Hi everyone - I adopted a shelter dog that I think is a Chow/Aussie
mix. He is approx. 3 1/2 years old and was "abandoned" by his former
owner. I was told by the shelter that he was housebroken, which was
totally untrue. I've had this dog for 8 months and have tried
everything I know how to get him to stop peeing in the house...he'll
go for a couple of days without incident, and then I'll come home to
find 2 or 3 pee spots. He does this when he doesn't even have to "go"
- and he never goes in front of me, so I can't catch him in the act. I
keep him in the garage during the day now - for some reason he will
not pee in there - but I would like my garage back for the winter! I
can't use a crate, as I am gone for 8 hours at work, but he treats the
garage like a crate anyway. He has no problem doing his business on
our walks (3x day), he just refuses not to pee in the house.

Another problem - even though I walk him 3 times a day, he constantly
whines and paces when I'm with him in the house. He's very
affectionate, but easily bored and hard to keep entertained - seems
pretty high maintenance compared to other dogs. We could just be back
from a long walk, and I'll be trying to read - he'll start whining and
slapping his paw in my lap...impossible to get any homework done (I'm
in grad school) !

Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions? I just don't think I can
keep a dog that is turning my house into his personal toilet!