Yo-Yo tries as hard as she can. When I am home, she comes up and lays her chin on my thigh or paws the door and we go right outside. We have developed new habits, like a pee break in the backyard before breakfast to avoid her dancing impatiently at the door as I'm trying to lace my shoes for her morning walk. I've added an additional "out" right before I leave for work. And no matter how cutely she's snuggled on the couch, I wake her up right before bed for one more trip into the yard so that we can sleep through the night. But during the eight or so hours I am at work, she cannot manage to "hold it."
Initially, Elizabeth suggested crating her [something I haven't done since she was a puppy], but the idea of her suffering in a wet crate [there's just too much urine for her to hold] was unacceptable—that was punishing her for getting sick. Coming home to a pee-soaked carpet that required half a roll of paper towels to dry was not acceptable either—plus I had to remember where the latest accident was so that I didn't step on the still-damp spot. Basenji folks suggest installing a doggie door, and I do have a fenced backyard. The only problem is that although I can trust Yo-Yo to have free access outside during my absence, I cannot trust Bug, who would climb over or dig under the chain link, get loose, and either bite a child or be hit by a car. I considered confining Yo-Yo to a specific portion of the house, but she can be what Elizabeth calls a "revenji," and I would pay in eaten furniture or some other expensive destruction.
The solution that I finally chose might be weird but seems to work well enough. A real plus is that I have hardwood floors. The dogs do not have the run of the whole house while I am at work, just the front part, covered by two large area rugs. I repositioned the furniture so that at least three sides of each carpet are free. Now, every day before I leave, I roll up the rugs. Then I put down two extra-large "wee-wee" pads by the front door, Yo-Yo's preferred place for accidents. [The message, of course, is "I was ready to go out, but you weren't here with the leash!"] The first day I tried this, Yo-Yo peed on the sofa, perhaps to indicate her displeasure at the change [or the cold floor under her delicate paws]. The next couple of days, she peed by the pads, sometimes half on them, half off. Eventually, however, she got the idea and now hits them with 98 percent accuracy. If a little spills off the pad, I wipe it up with Windex. One or two paper towels sure beats half a roll and constantly damp carpeting.I don't know how this disease will play out, but I have made a commitment to deal with each new problem as it occurs—as well as documenting it here.
