They only have "accidents" at the in-laws

[sararay]

Seriously, I don't know why. We adopted Kaci and Harlie four months ago and they have had no accidents in our house. They are inside dogs and sleep inside and are very well behaved. We let them out throughout the day at home and no accidents. They let us know if they need to go out but usually they just go "on schedule". We take them everywhere. They don't have problems at my mom's house, or at our friends' houses but when we take them to my husband's family's ranch they pee and defecate in the house. I don't know what is wrong.

They are 3 and 9 years old. They know they aren't supposed to but they go inside the house. We tell them "no" and take them out immediately if we catch them, but I just don't get it. They have access to the outside (acres and acres) and we have to make them stay out whenever we go there because they have peed and defecated in the house.

My in-laws have other dogs and they get along with them. There is no dominance problem that we can tell. They don't seem nervous there. I just don't get what the problem is. Any ideas?

[johann]

They may just not translate "no peeing in the house" to your inlaw's house. It is odd that they're good at other houses though. Do you take them outside on leashes when at your in-laws to make sure they do their business before coming back inside? They could be too excited with all the new smells and places and forget to go pee. Can you keep them on the same "schedule" at the inlaws and have set times for potty breaks (maybe more frequently?).

Johann has had a hard time figuring out that how to tell us that he needs to go out when we're at my parents. He's getting it slowly, last visit we only had 1 accident.

[ehayes21]

Two things might be going on here...One, dogs don't generalize well, so what they know in one home may not carry over to another home. Second, the in-laws dogs may have gone to the bathroom in the house and they are detecting the scent. In either case, I would set up some sort of management system in place to prevent them from being able to go off and soil in their house. Leash them to you or block off their access to the rest of the house so they have constant supervision. I would also take them out on a leash when it's potty time.

[sargboxerluv]

My girl does not go in anyone elses house except my BFF's house. She is the only one who has dogs. For her it is a dominance thing, because I swear to you she pees on their blanket that is in their crate and last time she peed on their little doggie bed. But she does not ever have an issue with them as far as being mean to them. Although her little female can be pretty nasty to her.

And for her it doesn't matter if she has jsut gone, she will pee in that house.

[Barron's mom]

I would think of it as marking. I volunteer to do home checks for a rescue group and Zeus (who is neutered) lifted his leg and peed on the back of someone's leather sofa during a recent home check ! I was mortified! Zeus marks outside, but he has NEVER marked inside of a person's home until now. The family used to have dogs, and currently they have dogs that visit when their friends come over. Zeus was leaving his scent.

[sararay]

Thanks for the input. We will try to take them out back on leashes when we first arrive, and every couple of hours thereafter. If that doesn't work then they must be marking. Luckily the in-laws don't have carpet, so it is easy to clean. I'm hoping we don't have to leave them out back all the time.

The only other thing I could figure is that it is a nervous reaction. There are always a lot of people around when we go over there, while at other houses there is less commotion. They like people but it may be overwhelming for them for there to be so many. I don't know.

[KWilson]

Originally Posted by ehayes21

Second, the in-laws dogs may have gone to the bathroom in the house and they are detecting the scent.

This is what I thought as well.