Peeing in the living room?

[StevePax]

Leo is housetrained. Apparently, though, he's only trained in the kitchen and family room. It's true that those are the two rooms where we spend most of our time, and we very rarely even allow him in the living room since we're not in there. It's a formal front living room, and it really only gets used when guests come. Anyway, a couple of times in the past couple of weeks, he has peed in there in a rare moment before we call him back when he goes in there, I guess. It's not that he doesn't know where to go out - when he wants out in the back yard, he just sits by the big sliding glass door and stares at us until someone opens it for him. But I guess he hasn't extended that training to the living room - we don't spend much time there, so it's okay to pee there? What do we do?

[corgipower]

I would either make it completely off limits or -- and preferably -- I would spend time in there with him. He hasn't learned to generalize the potty training to the entire house yet. The bigger the house, the more difficult that can be. He shouldn't be allowed out of your sight right now - tether him to you if needed.

How old is he?

[StevePax]

He's almost 15 months old, and we've had him since a tiny puppy, so over a year now. And potty training him here was a piece of cake, at least in the family room and kitchen (which are more like one big room, with just a couple of stairs between and different flooring). He's crate trained, and any time we aren't in the room with him he's in the crate. But apparently he has slipped into the living room a time or two and peed. It's very strange, but yeah, I guess he really hasn't generalized the potty training thing yet to the whole house. He's not allowed upstairs where the bedrooms are at all, and likely never will be. Would it help to feed him in there, too?

[MH<3dogs]

Is he neutered?

[StevePax]

Yes, he's neutered. Has been for a long time.

[corgipower]

Originally Posted by StevePax

Would it help to feed him in there, too?

Not necessarily. I think if you just spend time with him in there so he sees it as part of the living environment, he should catch on fairly quickly. But only if you prevent further accidents.

[borzoimom]

Originally Posted by corgipower

I would either make it completely off limits or -- and preferably -- I would spend time in there with him. He hasn't learned to generalize the potty training to the entire house yet. The bigger the house, the more difficult that can be. He shouldn't be allowed out of your sight right now - tether him to you if needed.

My thoughts as well. The dog doesnt see that part of the house as " the main den" of the home. I had this problem with a dog many years ago, and what I did was literally start sleeping in that room for a few days. It stopped fast.. A dog doesn't just see things as " does this place have grass" but more hte principle of it being your place. If you can't watch him, gate the room off. However trying to show that room is still part of the house will probably do the trick. ( same reason some dogs might only go in the dining room if its a room rarely used in the house..)

[Hillside]

Originally Posted by corgipower

Not necessarily. I think if you just spend time with him in there so he sees it as part of the living environment, he should catch on fairly quickly. But only if you prevent further accidents.

I, too was going to say that he does not see that room as part of his home. My dogs have both had the same issue with our media room. Feeding them there has helped quite a bit, though Saga still has accidents there. Right now we have a bunch of stuff stored there, but her crate will be moved down there as soon as it is cleared. (On the plus side, I can have my bedroom back!)