I have been around dogs my whole life but the honest truth is that I am not terribly dog smart. I have learned from some mistakes and feel that I can really be a great owner for Brutus despite not knowing everything. Still, I knew I would be hitting some road blocks from time to time, and here I am!
Brutus has been sleeping in our kitchen at night as it seems to be the most safe place for him. Each time we have left the gate open for him, he goes into the livingroom at some point during the night to use the bathroom, but then returns to his kitchen/den where it is safe and sound. He does not whine to be let out and does not tell us when he has to go potty during the day or night. I have assumed that he was not potty trained and was left outdoors all the time in his previous home.
So, a 1 1/2 to 2 year old 130 lb Brutus thinks the livingroom is his potty place which isn't too much fun for me since it's carpeted in there. We let him out several times at night before bed and then my hubby lets him out first thing in the morning when he gets up (around 6am.) Some of you may remember my last post - Brutus jumped the baby gate while we were on a day trip and had the runs all over the livingroom floor. Last night in the middle of the night sometime, Brutus jumped the gate again and went poop on the carpet - still a bit runny from his upset tummy the other day but it wasn't a mass explosion, thank goodness. This afternoon I went out front to rense off the pooper scooper, after using it to scoop grossness out of the carpet this morning from last nights episode. Brutus saw that I had left the front door open and he jumped the gate and came out front. He was so nervious/excited that I had left his sight that he peed as soon as I got him to casually follow me back into the house.
Brutus has been really, really wound up after our leaving for that day trip, even though we came back the same night. I'm wondering if the pooping in the livingroom behavior is related or if he is just getting comfortable enough to start showing off some of his new tricks (like jumping the gate or eating my socks for fun

).
So far we have just opted to completely ignore Brews behaviors, especially when he seems to get phobic. I just let him have his panic attack without acknowledging that it's there and this has seemed to allow him to calm down quickly. Still, we can't have Brutus using our livingroom as a toilet. I have been praising him whenever he goes outside and make a big deal whenever I find him standing by the door even if he doesn't actually go potty when I let him out, and he likes this attention. I'm just not sure what else to do. We would love to have him sleep in the bedroom with us at night but to date he has been pretty spooked about being locked in the bedroom with us. I feel really anxious about the idea of crating him at night though I'm not sure why. I guess "caging" a dog is just a really odd concept for me, even when they seem to like it. Thoughts, suggestions?
-Anna