Kristina emailed for advice regarding her 4 year old Siberian Husky, who has recently started messing in the house after previously being very good at staying clean indoors.  The vet is going to test for any problems. The dog is walked once a day and occasionally tethered in the garden for short periods.  The yard where she is tethered is not currently fenced in, but the family use an ‘invisible fence’. One of the main problems is that she seems to ‘hold it in’ when outside then pee when she gets in, often near the cat litter box.  Here are my suggestions:

Assuming that everything checks out OK with the vet’s tests, some of her behavior seems to be associated with anxiety and excess energy.  Huskies were bred for stamina and need lots of exercise to keep them in good mental and physical shape (working huskies can pull sleds for up to 18 hours a day).  She may have been fine as a puppy having only one walk a day, but she is a fully fledged adult now and her natural instincts will be strong.  If at all possible, try and take her for a long walk first thing in the morning and another slightly shorter one in the evening.  It is possible to enhance the exercise by having a doggy backpack on her while she walks. You may find this additional exercise settles her and any toileting done out of anxiety may subside without any further intervention. You would be surprised how much dogs can be affected when they do not get sufficient exercise.

The start of a walk is also a good time to get her to potty while you are with her, as she may be holding it in  because she does not feel safe or relaxed enough.  Just your presence could be enough to let her relax enough to want to go toilet, and I would see how much success you have if someone stays with her until she has done her business outside before coming back into the house. I am also sure that once you get a permanent fence around the yard, she will feel more comfortable too.

When she is in the house, limit which areas she is allowed and put the cat litter box away from where she is allowed.  This should not only prevent her digging about in it, but also keep her away from any smells that might make her want to mark there.  Dogs who have too much freedom in the house often feel overwhelmed with the amount of territory they are responsible for, and because they know they can’t be everywhere at once, they mark to alert intruders that this area belongs to them.

One final thing is to read up on feeding/toileting schedules and try to stick to them (my Squidoo pages on potty training puppies and dogs have plenty of free tips - they are all listed here: Darren’s Squidoo Pages), and there are also many good books that can help with schedules for feeding etc.. The ones I would recommend are the “Ultimate Housetraining Guide” by Martin Oliver (instant download) or, if you can wait a few days for delivery, the paperback “How to Housebreak Your Dog in 7 Days” by Shirlee Kalstone can be picked up on Amazon for less than $10 plus postage.  I own copies of both and have no problem endorsing either of them (in fact, at some point I will put up reviews of them somewhere on the site)