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How To Stop A Dog From Urinating In A Certain Spot Inside

January 18, 2021 by Mary Telesz

A closeup of a dog resting on carpet. Schedule for bathroom breaks for dog to avoid urinating in a certain spot insideWhen your dog begins to urinate in the same place in your home, you have to take action quickly to stop the behavior. Even dogs who are almost reliably housebroken can sometimes find a spot in your home that triggers their need to urinate on it. Read on for ways on how to stop a dog from urinating in a certain spot inside:

Why Does Your Dog Keep Urinating In The Same Place In Your House?

Dogs instinctively avoid fouling the place where they live or eat. If your dog is urinating in a room that it never uses, like a guest bedroom, it is likely because your dog does not regard that room as part of its living space. Once your dog uses it as its bathroom, its scent will linger. Your dog may develop a habit of going there to do its business.

Another reason your dog may be urinating in the same place is to mark it as its territory. If you have recently acquired a new pet, a new housemate, or even new furniture, your dog may be trying to assert its dominance over the intruder.

Tips For Training Your Dog To Stop Urinating In That Spot

You can correct the dog’s behavior, though it may take a little time. You will need to be patient, and refrain from punishing your dog after the incident has happened. Your dog will not understand why you are reprimanding it. Never use physical punishment on your dog. Getting physical with your dog can injure it and will only make your dog afraid of you.

Make Sure Your Dog Is Getting Enough Time Outdoors For Potty Breaks

A woman training her dogs on how to stop a dog from urinating in a certain spot insideConsider whether the problem is that your dog does not have enough time to relieve itself outside. You may have to take the dog out more often, and let it stay outside long enough to explore and do its business.

One proven training tip is to establish a routine. Take your dog outside at the same times each day. Ideally, a walk in the morning and at least one more in the evening every day will help correct the problem. During the day, make sure your dog has access to the outdoors. If you don’t have a backyard, hire a dog walking service to give your dog outdoor time.

Before long, your dog will rely on the schedule for its bathroom breaks. Urinating in the house will become less frequent and will ultimately cease.

Reward Your Dog When It Goes Outside To Pee

When your dog does its business outside, give it treats and lots of praise. The key to rewarding your dog is timing — praise your dog as soon as it begins to urinate, then give it a treat as soon as it finishes.

Get Rid Of Any Remaining Smell In The Spot

It’s important to clean the spot well. Your dog will be able to detect its scent long after you can no longer smell it. To your dog, the scent is the marker for its bathroom spot — it is an invitation to go there again and again. You will likely need to use a cleaning product that is formulated specially for pet odor and urine removal.

Monitor Your Dog Indoors And Interrupt It Before It Pees There

Keep a watchful eye on your dog while it is indoors. If you see your dog heading to its favorite place to pee, distract it and take it outside. Wait outside with the dog until it pees, then reward it and take it back inside.

Keep Your Dog Away From That Spot

A dog standing on the doorway learning how to stop a dog from urinating in a certain spot insideDeprive your dog of access to the problem area. Close the door to the room or closet, use a baby gate, or use dog repellent products. When you prevent the dog from accessing the spot, make sure you are also giving it plenty of outdoor time so that it does not simply find another place to urinate in your house.

Realize, however, that depriving your dog access to the spot is only a way to prevent the dog from urinating there. Preventing access will not teach your dog that it is off limits as a bathroom. In fact, blocking its access will have the opposite effect. It will actually make him more likely to view it as a good place to go, especially if the dog has chosen an area in your home that is rarely used. In this case, you may need to teach it that the entire home is its living space.

To do that, you can spend a little time in that room with your dog each day. When your dog learns that the room is part of its living area, the dog is less likely to urinate in it.

Work with Paw Pals For Help With Your Dog

If your dog is urinating in the house and you are not sure how to correct the behavior, get help from the dog care professionals at Paw Pals. They are experts in dog care and can help you and your dog overcome housebreaking and other behavior issues. Contact them today for more information about their services.

Filed Under: Pet Advice

Contact Paw Pals for More Information

Paw Pals specializes in professional dog walking, dog sitting, and pet sitting services. One of our reliable, adult staff members will keep your pet safe, while providing your pet the love and care they need when you are away. Contact us to learn more!

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Paw Pals Pet Sitting, LLC
14001-C Saint Germain Drive #213
Centreville, VA 20121
(703) 345-1695

