More accidents? What happened to my housetrained puppy?

Or I should say dog. Dax is 11 months old. I posted a while back about how he would poop inside when he gets really excited. Well now there's a new issue. We leave him out at all times during the day, whether we're home or not, but when its time to go to bed, he goes in his crate. He doesn't LIKE it, but I don't think he really hates it. But I feel bad leaving him in there, so I tried leaving him out one night. My boyfriend won't let him sleep in the bedroom with us, which I think would solve the problem, but apparently it isn't an option, so I set up his bed right outside the door and left the door open. He cried and cried until after about 20 minutes I finally decided I'd try closing the door to see how that would work out. Well when I turned the light on I was in for a surprise. He had peed and pooped ALL OVER my living room and kitchen. There was just a trail going all around the two rooms (I'm just glad it didn't sit there all night). We can literally leave him alone for as long as it's physically possible for him to hold it and he WILL NOT go in the house -- but only when we're gone. Which seems backwards to me. Just yesterday I left for work and left him out and when my boyfriend got up (10 minutes later), he had pooped in the living room. He only does this when we're HOME and he knows we're home, but we're in a different room that he can't come in. I've slept out on the couch with him during the night and he'll sleep at my feet with no problem, it's only if we're in a different room. Any suggestions on how to make this stop?

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Permalink Reply by Amanda on February 5, 2009 at 9:37pm

He doesn't mind his crate, and we only put him in there at night (and trust me I only tried leaving him out that once, he's slept in his crate ever since then). During the day while we're gone or at work we leave him out and he does great, no accidents, no destruction -- I'm pretty sure he just sleeps. It seems like us being gone would stress him out more than us just being in another room, but I guess that isn't the case. I just don't know how to correct a behavior that only happens when I'm not around. I guess the reason I'm trying to get him used to being out is because the crate I'm using isn't mine, and I'd hate to have to buy one (they're SO expensive) because I know he'd prefer to just sleep on the couch or on the floor than sleep in a crate.

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Permalink Reply by Denise Hawkins on February 5, 2009 at 7:03pm

We had a puppy (not a corgi) that suffered terribly from seperation anxiety, to the point he would bark for 8 hours straight if we let him. We had a puppy trainer come to the house who told us to bring the crate into the bedroom for the next few nights so he could see where we were and would settle. Then try moving the crate a little nearer to the door each night. He told us that if the pup cried we were to make a sound (bah) in a gruff voice, as thats what a mother dog would do if her pups were getting out of hand. When he was quiet we were to praise. We did do that and as long as he was in his crate and could see us, he was fine, but the minute we left the room or he could not see us ( and it did not matter which one left the room or even if there were people still in the room, he would get so distressed) Eventually we had to rehome him with people that did not work and were happy to be followed by this dog the size of a small house.
We now have 2 male corgi's and although we have had some accidents (both in and out of the crate and we expected them) they have settled in their crate. We have made it warm and cosy for them, and they get rewarded for going in there, to the point that they both go in during the day and sit and wait for a treat!
Try putting the crate in your room, and put him in there every night, he should soon settle again. If not see the Vet and check that Dax is ok.