Dog peeing inside please help

We rescued our 4 year old dog 2 years ago. Since then he has times where he is fine at home alone while my girlfriend and I work or go out, and times where we come home to find he has peed on something.

We've noticed that we can't have anything on the floor, whether its shoes, cardboard boxes, even the furniture. He has peed on every piece of furniture in the apartment, couches, coffee table, kitchen chairs, bed frame. We take him on long walk in the morning before we leave for work and he pee's a lot. Most of the time we come home and don't find any mess, but we've come home often enough and the place smells enough that I'm sure he's doing it even when we don't find it.

We've tried putting the water bowl up when we go to work, we've tried taking longer walks or more frequent stops during the walk, we've tried coming home on lunch breaks. Nothing has helped for long.

He knows how to hold it and knows how to say he needs to go out. Last night he walked to the door, then over to us, then back to the door and stared at us. Then this morning as soon as we woke up, he walked out to the living room and peed on my brand new game chair first thing.

We recently got new carpet put in and already have 3 spots that we can see. We are tired of our apartment smelling like his toilet. Can anyone help? Thank you

Firstly, I would never withhold access to water. Dogs need a constant supply of fresh water at their disposal.

Use an enzyme cleaning product to rid your carpet/furniture of the smell of urine. Ammonia based cleaners need to be avoided as they smell like pee to your dog and so he will want to pee in that same place again.

Get him checked at the vet to make sure there is no medical problem, such as a UTI which may be causing a problem.

Is he neutered? Entire male dogs are more likely to want to mark their territory than neutered males. Having said that, I would not neuter for this reason alone.

If the vet gives him the all clear, you need to go back to basics with house-training and treat him like a puppy. Give him regular toilet breaks (which may mean taking time off work while you master this, or coming him at lunch times or even hiring a dog walker to come and let him out while you are at work). He needs lavish praise when he toilets outwith your home. If you catch him inside having a pee, distract him by clapping your hands and get him outside quickly and then really praise him when he is done.

Never punish accidents, just make sure you clean up thoroughly and praise him when he does the right thing.

How long is he left for?

It sounds as though he is scent marking (although it is always a must to rule out infections). What is he like if you confine him to one room (with easily cleaned floor, eg kitchen)?

Well I think you need to deep clean your apartment and then try to confine him to one room to minimise where he's weeing. Knowing how to ask to go out for a wee is no use if no one is available to let him out. Taking his water away isn't fair. A dog that marks pre neuter tend to mark post neuter too.
I took on a 7 month pup that was not house trained, I bought him a belly band used with an incontinence pad to prevent him marking but I was at home and could watch him all day. It still took time.

How would he react to being caged in a large enough crate whilst you are out with enough room for it to have a pad in for him to pee on. Also will need room for his water bowl. At least it would contain where he goes. Perhaps try it initially for a hour and then increase the time he is in the crate, obviously this would need to be supervised while you are there. He must not see this as a punishment though but fun.

Please note that denying water will add to any existing infections and could cause damage to the kidneys so never a good idea.

Also note that using a cage is only an option for dogs left no more than four hours. Even then, it is very boring for a dog during daylight/activity hours to be confined to a small space.

Thanks Chris, not something I would advocate but then I am not blessed with the problem it was just a suggestion that might be tried.,

Tried this: