# off limits rooms



## fishtwinslink (Dec 9, 2012)

Question for you seasoned Hav owners. My guy Lincoln is 15 months now and has been housebroken since 5-6 months old solidly. He only goes outside to do his business and when we are gone he is gated in the mudroom and has his crate etc.. and never has accidents there or in the main part of our house. 

When training him, I slowly allowed more access to the various parts of the house and he did well with this. He's had free range of the downstairs when we are downstairs since 6 months old and upstairs if we are up there. However, my kids' playroom is upstairs on the opposite side of the house above the garage and when he was younger he tended to have accidents in there if left unattended and I assumed this was because it was a "fun" room with lots of distractions. But, if I was in there with the kids he'd be fine and have fun playing around and be accident free. So, the rule was he was not allowed in there unless attended by me. 

Well...fast forward to the past month or so...He has had at least 3 accidents in there with me present! And 2 of the times it was VERY shortly after I just took him outside so I know he did not "need" to go....

So, I have 2 questions...
1.) Is he actually marking and not having accidents?
2.) Do I keep this room totally off limits or teach him it is part of the house?

I cleaned the accident spots very well (of note: this room is the only fully carpeted room in the house) and so I doubt it is because he can smell it from a while back but is that a possible cause?

Just not sure how to treat this room with him...off limits or part of the house he needs to learn to be accident free in??

Any thoughts are welcomed!

On another note, here is him in his new Royal Fifi Sweater to keep those snowballs off! Love it!!


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## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

yes and yes. carpets are next to impossible to eliminate the odour.


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## MarinaGirl (Mar 25, 2012)

VERY cute picture of Lincoln is his new sweater! 

Did you clean the carpet with a pet stain/odor remover (such as Nature’s Miracle, which uses bio-enzymatic agents and oxygen boosters to remove the most severe stains and odors)?


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

I agree with Dave… Unfortunately, I'm not sure it's possible to COMPLETELY get the odor out of a carpet to the extent that a dog nose can't smell it.

If there is any chance, I'd spend a LOT of time letting him find kibble sprinkled all over the floor. Dogs are less likely to eliminate where they eat, and maybe that urge can overcome the urge to pee where he smells old pee spots. And I wouldn't let him in there AT ALL unless "empty and it's a CLOSELY supervised training session… eyes on him EVERY second… not watching the kids, etc. Otherwise, I'd keep him gated out of there for a long, LONG time. (I'm talking about a year or more)


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## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

MarinaGirl said:


> VERY cute picture of Lincoln is his new sweater!
> 
> Did you clean the carpet with a pet stain/odor remover (such as Nature's Miracle, which uses bio-enzymatic agents and oxygen boosters to remove the most severe stains and odors)?


yeah that's a good one for eliminating much of the odour. Keep in mind , dogs can detect odours in the parts per trillion. You could tear out the carpet and underlay and the wood floor below it and still not eliminate the odour. It can permeate the furniture that is yards away. Dogs may mark yards away from the exact scene of the crime. lol


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## fishtwinslink (Dec 9, 2012)

davetgabby said:


> yeah that's a good one for eliminating much of the odour. Keep in mind , dogs can detect odours in the parts per trillion. You could tear out the carpet and underlay and the wood floor below it and still not eliminate the odour. It can permeate the furniture that is yards away. Dogs may mark yards away from the exact scene of the crime. lol


WOW! that's some good smelling! Yes, I used Nature's Miracle when I cleaned. He doesn't always mark in the same spot of the room. Regardless, I will continue to keep him out! He gets it already...the past few weeks I say "stay" and he will stop and wait for me if I'm running in there to get something. When I go in the room with the kids and shut the door then come out a bit later...there he is ... splayed out on the floor moping... 
But, he'll just have to be happy with the rest of the house!

Thanks Karen, maybe I will try the kibble training some day


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