Our Dog.

Max, our inside dog, is quite the little character. He has been accident-free in our house until a couple of days ago when he decided that one particular area of the house would be okay to use. I blamed myself the first time it happened because he had gotten closed out of the bedroom that night and I figured he couldn't get in to wake me up, so he'd had to use the carpet. The second night, I made sure that the door was open and when he made 1 tiny noise, I put him out for 10 minutes. The next morning, there was another little 'surprise' on the carpet. This time, he didn't have an excuse. Still, we don't believe in punishing a dog, especially hours after the fact, which would only confuse him. Instead, we've undertaken a systematic blockade. We block his access to the area with the two things that he fears most -- balloons and pool noodles.