Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
I have a 4 year old track rescued Greyhound. She has been a challenge since we got her (her sister is fine). For about 8 months she did really well, then recently started peeing in the house on occasion again. We have a neighbor coming in to let both dogs out midday, and we limit the water intake, yet 3 times this month she peed.
By Sally from Allentown, PA
Try leaving the TV or radio on for human voices and music. It comforts them and makes it feel like someone is at home.
Actually, greyhounds are very low-energy dogs. Even when they are at the track, they are housed in crates for 20 or more hours a day, and race only twice a week, for about 30 seconds at a time. Greyhounds are the ultimate couch potatoes, and do just fine with potty walks 3 or 4 times a day, and perhaps a couple of longer walks a week. While many enjoy an occasional run in a fenced area, they do not "have" to run to be happy.
I have found it's better when I keep him on a strict schedule (walks and feedings at the same time every day), but am frustrated as well.
I have had that problem with both of my dogs at times. Clean the spot & if you have a child's gate put it up so that the dog can't return to that spot for 2 - 3 weeks minimum. If a gate is not possible, whatever you do, do not use a rug, but sit something on the spot when it dries to keep the dogs away from it. I know that this sounds like a lot of trouble but it will give your carpet time to get the smell out and keep the dogs from going back to that spot because that is exactly what they will do. I know the gate is an inconvenience, but it works!
You can also use some the urine smell removal products, on and around the spot and the gate or whatever you use to cover the spot. It is also helpful in speeding up the process. The products range in prices from low to very expensive. Arm and Hammer makes a couple of good products that are not expensive and work ok. Believe me I have had my dogs for 4 yrs & have used this procedure 4 or 5 times, with a 100 percent success rate. Also make sure your pets are actually going to the bathroom when you take them outside. My dogs will go out on the porch but if they get spooked they may not get off the porch to go bathroom, so when I let them out I go with and get them excited about going outside.
I normally give them a small treat when they come back in if they behave well. Small treats are great for training even the most stubborn dogs. On stormy days it is a little tough, but I put on a rain coat and take my dogs out when the rain slacks off. I sometimes have to carry my smaller dog to an area under the trees where it is hardly raining at all. I always make sure I have puppy pads down on stormy days because both dogs are scared of thunder and if it storms all day it is very hard to get in 4 or 5 walks. Sometimes our animals may frustrate us but if we love them we must take the time to work with them and make sure they get enough love, exercise and outside time. I have put a picture of my smaller dog with this feedback.
Thank you for this site. My 4 year old house-trained Shih Tzu just started peeing all over the place. Little puddles in the kitchen, little spots on the family room carpet... Tuesday she peed on the sofa back, where she sits to watch TV with me, and then the topper, while laying on my stomach Thursday, she looked up at me and let go.....and a wet warm sensation covered my Tshirt and shorts!
I knew there was something wrong and I found this site. Someone reported "Diabetes," someone else "urinary tract infection," then there was "bladder infection," and "21 kidney stones".
Let me tell you what my vet found. ,After hearing our story, she says "well her bladder is nice and firm the way it's supposed to be. Let's put her on anti-biotics and see if she has a urinary tract infection. If she's not better in 2 weeks, we can do an x-ray and see if something else is going on."
I said "She's here, how much is the x-ray?" Vet "$150" I said "let's do it now so we can rule it out" She does the x-ray and and comes back "Good Call...3/4 of her Bladder is full of a Stone the size of a quarter!"
Her bladder is only the size of a Golf ball when empty! Vet says "she can't control her bladder, and thinks it is full all the time because of the massive stone!" Baby girl has surgery Wednesday to remove the stone $800!
I have a 3 year old lab and and 1 year old Catahoula. Both are fully housebroken and have been for quite some time. Every day when I get home from work I immediately let them both out to use the bathroom and then run around and play together a while. When I was training them, I would take them out on a leash and make them pee and poop before I would let them off to play so they know the order of how things need to work.
Yesterday, about 30 minutes after I let them back in my Lab starting peeing on the floor. I stopped him and made him go outside to finish. He came back in and 30 minutes later did it again.Tonight my husband and I were on one side of the house and both of our dogs were in the dining room laying on their beds. My husband walks into the room and again my Lab was peeing all over the floor. We get that cleaned and our Catahoula follows us to the bedroom jumps on the bed and pees all over it. It's large amounts of pee. They haven't been drinking more water than usual and I let them out to go out the same number of times as usual. What could be wrong?
