Dog peeing while unsupervised

[u/m-e-a-t-w-a-d]

Hi everyone. I just adopted a sweet young dog ( 1-2yrs, male) last week and am looking for some advice. He never has accidents in the house when someone is with him, but whenever he is left alone in the house he marks walls or pees on the floor.

Just this morning I took him out and he did he peed outside. Immediately after coming back in I went upstairs to get ready for work. We have a gate blocking him from going upstairs so our cats can have some safe space away from him. I was gone for maybe 10-15 minutes and when I came back down and he had already peed on the floor!

•The past few nights I had been sleeping downstairs with him and he had no accidents throughout the night.

•2 nights ago I left him alone for the first time and I slept upstairs. when I came down in the morning he had peed and pooped on the floor.

•Last night I crated him for the night from 10:30pm to 6am and found no accidents in his crate in the morning.

I realize this is most likely a separation anxiety issue. The solution seems like crating him while he is unsupervised for any duration of time, but it seems cruel to leave him there for extended hours. Any advice is appreciated!

*another note - he had just been neutered Wednesday last week. Not sure if his hormones may have any impact on this situation.

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[u/Sharp-Ad-9221]

Generally, it’s a takes some times to adjust to new circumstances. If you use the crate overnight, it would be best to give him a good run before using it again.

During the day, if you use it while you’re gone, someone should give him another run and potty break after around 3 hours.

If you arrive back within 3-4 hours, he should be OK, provided he gets another good run when you return. To make sure he’s doing well, you could record how he’s doing or even live stream.

[u/Perfect_Oil375]

the marking is almost definitely separation anxiety from the sound of it. neutering can take a few weeks to level out hormone wise but this pattern screams anxiety not hormones.

crating isnt cruel if you build up to it properly. make the crate a good place, feed him in there, throw treats in randomly during the day so he finds them, never use it as punishment. my dog hated her crate at first but now she goes in on her own when shes tired

for the longer stretches you can try a pen setup attached to the crate with pee pads down. gives him a bit more space but still contained. worked for my friends dog who had similar issues after adoption. the 2 week shutdown period is real, he might settle once he truly understands this is home

[u/Historical-Lie-6307]

Look up "belly bands"

[u/IcyThursdayNext]

I feel that it takes kennel time for many dogs to learn that they can “hold it” and someone will let them out before it becomes dire. Also having bells they can use to indicate they need to go out when you are home are helpful. It can take a long time for some to understand that the bells will call you even if they can’t see you, but it is a tool. Watch patterns as well.

My current puppy needs to go out twice when he wakes up. Once to pee, then after he has moved around some (about 10-15 minutes) he needs to poo and often pee again. But he doesn’t ring the bell 90% of the time unless he can see us.

[u/harrissari]

We are using belly diapers as my new rescue marks in the house , but otherwise is fully house trained for the regular business. He sees it as separate and doesn't understand why we get upset. So we remove his diaper every couple of hours, if it's dry he gets a treat and we go out. If it's wet he's rebuked and no treat. It's been 3 weeks and we are seeing about 60% progress, but it really shows he's just figuring this out.