Dear Kelli and Melanie,
When your" best friend" is urinating in the house, especially if its been for a long time, you better be ready for a challenge. Oh, and did I forget patience? This is a very broad question for me to answer, so instead I will just give you some ideas of what it could be by asking you questions.
The first thing you have to rule out is a medical problem. This starts by taking your pet to your veterinarian. Be ready to be questioned and have your list of questions. Once medical reasons are ruled out with a good history, physical examination, blood work and urinalysis then you can move on to the next possibility.
Is this problem behavioral?
Always keep in mind that there can be more than one reason for unacceptable behavior. For example, once you fix the reason for urinating in the house, the behavior is still ingrained in their memory and may continue. This can be modified by a veterinary behaviorist.
Was he/she ever put through training to be housebroken? Dogs are not born housebroken.
Was your pet ever abused before you attained him/her? He may have spent his life in a cage without ever being walked or loved.
Small breed dogs are more difficult to housebreak than larger breeds; Dachshunds in particular (no offense, I just hear that from pet owners that have them).
Was your pet originally from a puppy mill? These dogs are often inbred and have a multitude of medical and behavioral problems.
Is your pet spayed/neutered. He/she could be marking his territory.
Does he/she get adequate love and attention and most of all daily exercise? Over four hours in a crate at a time is no good.
Does he/she live in a stressful environment? Too much noise makes a pet nervous.
Are there a lot of other pets around him that are doing the same things? Old urine odors from a previous pet or just too many pets.
These are just a few questions that you should ask yourself. I hope this helped.
Next month we will discuss the second part of this question. Suggestions of how to get your pet to stop urinating on the floor.
Best of luck,
Dr. Carole Chapman
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