Sorry in advance for a long first post.
I have a 2 1/2 yr old Spaniel / border collie mix, spayed, named Toka who seems to be mostly housebroken and I just can't get her to 100%.
I have had her since she was 9 months old. When I first adopted her she was housebroken, only one accident in the first month. Well, she had to be boarded and apparently they weren't the cleanest people. (No I'm never going back again) Anyway, she came back with no regard whatsoever with keeping her areas clean i.e. my kitchen.
Lets fast foward. I got a crate, crate trained her and most of the bathroom problems disappeared. Took her out on a schedule, praise the dickens out of her when she goes outside, treats, the works.
So anyway. A few months ago she hit two, and was allowed free range of the house with no problems. Wonderful. She had stopped chewing and destroying. She was also apparently housebroken.
Fast foward again. I've largely phased out her crate, mainly because she doesn't like it. She would much rather be sleeping anywhere but in her crate. I never once found her in there of her own volition without a treat involved as a bribe. She now sleeps on her pillow in my bedroom, and wakes me if she has to go out. Generally she lasts from 10-7 without any problem. Every once in a great while I'm up at 5, but not often.
On to the problem. Every once in a while for no apparent reason she goes to the bathroom in the kitchen. After she does it once the behavior persists unless I crate her, which I hate doing. I could have just brought her in, she has plenty of opportunities to go outside. She does not go in any other room of the house. Most often it is while I'm either out or next door. I don't want to crate her everytime I leave the house, yet I also don't want to be cleaning the kitchen every day either. It is generally between 7 and 11pm, yet sometimes I can go out to a movie during these times and have no problem. She doesn't generally do it when I'm in the house, she asks to go out. It isn't something I can pin down a reason for.
If I crate her for a few days she stops again for a few weeks. If I clean the kitchen with one of those clorox ready mops she goes almost instantly. Those are the only patterns I've noticed. I'm cleaning up after her with an enzymatic cleaner, and have looked under a blacklight and seen nothing.
I don't really want to try blocking her from the kitchen because I don't know if it is just centered in the kitchen, or if she would transfer the behavior to the other rooms in the house, which would obviously be worse.
Anyway, thanks for reading my long ramble, any suggestions?
--Mia
I have a 2 1/2 yr old Spaniel / border collie mix, spayed, named Toka who seems to be mostly housebroken and I just can't get her to 100%.
I have had her since she was 9 months old. When I first adopted her she was housebroken, only one accident in the first month. Well, she had to be boarded and apparently they weren't the cleanest people. (No I'm never going back again) Anyway, she came back with no regard whatsoever with keeping her areas clean i.e. my kitchen.
Lets fast foward. I got a crate, crate trained her and most of the bathroom problems disappeared. Took her out on a schedule, praise the dickens out of her when she goes outside, treats, the works.
So anyway. A few months ago she hit two, and was allowed free range of the house with no problems. Wonderful. She had stopped chewing and destroying. She was also apparently housebroken.
Fast foward again. I've largely phased out her crate, mainly because she doesn't like it. She would much rather be sleeping anywhere but in her crate. I never once found her in there of her own volition without a treat involved as a bribe. She now sleeps on her pillow in my bedroom, and wakes me if she has to go out. Generally she lasts from 10-7 without any problem. Every once in a great while I'm up at 5, but not often.
On to the problem. Every once in a while for no apparent reason she goes to the bathroom in the kitchen. After she does it once the behavior persists unless I crate her, which I hate doing. I could have just brought her in, she has plenty of opportunities to go outside. She does not go in any other room of the house. Most often it is while I'm either out or next door. I don't want to crate her everytime I leave the house, yet I also don't want to be cleaning the kitchen every day either. It is generally between 7 and 11pm, yet sometimes I can go out to a movie during these times and have no problem. She doesn't generally do it when I'm in the house, she asks to go out. It isn't something I can pin down a reason for.
If I crate her for a few days she stops again for a few weeks. If I clean the kitchen with one of those clorox ready mops she goes almost instantly. Those are the only patterns I've noticed. I'm cleaning up after her with an enzymatic cleaner, and have looked under a blacklight and seen nothing.
I don't really want to try blocking her from the kitchen because I don't know if it is just centered in the kitchen, or if she would transfer the behavior to the other rooms in the house, which would obviously be worse.
Anyway, thanks for reading my long ramble, any suggestions?
--Mia