Dog uses basement as his personal bathroom

[Astraia]

And it's driving me INSANE!

It's a finished basement. Our laundry, storage, canned goods are all down there- as well as our TV and play area for our daughter.

We don't use the area much in the winter because it's really cold, but now that things are heating up it's the ideal place to be... except that it reeks, and if we're downstairs without the dog he whines and carries on constantly but if he's down there with us he'll pee/poo instantly.

If the door to the basement is ever left open accidentally (like last night) then I have tons of work to do. I just spent 45 minutes mopping up, disinfecting, deodorizing and I'm seriously irritated.

It's laminate flooring, so it seems to seep between the cracks. I can never get the smell out. We've ruled out health problems. He's been housetrained for nearly 2 years now, and we never had problems like this until we moved to this house (the previous owners had a dog and they put in the laminate).

I've fed him down there, we tried crating him down there at night, we play down there sometimes to try to make it feel more "homey" but nothing is working.

Anything I can try to make him stop? Or are my only options to rip up the laminate or keep him out permanently (and cleaning up whenever he manages to get down)?

[North_Of_60]

It's possible that, because the room hasn't been used much, that it's outside of his housing boundaries, and doesn't view it as a living space, thus it's perfectly acceptable to eliminate there. Is he a small breed? Sometimes small breeds have a hard time viewing a WHOLE house as "living space". It's a common problem with dogs who are confined to certain areas, or who have rooms off limits to them - they'll eliminate there because it's not seen as a living space to them.

To them, it's no different than taking them outside to pee. It's so far removed from where he spends the majority of this time, that it's no different from the yard or street.

You basically have retrain him to area the same as you would with any other pottying. I would take him outside, on a leash, and praise for a pee/poop outside, then take him down stairs, on a leash, and supervise him CLOSELY. Take him outside OFTEN, and always praise and reward when he goes. He will learn that by spending time down there, and getting rewarded for going OUTSIDE, that the space is actually meant for living, not defecating. He'll get it, but the only way to do that is to actually let him spend time in there. If you closely watch him and take him outside, you'll essentially re-condition his thinking and he'll learn that the space is not for eliminating.

The key though, will be to have him so closely monitored that he won't ever get the opportunity to attempt going there, WHILE he gets rewarded for going where you want him to.

[Katie T]

Originally Posted by North_Of_60

It's possible that, because the room hasn't been used much, that it's outside of his housing boundaries, and doesn't view it as a living space, thus it's perfectly acceptable to eliminate there. Is he a small breed? Sometimes small breeds have a hard time viewing a WHOLE house as "living space". It's a common problem with dogs who are confined to certain areas, or who have rooms of limits to them - they'll eliminate there because it's seen as a living space to them.

To them, it's no different than taking them outside to pee. It's so far removed from where he spends the majority of this time, that it's no different from the yard or street.

You basically have retrain him to area the same as you would with any other pottying. I would take him outside, on a leash, and praise for a pee/poop outside, then take him down stairs, on a leash, and supervise him CLOSELY. Take him outside OFTEN, and always praise and reward when he goes. He will learn that by spending time down there, and getting rewarded for going OUTSIDE, that the space is actually meant for living, not defecating. He'll get it, but the only way to do that is to actually let him spend time in there. If you closely watch him and take him outside, you'll essentially re-condition his thinking and he'll learn that the space is not for eliminating.

The key though, will be to have him so closely monitored that he won't ever get the opportunity to attempt going there, WHILE he gets rewarded for going where you want him to.

Great post! I needed this advise as well! : ) Thanks!

[Astraia]

Thank you very much! It wasn't the quick fix that I was so hoping for but it does make perfect sense.

It's going to be hard to balance with everything else going on in my house every day, but I'll do my best. We need to teach him to eliminate in a different part of the yard now anyway (we put in a sandbox and garden) so this will hopefully do both at once!

[shesaidboom]

I'm not sure what would work to get the smell out besides re-tiling the basement since it has gone between the tiles, but that can definitely be contributing as well. If he can smell the pee there he will likely think that is a place he is supposed to be peeing and will likely go again. Hopefully someone will be able to share some better cleaning advice because that would help too!