Question:
It’s not surprising that the dog doesn’t want to be in the basement. It is a pack animal that will react badly to being isolated. Also, if it was used to being crated in the kitchen whenever it was indoors, it may not understand that the rest of your home is also off-limits, excretorily speaking. If I were you, I would temporarily bring the crate back upstairs–it doesn’t need to be in the kitchen, necessarily, but perhaps it could go in your son’s room, if the dog is his. (My dogs like to have their crates next to my bed; they’re not really sleeping with me, but they can smell me nearby and feel "included".) Keepp the dog crated and on a rigid schedule for a week or two, long enough to re-establish its old habits. Then, slowly, give it a bit more freedom for short periods, trying at first to choose times when the dog is least likely to need to eliminate. The point is to build up good habits by preventing the dog from making too many mistakes. Eventually you will most likely be able to give the dog complete freedom in the house, but you’ll have to work up to it slowly. Otherwise Star won’t get the picture, and will continue to be unreliable. Katharine Maus
Response:
I’m sure this question has been answered dozens of times. I looked at all the available questions and didn’t find any FAQ’s so here goes. I have a 2 year old Schipperke (Star) which is my son’s dog. We love this dog and have been very happy with its sparkling personality. We’ve had it since it was 3 months old and it has been in a small cage in the kitchen until recently. We decided to move its cage to the basement and that’s when the trouble started. We’ve given her the run of the house (my son wanted her to sleep with him). She doesn’t like being in her cage in the basement. Star has been good at always going outside to do her duty but lately has taken to going wherever she wants. She has even gone on the carpet 5 minutes after coming inside. We think that she’s mad at us for moving her cage, but don’t know how to deal with it. Moving the crate back into the kitchen is not an option. Hopefully this hasn’t been to confusing. We really love this dog and don’t know what to do to stop this inappropriate behavior. Thanks in advance for your help
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