Sounds like she is the dominant personality in the mix and making sure you both know it. Some obed classes would certinaly help.

In the meantime, crate her and keep the bedroom door closed.

Alexa

To make my long response, short.

You have a one year old dog that is acting like a puppy. You have failed, for one reason or another, in getting this dog potty trained. To fix this, you need to back up, and completely start over in the potty department, or you will NEVER get it under control. Yes, this means starting all over with the crate.

Keep in mind that your dog is not going to be considered house trained, until there are NO accidents for 9 months. Straying away from this theory and goal is a huge mistake.

You do need to rule out completely a UTI, this will require a simple test.

And yes, I can help you if you want it, I have a simple five step systematic approach that has worked for me and lots of others. Let me know.

SG

I have a dog that sometimes does the same thing----the reason is neglect. If I get busy and do not walk/play/socialize with the dog at least 4 times a week, he does that.

Spending twenty minutes a day, even every other day, solves that tendency---for us, anyway.

I do not crate my dogs, as they are guard and watch dogs, and crating them prevents them from those jobs. I do keep the bedroom door closed when we are gone, or if the social time is lacking. When he gets the necessary interaction, he has never done the deed.

So SG,if you have a 5 step systematic approach that works why not post it here? A lot of people here might benefit from it.

She is telling you in the strongest way possible that SHE -- not your boyfriend is to be the center of your life. The sent of her urine marks the mattress as hers...not his. You are also hers...not his. She's practically yelling her message but because you don't speak dog you think it's a housebreaking problem. It's not. It's a question of ownership and dominance. Right now she is winning.

Consult a behaviorist if at all possible. You could also check with Pap rescues and see if someone would be willing to talk to you about it. These issues come up in rescue dogs. I had two sisters who competed for who could pee on my bed the most often and they were 55 pounds!

Until then I would encourage him to make friends with her and provide treats, be the one to feed her and have him take her for walks. Establish him as a member of the pack and one that its ok to like. Be sure you give her a lot of attention when he's around.

Until you can get the problem solved you could put the little bugger in diapers. You can use premie size and cut a hole for her tail. If she wants to play the dominance game it will let her know that you can deal the cards too.

Peace,
Jane and the Hole in the Wall Gang

Are you still reading here?

I don't think it has anything to do with housebreaking. I think Janegael is onto something -- it has a lot more to do with your BF monopolizing you and your time.

To help change her feelings I would:

- Work on brushing up her general obedience training. If she hasn't had that training, enroll her in a good all-positive class and practice every day. If she has had it, give her lots of cues for behavior here and there throughout the day and lots of teensy treats and praise for doing what you ask. You might also consider teaching her some fun tricks if she already knows her obedience.

- Be sure to spend some time walking her and playing with her every day. She needs "me" time.

To break the habit so she forgets about it I would:

- Keep the bedroom door shut at all times when you're not in there.

- Get her some little girl dog panties that fit her properly. Line them with a thick Kotex so if she does pee it won't get on the bed, or the carpet, or the furniture. It will instead keep her skin damp, which she will probably not like. This can help discourage going in the house with some dogs. It is not a substitute for taking her out regularly, of course. But it will protect your bed.

I would keep these last two things up all the time for the next six weeks minimum. It takes at least 6 weeks to break or establish a habit, IME.

An untreated UTI can easily last months. Just think about it- if it has never been treated why would it go away?

I would definitely have the dog checked out by a vet. I'm sorry, but an owner cannot diagnose a medical problem especially without labwork such as at least a urinalysis. Also young dogs can have congenital problems that cause increased urination. UTIs are not the only reason that a dog would be inappropriately urinating- other serious and even potentially life threatening diseases can cause inappropriate urination, and these problems can sometimes be treated or even cured. But not without seeing a vet.

If the vet rules out medical causes for inappropriate urination, then the advice given here for potty training is very good. But only after medical causes are ruled out by the vet. I've thought my own dogs have been relapsing in housebreaking before, but a simple urine culture told me otherwise. Gave K'Ehleyr an 8 week course of antibiotics (she is older, so needed a longer course) and the problem was solved, as confirmed by the second urine culture. K'Ehleyr always preferred the rug by my back door, so it seemed very behavioral, but it was not.

Be careful with the doggie panties. Urine scald can easily result from urine on the skin for any period of time. Frequent bathing would be necessary. If this is not possible or practical then do not use doggie panties.

I agree with Meghane, you need to rule out a UTI along with other training techniques to correct this.

Believe me, you DO NOT want a full blown UTI to deal with. It is NOT FUN and panties could easily contribute to this due to the urine drying around the vulva area.

My problem fur child has had a history of UTI (long story). Bottom line, I switched her diet to a high quality hypo allergic food, and religiously clean her "lady part" every evening before bed. This has kept her from getting re-infected since September (thank's doggie god, I always say this when I discuss this subject, and I only do it very briefly so not to jinks it).

SG

Hi I have a 12 week old papillon she is not spayed. I'm haveing the same problem your having. we are in still in the process of house breaking she has her days when she has no accidents in the house. Just recently she has been peeing on the bed while we sleep. Now the easy solution put her in a crate but I don't want to do that at night she's our ears at night lol. I was wondering seeing that you posted this in 2008 i was wondering if and how you overcame this problem that you were having thank you

Hi I have a 12 week old papillon she is not spayed. I'm haveing the same problem your having. we are in still in the process of house breaking she has her days when she has no accidents in the house. Just recently she has been peeing on the bed while we sleep. Now the easy solution put her in a crate but I don't want to do that at night she's our ears at night lol. I was wondering seeing that you posted this in 2008 i was wondering if and how you overcame this problem that you were having thank you