By Jess B
Well of course you are going to have to see your Vet. to really know. Two things that came to my mind are diabetes although you didnt mention the age of your dogs. And with diabetes they would be drinking a lot more too. That would make bladder infection a possibility, but that would be odd to see in both dogs at once, though not impossible.
Another possibility is something outside has changed and is intimidating the dogs and taking their mind off their business. This may make them both anxious and feel the need to mark their territory (your bed). One more possibility is that they got into something outside (or a new food) that is a bladder irritant. In any case you need to start with the Vet. Good luck.
I'm not sure if you had both of your dogs spayed/neutered. If not, the lab is "marking" it's territory. Even if it's the younger dog that is in heat, the lab will mark. This time of the year, people open their windows to clear out the dead air space. If this is happening to you, you'll know how to take care of it. It can not be over looked that the lab has a bladder/kidney problem. Sometimes, if you have a good relationship with your vet, you can bring in a urine sample instead of having to pay for an office call. Ask the receptionist before bringing the sample over.
My female greyhound age 12 started peeing on the dog beds in my house. Later I found out she had a cancer tumor growing in her abdomen. The poor thing was trying to let me know how she felt. Take the dog to the vet for a professional opinion.
My Lulu, a Japanese Spritz is potty trained and recently has been pooping and peeing sometimes at home. We bought her 3 weeks ago and she recently started sneezing and peeing inside. What should I do?
By Diana from Ghazieh, Lebanon
I have some questions here. You say she is certainly potty trained, yet you only bought her three weeks ago. What is your guarantee she is potty trained?
Was the dog in a kennel, a store or in a person's home when you bought her?
I would suggest you act as if her house training was incomplete and continue her training just like you would a puppy.
Potty training is not complete until a dog is about a year old. Keep working with her and I am sure she will improve. Take her to the Vet to check out the sneezing. Make sure she has had her vaccinations.
We (Tessa and I) have recently moved to Florida with my sister-in-law and their Beagle-Lab mix dog. My 4 year old Lab is peeing a significant amount of urine in the dining area lately, even when we are in the house! She has plenty of opportunity to go outside, has no issues with the other dog, no issues with potty training, and goes on daily walks. Any suggestions?
By Jennifer
Have you taken her to the vet? Usually when they do things they know you don't like, it's because they can't help it. How does she act when you find it or see her at it? Does she look ashamed? When my lab was doing this, she had an infection. Before doing anything else, I would have her checked out there.
As a side note, labs are known to be spirited and (I called mine psycho) spiteful. She might be jealous of the new dog and angry that now she's sharing attention with another dog. She chewed up my stuff when she thought I was slighting her. In that case, it's best to continue to reinforce that it is bad behavior so she knows you're unhappy with her when she does it. Eventually, she'll pick you over that.
I have a nine year lab old that just started peeing. I have been back and forth to the vet on more occasions than I can count. First she started peeing because I had her on a steroid for a skin rash she had. Steroids definitely make you pee (even steroids that you put in their ears for ear infections...believe it or not).
My dog is hypersensitive to any steroids. A worse case scenario is Cushings Disease. That is something your vet could do blood work on. The last idea I have is a urinary tract infection. You also might want to consider if any other pets have been in your home. He/She may be mad and marking their territory.
Good luck! I love my lab. She is my baby! BTW...my dog just got put on an incontinence medicine because it ended up being just that she cannot hold her bladder.
Has her diet changed? Is there some chemical that you have in the house that might be sparking this reaction? Take the dog to the vet. Also, you might look at his food, the dog food you feed her. You may need to find a food that doesn't have a lot of grain and by products, they can cause yeast infections which in turn can cause infections of the urethra and kidney infections. Have the dog checked out and change her diet. I might even try feeding her all chicken for two days and see if it makes a difference.
If she is peeing a lot, give her some pedialyte to drink. labs are noted for yeast infections. Make sure when she gets smelly and oily and yeasty smelling that you get rid of the muck from her skin with a handful of dawn and a capful of tea tree oil mixed together and applied to a wet dog. This is such a good shampoo if there is a problem of yeast build up on the dogs skin. Hope this helps.
Most vets will know nothing about the differnt dog foods, I have noticed that they are not really trained in nutrition, the ones I have met.
