is this an attempt at being mischievous

[racerx520]

we've had our dog, sky (a husky), for about 9 months now. when we first got him he had a couple accidents, or he was attempting to mark his territory inside or something, either way he peed a few times. now it seems hes back to peeing, but he peed on one chair maybe about 3 or 4 times (pee marks on each side by the time he was caught and the chair was noticed) and that room was blocked off and cleaned and now we have noticed another pee spot.
he normally lets me know when he has to go out but i (the youngest sibling) am not home very often and am unsure of how to go about re-enforcing my family to get him to stop peeing.
i have tried telling them that he should be supervised, whenever he paces from room to room (he likes to do that sometimes at random) that he should be put out. he shouldnt be left alone either and when he first wakes up (he sleeps in my brothers room) he needs to go directly outside.
but the other thing i think could possibly be reason for his peeing is retaliation if he isnt being played with enough and this is his attempt to get attention from people (my girlfriend's havanese did this a couple times) or could this just be an attempt at him being mischievous, i have heard huskies like to be just that and am unsure if this could be a reason.

thank you all for your help in advance!
-brian d.

 

[AllieMackie]

Hi Brian, welcome to the boards! In return for our awesome expert advice we demand photos of your pup, you know. J/K of course, but only to a degree - we LOVE photos!

A few quick questions that would help us answer even clearer: Right now, how often is Sky let out to potty over the course of a day? Is there a schedule of sorts for taking him outside, like, same times every day? When he pees inside, is it a trickle or a full-on bladder emptying? The former could be marking, and is sometimes harder to correct when a dog is unaltered, but consistency and patience are key. others may have more advice about marking, I'm no expert on that. Also, is this a recent behaviour, or has it been happening for a while?

As for just pottying inside, seems like you have the right idea regarding when the pup needs to go out (pacing). I would say that at this point, you and your family should really reinforce that going outside to do business is the best thing in the world. Whenever Sky pottys outside, especially pees, treat and praise. Treat him WHILE he's peeing if you can, or at least offer the treat during. That especially enforces that peeing outside = yummy treats and happy owners.

Be sure to clean up indoor messes quickly and efficiently. Don't scold Sky unless he's caught in the act; if you find it later, just clean it up and don't give Sky positive OR negative attention while doing so. Scolding is useless unless done at the moment of the misbehaving. My Finnegan still makes the odd indoor mess, and I clean it up while he watches, but I do not acknowledge him while I do so.

That above advice is just the basic advice for any indoor potty accidents, but it may help with your specific problems. Other folks on here are smarter in the field of marking, teenage behaviours, etc so I'll leave that up to them.

Good luck! Don't forget those pics.