We have a 2 year old mutt that started have accidents in the house 1 month ago.?

Question

Our dog just started going to the bathroom in the house about a month ago. It is difficult to get her outside and she will go in any room in the house. There is some confusion in the house and the recent storms (she is afraid of storms) make me wonder if that is the problem. But what do I do now. According to my husband, she is not long for this family!!!

Answer 1

Usually when a young dog or cat suddenly starts using the bathroom in the house it means they have something wrong with them. The animal could have a urinary infection, or some kind of bowel trouble. I would recommend taking it to the vet to have a stool check and a urine check.

Answer 2

Hi,

Poor girl - fear is a horrible thing to live with. If she was clean in the house before and the change of habit happened around the time that the storms scared her then you are probably right in thinking it is the storms and confusion in the home which has upset her - though the suggestion that it could be a urinary infection is a possibility - use common sense - you know her better than anyone, if you think she is ill then she might be. If she is afraid to go out - then obviously she has no choice but to toilet in the house. ( would you be happy going into your loo if there was a big scary snake living in there?) Firstly go back to what you did when she was a puppy - put newspapers down for her to toilet on. You will not be able to address the issue of re teaching her to toilet outside untill she is happy to go out there. Never tell her off for toileting inside - that will ADD to the fear that exists.Inside is possibly the only place that feels safe to her - don't make inside scary for her too.Patience and compassion are the name of the game here. You need to change her view of outside being scary to outside being nice. Don't force her out there. If you can't persuade her outside with a treat or a ball then I would take it a step at a time. Make yourself comfortable on the floor in the open doorway - Read a good book. Relax. Don't make a big deal of this which would put pressure on her, read that book - don't watch her like a hawk. Have lots of her favourite treats, cut up very small. Put one on the floor near you - read your book, watch her out of the corner of your eye. Let her pick it up and take it back into the room if she wants. Repeat until she is coming to the door more readily. If she wont even come that near to the door then toss it back to her to a distance she can tolerate. Then another, gradually each treat brings her nearer the door. (she will get lots of treats so that is why they need to be VERY tasty and SMALL). When she is comfortable with that- then you sit outside the door and repeat - Biulding it up over a period of time. You may not get her out into the garden the first time - that's ok - a little progress each time is great and be pleased with her- the slightest progress earns her a quiet but positive and cheerful "oh clever girl" and a treat. And do a little more the next day. Never punish.Never force. Avoid at all costs anything frightening happening in the garden which would reinforce her fear. Leave the door open when she does get outside so she kows she has a bolt hole. This goes at HER pace not yours. Once she starts to recover her confidence things will progress faster. In the meantime talk to your husband about how dreadful fear is to live with and that she isn't doing this because she is naughty, bad or malicious. She is scared. If you love her - as she loves you, she is worth spending the time, effort and patience on. Try to get the protective, macho response from him!! Overcoming fear is not easy but oh so very rewarding. I hope this helps a bit. Good luck. Kath

Answer 3

The first thing I would do would be to take her to the vet and get her checked out. It could very well be an infection. Also, are her accidents corrosponding perfectly with the storms. If so, she may just be scared. Try comforting her during storms. If you add details as to whether it is the storms or not I will edit this to inclued a post on how to desensitize dogs. Any way, if it is neither of those, than I would start over with house breaking- she may need a refresher.
Remember: dogs are not born knowing they go potty outside, not on your rug.
Crate train and when she is not in her crate watch her every second. Dogs go through a routine before they eliminate, some sniff, some circle... when you see that pick her up and run outside and say hurry up (whatever you want the cue to be). If she goes outside, praise her ton. Not just a "good dog", throw a party, run around in circles, give her a piece of cooked hotdog.
Obviously you must take her outside often, I would say every hour, but dogs must go after they eat sleep and exercise. Take her out, say hurry up, when she goes praise and go inside.
If you take your eyes off of her and she goes and you don't see her doing it, that is your fault, do not punish her because she will not know why she is in trouble. If you catch her in the act, make a loud noise to stop her and rush her outside. Praise her after she goes. Don’t smack her if she pees in the house, she may just try to hold it forever and develop bladder problems, something you really don’t want. Don’t correct after the fact. If the dog is corrected after the fact, it will not connect the correction with the behavior, and will begin to think that corrections are random, and that the owner cannot be trusted. This results in a bad relationship and a dog that does not connect corrections, which are believed random, with bad behaviors even when they are applied in time. When she does have an accident, be sure to clean it up with natures miracle or something made specifically for urine stains or she will go back to that spot to eliminate again.
I cannot tell you how helpful a crate has been in housebreaking my puppy. He has never had an accident in his crate and when I get him out of his crate we go directly outside (I carry him) and he pees.
I do not recommend pee pads or paper training. When you use pee pads, you are teaching your dog to go potty in your house. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want my dog peeing anywhere in my house, pee pad or no pee pad.
http://www.leerburg.com/housebrk.htm...
http://www.perfectpaws.com/crt.html...
http://www.cuhumane.org/topics/crate.htm... http://www.clickersolutions.com/blog/blog07.htm

Answer 4

It sounds as if your dog got scared outside. The worst thing you can do to a fearful dog is use force, such as rubbing its nose in it.
You seem to be right on thinking the confusion in the house and the thunderstorms might be contributing to the accidents. Just to rule out something physical, take her to the vet first. When a physical cause is ruled out, start reconditioning her to believe great and wonderful things happen when she potties outside. Lots of tasty tidbits, smoked chicken and turkey work well. Be very positive with her outside.

If you catch her pottying in the house just say "oops" in a bright tone and take her outside with the chicken treats. Be with her and wait until she potties appropriately.

Answer 5

my dog used to do the same thing, but we got him on a routine, EX. take him out at 6 am then again at 12 then at 3 or 5 then b4 we go to bed, that seemed to work or else he'll sit by the door to let us know to take him out, maybe your dog doesnt like rain ? cause my other dog wont use the bathroom in the rain

Answer 6

Have a vet check her first. There could be a medical reason why she's doing this (some folks here mentioned a few) or it could be some sort of anxiety. To solve this problem you have to weed through all the possibilities.

Tell your husband to be more patient in this matter.

Answer 7

it takes a little TLC but take it outside every hr. and if it pees in the house stick his nose in it. Yes it sound cruel but it works and make sure you take him outside often enough. If everything fails have him checked by the Vet. if something is wrong with his bladder or kidneys. Dogs sometimes have problems with it. good luck

Answer 8

Ok i have a poddle an he used to. but when you go outside take him with you an keep watching your dog an see if it gets better. tell your husband t ojus twait the dog will come along.