Don't punish your puppy for eliminating in the house. If you find a soiled area, just clean it up. Rubbing your puppy's nose in it, taking them to the spot and scolding them or any other punishment will only make them afraid of you or afraid to eliminate in your presence. Punishment will do more harm than good.
Ignore the behavior.
When your dog submissively pees, pretend that it didn't happen for a few minutes. Scolding or praising at this point will only reinforce your dog's belief that he needs to submit to you by peeing.
Never rub a dog's nose in urine or feces, or punish a dog for an “accident.” This will teach your dog to fear you, and he may hide when he has to “go.” It is not instinctive for dogs to relieve themselves outside; it is only natural for them to not go where they sleep.
The first thing to do when a previously house trained dog begins urinating or defecating inside is to rule out any medical problems. Urinary tract infections, cystitis (bladder inflammation), bladder stones, kidney disease, or arthritis or age-related incontinence could all be causes of house soiling in dogs.
The reason puppies hold on outside and then pee immediately once they get back in is that the house is their happy place and the yard is not. As soon as they come inside, their parasympathetic tone increases and only then do they feel the urge to urinate. Your job is simple in theory: make outside a happy place too.
Citrus. The citrus smell is arguably the best dog repellent there is. You do not have to do a lot. Simply peel an orange or a lemon next to your dog and you will observe it leaving the spot immediately.
Don't punish your puppy for eliminating in the house. If you find a soiled area, just clean it up. Rubbing your puppy's nose in it, taking them to the spot and scolding them or any other punishment will only make them afraid of you or afraid to eliminate in your presence. Punishment will do more harm than good.
Not only will a vinegar and water solution eliminate urine odor if your dog has already peed on the rug, but it will also deter them from urinating on the same carpet again. The acidic smell of vinegar is known to repel dogs from peeing on area rugs as they do not like the smell of vinegar.
Citrus scents top the list of smells your dog probably hates. The scent of lemons, limes, oranges, and grapefruits is strong and unpleasant for your dog. For this reason, you can use citrus scents as a dog repellant in off-limits parts of the house. Their noses are irritated by the strength of citrus.
Instead, move them to another room, clean it up, and go about your day without showering them with extra attention. Your dog will notice your change in behavior, and if you stay consistent with this method, they should soon realize that they get a cold shoulder from you when they poop in the house.
Don't punish or scold them for submissive urination. This will only make the problem worse. If your dog is extremely fearful, ask your vet about medications that may help during the retraining process.
So, while they can associate your reaction with the pee or item being in the room, they don't associate your reaction with the actual act of peeing or destroying said item. In other words, dogs don't feel guilt, they just know you are angry at them and they are feeling scared or anxious about it.
A dab of Vicks VapoRub will stop a dog returning to a spot — and stop it chewing rugs, chair legs and curtains.
Lavender and Chamomile:
Dogs who are exposed to these scents spend less time moving around and tend to behave in a relaxed manner. This results in lower levels of barking and is most beneficial when used in your home. It has also been shown to reduce stress levels.
The methodology of observing the dogs freely exploring the experimental area allowed us to determine the smells that were the most attractive to them (food, beaver clothing). Our study shows that dogs interacted more frequently with the scents of blueberries, blackberries, mint, rose, lavender, and linalol.
You can use either white distilled vinegar or apple cider vinegar (ACV), both of which are edible and completely non-toxic. Your pup might not appreciate the smell, but don't worry—the strong vinegar scent fades once it dries.
This is well-intended but incomplete advice – if you only ignore the behavior, your dog will probably never learn to stop barking, jumping, or pulling. Just ignoring unwanted dog behaviors misses an important piece of teaching your dog what TO do instead. Dogs learn by association.
Punishing a dog after the fact is one very good way to confuse a dog. The dog may show signs that he knows you are upset, but that does not mean he knows why. Dogs live in the moment. Whatever the dog is doing at the very second you punish him is what the dog will think is bad.
A leading animal behaviour expert said dogs are aware when they have done something wrong and the guilty look afterwards is an 'apology bow'. They hang their heads and put their tails between their legs to make themselves look submissive to owners, and show they are less powerful, Professor Nathan Lents revealed.
In my experience, there are usually two possible reasons for this behavior. The first is that the dog asks, but the person doesn't notice, misreads the communication or doesn't act quickly enough. The second may be that the dog has unintentionally been allowed to have accidents in the house.