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Paw Pals Pet Sitting
Paw Pals Pet Sitting
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Taylor Smith
Taylor Smith
21:22 03 Oct 21
I never worry when Mary and team take care of my dog!
Michæl Silva
Michæl Silva
21:38 01 Jul 22
Mary at Paw Pals Pet Sitting is the greatest! She has helped me train my pooch Chico how play nice with other dogs and for that I am extremely grateful! A+A+A+A+A+A
Kwi Kim
Kwi Kim
22:37 17 Jun 22
I hired Paw Pals based on my sister’s referral. Meet & greet was very thorough and detailed. I was surprised that my finicky cat came to check the sitter out. Subsequently, a sitter watched my cat over several separate visits, and it was clear through the visit reports that my cat loved the sitter. All the visits were completed having followed my directions & with professionalism.I would highly recommend Paw Pals to anyone who’s looking for a dependable, personable, & professional sitter.
Joseph Walter
Joseph Walter
19:55 13 Jun 22
Paw Pals provided a large number of photos of our pets along with a personalized message on how our pets were doing with every single visit. I would highly recommend using Paw Pals, we'll be continuing to use them whenever we go on vacation.
Ashley Manning
Ashley Manning
09:50 11 Jun 22
Highly recommend as pet sitters!Initially, a sitter from the company will visit the house to meet the pets and learn where everything is. Tatiana took careful notes and we got her some spare keys.While we are away, Paw Pals sends sitters to come and look after our boys. They feed them, scoop litter, bring in mail and packages, and they will even manage trash, recycling, blinds and lights so that everything is comfortable for our kitties. Each time they check in, we receive an email message with updates and pictures, which is so comforting when we are on the road.Also, if you don’t let Paw Pals know when you are home, they assume something has happened and will continue to care for your babies. If something were to happen, I know they would be okay.Five stars for Paw Pals!
Brian Wood
Brian Wood
04:08 22 May 22
We have used Paw Pals for a number of years now and would highly recommend to anyone looking for help with their pets. Great communication from owner Mary and flexibility to make adjustments in schedule as life changes over time. Have had a consistent set of walkers who have gotten to know our pup and the various walking routes around our neighborhood quite well.
Lesley Bush
Lesley Bush
13:58 18 Mar 22
We can't rave enough about Paw Pals. They took care of our 18 year old Cat and 20 year old Chinchilla while we were away and when our flight got cancelled, they were so accommodating and available last minute for an extra day. We worked with Jen to coordinate visits from Miko and Danny. I loved the pictures and updates on how our Lil geriatric guys were doing. Thanks a million, Paw Pals!! Our special pets were so well cared for.
Sebastian Barnes
Sebastian Barnes
01:06 17 Jan 22
I have used Paw Pals for several trips over the last few months, and they have been phenomenal every time! Mary is extremely kind and responsive, and she makes sure that my cat and dog have the care that they need every time I am out of town. All of the pet sitters that I've had have been incredibly sweet to my pets, and they treat them like their own! Will gladly continue using Paw Pals every time I need a sitter.
Julie Shildt
Julie Shildt
17:45 14 Nov 21
It has been a pleasure doing business with paw pals. We have used this company for several trips we have taken over the past 6 months. They have been wonderful caretakers for our 2 cats. Anytime there is ever a question they don't hesitate to give us a call and they leave the best notes and pictures in the emailed report of each visit. We are so glad have found such a great company.
Andrea Hall
Andrea Hall
22:45 03 Oct 20
I wasn't sure about hiring a new doggie walker service... after all they are our kiddos... my babies were in great hands and I felt relaxed having them in their care. Thank you for everything!
Katie McCune
Katie McCune
19:19 15 Jul 21
I honestly cannot recommend Mary and her whole crew enough! We started using Mary originally about 7 years ago to stop by occasionally when our Aussie Lana was younger. Over the next couple years Lana stayed with Mary and her family for a couple weekends when we went on vacation. When we moved to our new house in Manassas, Lana stayed with Sam, who lives in Manassas, overnight for moving day, and did great. Right before the pandemic, we adopted our second Aussie, Goose, and Mary recommended a fantastic trainer for him.We now have weekly walks for the dogs, and they love all of their walkers! Trevor, Paul, Hazel, Sofie, and probably a couple others have helped Goose get used to more people, and have helped my husband and me when our schedules are crazy.Paw Pals is our go-to for any help with our dogs, so I highly recommend them!
Alexandra Hill
Alexandra Hill
22:43 23 May 21
I was a nervous mommy to leave my cats with a sitter service for the first time. Paw Pals went above and beyond to care for my cats and ease a nervous mommy. I already made a reservation to use them again!
Cindy Welgoss
Cindy Welgoss
13:12 27 Nov 20
We have been using Paw Pals for several years, and through a variety of pets that we have loved. Mary and her team have always been *exceptional* in every way. They are professional, courteous, and truly love our fur family! Mary herself is an organized and stellar administrator of her pet care business, keeping detailed records of our pet’s needs, scheduled pet visits, payments, and balance due easy to keep track of as the pet owner. The pet caretaking team is reliable and trustworthy. When our dogs see any of their Paw Pal friends, they get SO excited to see them! Follow up comments are left via text to keep the pet owner informed of the visit and how the pets are faring. Paw Pals has allowed our family the peace of mind to leave our pets at home, for work, weekend getaways and longer times away when necessary, where they are the most comfortable and familiar. We are grateful to Mary and her team for giving us the ability to enjoy pet ownership without feeling tied down. The responsibility of having pets comes with the need to keep them safe and comfortable at all times, and Mary and her team affords us this when our family has to be away.
Dr Tammy Cashion
Dr Tammy Cashion
21:11 12 Mar 19
We have used Paw pals pet sitting on multiple occasions for our bunnies while we are away. Many pet sitters are not interested in small pets however; Mary and her team, are amazing and we trust her implicitly! We are very happy with the outstanding service we have received from her team including texts and photos of our pets when we are out of town. They always go the extra mile and we highly recommend them!
Kristin Conrad
Kristin Conrad
16:00 16 Nov 19
We are so grateful we found Mary and her team at Paw Pals. They are exceptionally responsive, amazingly organized and detail-oriented.We have such peace of mind when we travel knowing our home and pets are so well cared for. Paw Pals is the best pet sitting service we’ve used, and we’re so happy we found them.
Katie Russell
Katie Russell
15:01 17 May 20
Paw Pals is fantastic! I have had a great experience with Mary! Compassionate, professional, responsive, and prompt! Thank you!
Phillip Evans
Phillip Evans
14:38 11 Jul 20
When we adopted our new dog in January, Paw Pals agreed to walk her and give her some outside time so she wasn't in the crate all day. She loved her dog walker and you could see her excitement every time the walker showed up. We moved out of the area but would recommend Paw Pals to anyone needing someone to care for their pets.
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