Dog is marking

saacjw

My 8 year old miniature poodle has started acting out in the last week or so. Every time we leave to do something like go to the grocery store, or even when we ran down to the laundry room (gone for 5 minutes), she pees or poops in the house. We take her out before we leave to go most places, but even when we do that, she still waits for us to leave before marking. Even when we're home, if we don't keep the bedroom door closed, she'll sneak into the room and mark on the bed. She used to do this when she was younger, but since my husband and I took her (she was with his parents from the time she was a puppy until then) it hasn't been a common occurrence until now. 

Any advice? We've started keeping her in a kennel when we go out, but I hate having to do that for extended periods of time. 

LuckyAngel07

First, she's not marking. She's just going to the bathroom inside. Make sure you clean all of the areas she's gone potty with an enzymatic cleaner, which breaks down the waste completely so she can no longer smell where she's gone and think it's okay to go there again.

Back to basics. Housebreaking 101. 

Institute frequent trips outside with loads of praise and rewarding when she does her business. 

Keep her tethered or gated in your presence at all times so she isn't able to sneak off; you can see signs she's getting ready to go and get her outside before she does it inside.

Continue crating her when you're not at home to monitor. Crates aren't cruel, and if you've properly crate trained and your dog isn't anxious, she won't have any issue hanging out in her crate for a few hours. Especially if she gets a yummy treat when she goes in.

I'd absolutely recommend a trip to the vet first though, to rule out anything medical that's caused her to revert to going indoors. 

aggiebug

I also recommend a complete physical and bloodwork to make sure it is not a medical condition causing these changes.