Basil - the P*SSER

For some reason, since we moved into the new place, Basil thinks it is perfectly fine to pee in the house. At first we thought it was his way to lay claim to the place. He's always had a nasty habit of peeing anytime he goes into a new house. But, after nearly 3 months, I don't think we can use that reasoning anymore. Luckily our entire house is tiled and we haven't purchased any rugs.

We first tried making sure that he got frequent and regular walks. When we moved into the house in September, we were still in the midst of massively hot days. Poor Basil could hardly walk on the pavement to find a suitable place to go. We'd dart from shade to shade trying to give his paws relief from the sizzling pavement. Even 5 minutes outside was a marathon.

Now, however, the weather is pleasant. Our house is surrounded by sand lots with beautiful cool, silky sand. We don't mind taking long walks through the neighborhood to explore and meet the neighbors. He has ample opportunity.

But still he continues to pee indoors. So, this week we decided that he is now relegated to the back patio by the pool when we leave the house. This way, when he pees, we can just hose the patio down. Why we didn't do this earlier? We were a little worried he might fall in the pool and not be able to get out. But he rarely goes anywhere near the pool - and when he has been in (only when we put him in never voluntarily), he's found the ladders to climb out. The entire patio is shaded all day, he has his bed, a bowl of water, and plenty of space to stretch his legs. Temps these days are in the upper 80F/low 30C. And guess what - he NEVER pees on the patio!

Weird dog.

George says:"I'd check the PH of the pool"!
Good point.