puppy will pee in pen area when left alone

[solair]

My dog Bailey is just about 6 months now, and is potty trained outdoors: she will pee several times and poops when needed. I take her out very frequently when I am home. However, when she is left in her pen, she sometimes pees completely. She only does this when no one is there. I am afraid that she may possibly have separation anxiety as she will whine tremendously and cry when, for example, I leave for work. Because of this I put her in her crate when I leave for work, until someone else comes home (I am only gone around 5 hours, but my parents and younger brother are there with her for the majority of the time).
I have been doing the best to my knowledge to get her to stop crying when no one is with her when in her crate, as she cries when put in it when it's not her bedtime. When I leave the house and she's in her crate (or the pen), I immediately hear her crying and howling, and I'm not sure how long she persists. I'm working my way to get her to stop crying when in the pen. I am not certain that this will help her to stop peeing when no one is there.
I have done research and found out that it may be because of boredom, and although I always leave toys and natural-made rawhides with her, and frequently get her new toys, she won't keep herself occupied. She does play by herself, but it's usually only when someone is around. I even get out a puzzle ball filled with her dog food or treats to play with, but she gets bored of it very quickly,even though I don't leave it out at all times.
Another problem regarding her bathroom behavior is that she won't alert anyone when she needs to go (which is why I take her out at least every two hours or so). She attends puppy class that uses the positivity method, and I am hoping that she will learn to touch an object such as bells on the door to alert. She has learned the command "touch" to touch my hands, but until I have taught her to touch bells, what can I do?
I've had her since she was 10 weeks old and I've done my best to avoid problems, especially separation anxiety, and using all the advice from the internet and my instructors that I have gotten, but she is still eliminating when left alone as she cries.

[JudyN]

Hi - assuming that's her in the avatar, she is really cute!

I think your main priority here is the separation anxiety. If she is crying when you leave, then it's not boredom that is the problem, it's her fear of being left. A few questions:

Does she need to be in her crate when left? At the moment it sounds as if she doesn't like it, and you really want her to see it as a good place to be.

How long is she left alone for, and would it be possible for you to arrange your family's routines so she doesn't have to be left at all while you work on her separation anxiety?

Could you also give a full run-down of her normal daily routine, including times left alone, walking, training, play, quiet times, feeding, etc? She is far more likely to settle if she's had plenty of exercise before she's left, though this won't be a cure in itself. Some dogs simply don't self-entertain - it doesn't occur to them, so they in particular need to be ready for a nap when left.

There's a post on separation anxiety here that should give you some ideas: https://positively.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=20143

As for not asking to go out - what does she do if you're in the room with her when she needs to go? Does she stand by the door, circle, or nudge you, for instance?

[solair]

She actually is crate-trained; she's slept in it since I adopted her. And she doesn't hate being in it, as far as I can tell. When she's sleeping in it at night (her bedtime is around 1am and she sleeps for about 6 hours until she's up to go outside and start her day) she is in my room, and does not fuss whenever I leave. But, when she is in the morning room (her pen area) and she is placed in it, if I am to leave the house, she cries. If I'm still inside with her she doesn't mind being in it, and will go in willingly to take naps on her own at times. She isn't kept in the pen area all day long, and is in it very seldom, actually. She is allowed free roam, kept under watch, when we are home for quite a bit of the day.
The only reason I tend to put her in the crate when I leave, is because she will pee. Luckily it's tiled floor, but it's still frustrating, as I don't want her to think that peeing inside is an okay thing to do. She only does it when no one is watching her.
I leave for work at 3:30pm six days a week, and usually someone is home, if not, home soon after I leave, so she's not alone for very long. My brother is still in school, and comes home before I leave for work (although he goes straight to his room).
I'm not entirely sure what goes on when I'm at work, but I do know that my parents play with her for me and give her attention, take her out, and the likes. Once I get home (9pm-10pm), I promptly settle for the night at home and take Bailey to the basement to run around and play. She tires herself out chasing the laser pointer, and I train her in short sessions once she has tired.
Now, I've been trying to get her to realise that whining and carrying on does not get her anything. After playing and training for a few hours, I place her in a gate pen and sit down to watch t.v., and the moment she begins to whine at me, I get up and go out of sight until she stops. I simply reward her with a treat and not baby her for my absence when I return to the couch. Tonight she went and settled in her crate after a few times of whining. She has made a little bit of progress, but she's persistent. I know that she'll require a lot more work.
I do need to start taking her for a walk every day, as I don't do that.

