The fact is this: A dog does not want to deficate or urinate where it lives. If it does this, then the problem is either medical (urinary tract infection, old age incontinence, renal failure) or it's because they were taught to go potty in the house.
Here is a great example: Snowball was an 11 month old Spitz (American Eskimo) dog. He had been going potty in the house for 7 months since the owners got him from the shelter. Snowball had a room of his own in the house (an actual bedroom) where he was confined at night. In the morning, the owners would take him immediately to a small kennl outside where he was supposed to go potty. Sometimes Snowball would spend a couple of hours outside in the "bathroom" but after he was brought inside the house-the general living area-he would go potty.
The owners were frustrated to no end. They had sheets and blankets all over the house so that when the dog went potty, it would at least be on something that could be washed.
Here is the logic of the problem: A dog does not want to go potty in its den. In this case, Snowball had two dens.; the bedroom where he slept and the kennel outside. The only place left to potty was in the house. Snowball never went potty in his bedroom!
When the owners learned of this they were advised (by us) to take Snowball out for a walk in the morning (rain or shine or tornado) and then again two more times during the day and before bed.
It tooks less than 10 days to resolve the problem. The problem was Snowball's owners, not Snowball. This is a good example for many people experiencing a potty training issue. For some it is not the answer, but for everyone it is a good example of how people can look right past the issue instead of trying to hear the whispers of their canine companion!
