going to see a 3000 square foot house as your home. Additionally, the smaller/shorter the dog the smaller the area they view as 'their' home. The housebreaking thing to me is just a reliable, consistent routine that your implement about taking to a certain spot and regular intervals, especially after key events (feeding, waking, etc...) rewarding when they go. You will have accidents training a puppy, but eventually they get it. Good luck.

[MeiMei's Master]

Because i have a back split it's hard to gate off the stairs.. However maybe if i get her to spend more time in those areas it might make a difference?.. or gate her off in those places when i leave .. My problem is though with 3 kids there is a lot of "chew toys" the kitchen is the only "safe" place. I hate shouting to give her the look every 2 seconds to put something down or stop chewing it..

I realize that raising a dog in a house with 2 small children is kinda stupid, it's like having another toddler. I'm determined to figure this out and make it work.

My biggest problems are..
1. nipping.. but it's getting better as her baby teeth are finally falling out, but she still chews everything despite my best efforts to find better options for her.
2. jumping on people ( she's a wheaten i anticipated this)
3. sitting on the 2 smaller kids.. always wants to be in someones lap. SHE IS NOT A LAP DOG..
4. the peeing in other unexplored areas of the house.

I don't think going back to basics will help too much cause i spend most of my day in one place so if she's with me all day she'll be in the places she doesn't pee anyways.. i had almost no problem until she got big enough to go up and down stairs on her own.