Toileting Issues

[Nushie]

So i have put this in training and not in the puppy problems cause Jager is about 19months old now.

We have a problem and i just do not know how to go about fixing it. Every time we go out for a long period of time (for work or such) we come home to a nice present on the carpet. He has access outside and he will happily pee outside, not once have i come across him peeing inside. We live in an apartment and we have a usless courtyard (all paved and very small) so we have a dog toilet set up with fake grass for him to use and we had this same problem before which we solved with spraying the carpet with a dog repellent so that when he went to sniff to "go" he would be put off and go outside. This worked and we slowly reduced it to the point we no longer had to spray and we havent had any problems for about 9-12 months. And now it has started again. We have tried the spray and it doesnt seem to put him off anymore.

He is perfect when we are there, if he needs to go during the night he takes himself outside. I walk him in the morning and he usually goes then, but i think out of the 5 days a week that we work he goes about 3 times on the carpet. The other days when he doesnt go inside is because he hasnt gone during the day.

He is 100% when we are there, not one mistake while we have been in the house since he was about 6month old. So thats why i am baffled. I thought it might be related to anxiety?? We have been working on making sure that he is calm when we leave in the morning and we ignore him until he is calm when we get home in the hopes to stop that. He doesnt cry or bark while we are gone (we have asked our neighbours and have snuck home during the day to check). He gets a kong when we leave (once he is calm and relaxed) and he has about 6-7 hours on his own through the day.

I dont want to lock him outside all day. The courtyard is not protected from the sun, wind or rain. He has a kennel but being a pug i am very conscious of the heat with him.

I am looking into hiring a carpet cleaner and cleaning the carpets in case that is the cause. I clean it up everytime with carpet cleaner (non amonia).

I just thought you guys might have an idea as to why it is happening again?? I have racked my brain to think if we have changed anything, but our routine is the same, the times we walk him havent changed (still gets morning and evening outtings).

I try not to get angry and i dont yell at him or punish him in any way, but i get frustrated and i am sure he picks up on that. How can i make it clear that he shouldnt do it, if i am not there when he does it?

Sorry for the long post. Any ideas or suggestions are appreciated.

[Pretty Miss Emma]

Hmmm, I don't have lots of ideas for you on this one sorry. But the one idea I do have is... can you restrict his access to certain parts of the house particularly those that don't have carpet? I assume there is a doggy door to get out to the courtyard, can you just give him a small area near this inside to use but not the whole house? At lest then if there is a problem it's localised. And maybe he would be more encouraged to go outside as he won't want to dirty his small inside space?

[Jigsaw]

Are you using an enzyme cleaner for the carpet? You can purchase an enzyme cleaner and repellant spray all in one. The carpet cleaner may not be removing all the odour. You can also buy attractant spray/drops now to encourage toileting in the right area. I think restricting the space available to him during the day may help. Maybe you could set up a camera so you could see what he does during the day which may give you a clue as to why he's doing it.

[Nushie]

Jigsaw - can you suggest an enzyme cleaner and repellent in one?? I have seen the drops that you can buy to attract them to a certain spot but i thought they were mainly for urinating though so they would mark over the top of it? But i guess it is worth a try.

Pretty Miss Emma - We have tried restricting his inside area before, and it worked well, until he found a way out. Its really difficult to secure a pen to a door

They are all good suggestions and everything is worth a try.