As for alerting me: I really don't know if she does do anything of that sort. Because I'm afraid that she will go whenever, I take her out every so often. There have been times when she just started to defecate without warning, and this is why I believe she doesn't know how to let me know. Since those instances, I keep a leash attached to her harness when she is out of her pen, in order to grab her if she begins to circle.

Thanks so much for the help, I'll get right to reading that post! And yes, that is her!

[Ari_RR]

Laserpointers are not that good.... May have undesired effects. I would suggest that you throw this thing away and replace chasing laser pointer with something else, maybe chasing a rubber ball, or chasing some toy on a rope (probably not enough space in the basement for a proper flirt-pole). Sorry, off topic, I know....

[Nettle]

I was about to say the same - laser pointers are really bad for dogs. How about you play other interactive games with her isntead? We have a whole load of them on the pinned 'exercise the mind' thread.

[JudyN]

But, when she is in the morning room (her pen area) and she is placed in it, if I am to leave the house, she cries. If I'm still inside with her she doesn't mind being in it, and will go in willingly to take naps on her own at times. She isn't kept in the pen area all day long, and is in it very seldom, actually. She is allowed free roam, kept under watch, when we are home for quite a bit of the day.

I think, then - unless you've tried it - you should get good results if you go back to the start. Settle her in the crate, sit around for a bit, and then do the first stage of what you would do if you were leaving the house - then go back to sitting down. Build up to actually going outside the door for a moment and returning, and then lengthen the time you stay out for with her being left alone. Ideally, you don't progress any quicker than she is completely comfortable with, which means getting the rest of the family committed to making sure she is never left alone for longer than she is happy with. If that can't be done, consider asking a friend or neighbour to dogsit or have her at their house for a while (as long as they are happy in the knowledge that she's not reliably house trained, of course!).

Now, I've been trying to get her to realise that whining and carrying on does not get her anything. After playing and training for a few hours, I place her in a gate pen and sit down to watch t.v., and the moment she begins to whine at me, I get up and go out of sight until she stops. I simply reward her with a treat and not baby her for my absence when I return to the couch. Tonight she went and settled in her crate after a few times of whining. She has made a little bit of progress, but she's persistent. I know that she'll require a lot more work.

She's still very young, and it sounds like she's doing well with this. Even adult dogs will pester if they don't feel they've had enough attention - and in the evenings, just like young children, young dogs can get a bit silly and don't realise that they are tired and need to settle down! It would be great if you could teach her a command for this '(e.g. 'settle', or just 'bed') - and try to reward her when she does settle down and relax.

I do need to start taking her for a walk every day, as I don't do that.

Absolutely - this will really help, and it will also make it more likely that she empties her bladder properly before you leave

As for toilet training in general - it's not something I've much experience of as my dog picked it up fairly easily, but have a read of this thread, which may help: https://positively.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=6125

I agree with the others about playing with the laser pointer - I'm sure there are plenty of dogs who aren't affected by it, but it isn't worth the risk.

[Steve29]

Bailey is still very young. I think you are doing a good job with her with what you are doing. Just keep it up and maybe make a few tweaks like getting more exercise. She seems to be catching on the the leaving thing. We are in such a hurry to get things on a schedule that we sometimes forget that a 6 months old dog is still on a learning curve. So, hang in there and keep working with her. She sounds like she will make you a nice dog.

[solair]

Oh, wow, I didn't know that about laser pointers! She seems to enjoy chasing it, but I'll get rid of it. Thanks for letting me know! I just looked it up and it said that can be bad for their psyche. I haven't had it for more than a week, so hopefully she hasn't developed any problems.

I'll be sure to start over with everything, and work my way up again, as well as teach her to settle down.

Thanks again!!!