help... dexter is regressing

Hi guys !

Sorry I haven't been here in ages .

I have a little problem with dexter: he turned one in september ( happy birthday baby boy ) , and I recently went back to work (after 5 months of unemployment ).
Dexter is now alone in the house 8 hours a day 5 days a week.
I understand that he is not used to this and that I find a pee and a poo in the bathroom when I come back for a little while, but now he started to do that during the night as well ! I always take him for at least 2 long walks every evening after I come back from work but he still have a poo during the night.
I don't know what to do anymore. I know he misses me but picking up crap everyday and waking up in a mine field is getting troublesome.
Also, he has this bad habit to pee in the house everytime a friend come over. He is really happy to meet new people (sometimes a bit too much) and gets over-excited. that's also getting a bit annoying...

I don't want to shout and whenever he does those things he is always the first to go lay down in his bed and look really sorry ...

anyone got any idea on how to stop those behaviours ?

Thanks !

Thibaut

It's a big change in his routine and 8 hours is a very long time without a toilet break/any stimulation. I totally understand, I have to work long days too. I hired a dog walker - not to walk my dog, but just to pop in for 30 minutes half way through the day to let her into the garden for a wee and give her a snuggle, Bis loves her and it only costs me £5 a day.

You shouldn't be shouting at him for this, he's not doing it on purpose! Few questions - what are his feeding times? What food are you feeding? How long are his walks, and when on walks, is he off lead? If not, does he get adequate time to sniff/pee etc? What do you clean the mess up with? If he's peeing due to over excitement practise calm greetings; ignore until he's settled down a bit and then offer calm interactions. May also be a vet check in order - could have a slightly weak bladder?

sorry if I didn't expressed myself clearly , I don't shout at him as I don't think it's ever a solution.
I take him for a small walk when i come home (usually 15 to 20 min) then give him his dinner (i feed him dry food at the moment as my finances are quite low) and then out again for an hour in my local park. I can't take him off the lead as there is a few dogs around and dexter is quite funny with other dogs.(depending on the dogs )
I also take him out in the garden every morning before I leave and after his breakfast. I give him a bit less food in the morning.
And about the over-excitement it's quite a tricky situation ... I live in a studio flat at the moment (money issues again) and I really don't want to ignore him as I miss him as much as he misses me .... I'm a bit of a softy when it comes to my little boy.
the strange thing is that he usually don't do it with me but only when friends come over ...
He is due a vet check in the beginning of the month anyway so I will ask the vet. but what worries me is the peeing at night. he stopped doing this month ago. do you think he is trying to "punish me" for leaving him all day or something ?

Oh okay, that's good the food may be the cause of the excessive pooing! Which dry food brand is it? Is he happy to go to the toilet on the lead? Weird question, but how many times does he tend to go when on his walk? Do you let him have a good sniff around? Some people correct their dogs for sniffing (Caesar Millan style!!) but this isn't useful.
I don't mean ignore him all of the time - my dog used to be the same, I worked long days in kennels and she didn't get the stimulation that she needed so when visitors came she would get over excited and wee on their feet!! To solve this, when visitors came in they ignored her and just chatted to me normally for the first few minutes to avoid getting her overexcited, and then sat down and gave low key interactions; calm strokes, gentle tones etc. Nothing over exciting. Worked for us.

No, he's not trying to punish you. Dogs don't think in that way; their brains are wired up very differently to ours and they don't share all of the same emotions. What do you clean the urine up with? May just be that he can still smell it in that place, or may be that that he's anxious about his routine change and suffering from a little separation anxiety. Does he sleep in the same room as you at night? My dogs toilet training always goes backwards with a change of routine. Really would recommended getting some one to pop in during the day so that he's emptied his bladder fully throughout the day and not needing to do it at night.