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Originally Posted by kjc  Sometimes they do that... might just need to go back to keeping him confined to the room you're in, or a smaller area. |
Agree. They do this after a while, especially as they mature. Dogs like to change their potty spots after a time and there are a variety of reasons, some seemingly vestigial behavior. Tibbe does that outside. He'll go in approximately the same spot for a time, moving a little to the right, left, etc. but basically the same 20 foot area and then he goes to another part of the yard for another couple of weeks and works on that 20 foot space. Then, in another 2 weeks or so, he moves his potty place again until he uses the entire perimeter of the yard. He rarely goes in the center of the yard but he does move it all around and every dog I have ever had does this. This is normal dog behavior and nothing you did wrong.
In time, successful training can train this out of a dog just like we train other things we don't like out of them. But it will take a while to retrain the dog's natural behavior inclination. One thing to do is increase the pads in the chosen area and put cardboard sheets or boxes or gates around the area they mostly live in and watch them nonstop during their first year of housebreaking. That's right - watch their every move around their anticipated pee/potty times and confine them when you can - for a year. My last two dogs I trained this way and both were so trained they won't even go when at the vet in the cages unless they are taken outside. They will hold it 12 hours and longer. I wish they wouldn't and I do leave potty pads down when I leave the house but they are never used when I come back.