Blessings,
Robyn
I have 2 Pit breed dogs. One is female and is over 9 years old and the other is a male and he is 4 years old. They both are spayed and neutered. Both have been house trained. We have recently moved to a new house 6 months ago. My 4 year old male Pit has just recently started peeing in front of the back door where he goes outside. He dribbles with pee until he reaches the door and usually has two puddles of pee on the floor. He also starts barking which wakes us up at 4 am during these two episodes.
I am at home during the day so they both get let out and have plenty time to empty their bladders. He is drinking water excessively that we have noticed because the water bowl is completely empty in the am. After he is let out in the AM, he goes straight to the water bowl to drink a lot of water. I plan to take him to vet because I have never had any issues like this before. The only thing different in his routine was that I had taken him to the vet to get bathed about 5 days ago because he weighs 117lbs. He is terrified of water and is a big baby, so it's hard to bath him. Please help with any suggestions. Thank you.
I took Jo to the Vet and he was diagnosed with diabetes. His glucose was in the 500 range and normally they want a dog level to come down to at least 150 range. The vet explained to me that they usually don't see diabetes in a dog this young of age so she took care of him all day to monitor and give him insulin. He had some bacteria in his urine also. I picked him up this evening with a plan of treatment. So with antibiotics and insulin I hope he will get back to normal. I will have to give him insulin 2 x a day the rest of his life and he has been put on a low calorie diet to help him lose a little weight. I will have to take him in weekly to check his glucose level and try to get the correct dosage for him. I am glad the vet could see him this morning and figure out what was wrong with him and we caught it early. This is a lot to take! But he will be ok.
This sounds like possible diabetes or a kidney or bladder infection. The vet can diagnose this for you.
We got our 2 year old Chiweenie last year from a high kill shelter that didn't know what he had previously been through. He's proven to be very attached to my mother and I, but scared of my stepfather and younger brother.
When we first got him, he was trained to bark when he had to go, and to go on a pad, when we we're not home or at night when we're asleep and can't let him out. The last month or so, after getting a job with my mother and working at the same time always, we've been coming home to pee and poop on the floor and him hiding under the couch because he knows it was bad.
Generally, we put his nose close to the pee and put him on his leash outside for a while to show that he's done wrong. He does this every night, and we have no idea how to solve this problem. My mother and stepfather get very upset when he does it. I believe it is either a medical problem or that he is hiding under the couch from being afraid of my stepfather and brother. and when he comes out he can't hold it and just goes, even if there is a puppy pad out, which there always is. Even if he isn't hiding, he won't let my stepfather or brother close enough to get him to let him out and he most definitely won't go to the door so they can let him out.
He's hardly ever left alone, but he only does it when my mother and I are not here. Is there any way we can solve this problem without having to change our schedules? I really can't afford changing my schedule considering we really need the money right now. They're talking about getting rid of him because they're sick of him doing it. I really love this dog and I don't want to have to get rid of him. What can I do?
By Briana B.
Well one reason the dog is afraid of your step dad and brother or whoever is because they are males and maybe the dog was abused by males so he has a hard time trusting them. Now with the peeing, how long have you had this dog? The dog just needs some time to adjust to things, especially if it was abused. If it was younger it will take a little bit but with good training it wont do that anymore.
I feel for you. Shelter dogs often need extra help. Sounds like he has had difficulty with men. Look for posts on this site about crate training and training in general. There are many new methods that work well. Rubbing the dogs nose in it is one of the old ones that do not work. It may be triggering memories of abuse for your dog...thus the hiding under the couch. With better methods of training and some patience you should be able to improve his behavior. Will you be able to get the guys to cooperate? Both in learning new methods and showing patience with the dog? If not perhaps you can rehome the dog so he will have only patient women to deal with. It might be a kindness given his past. Both chihuahuas and weiner dogs have been know to have a small stubborn streak. Good luck to you and bless you for caring.
The dog needs to be crated when you aren't home to watch him. Then take him outside, and run around the yard with him. Praise when he relieves himself. Don't punish for accidents in the house, if you do this after the fact, the poor dog has no idea why he is getting punished. Have the men in your home praise the dog, pet him, give him some (otherwise) forbidden treats. Good luck
My grandson who was born 5-1-2016 and his mum live with me. My dog has never peed in the house before, yet for 2 weeks now, she keeps peeing on her bedding.
Just a few days ago, she peed on my daughter's bed. I don't know what to do.
First of all, dogs never do anything out of revenge! They don't even understand the concept. They do get stressed with new people, especially children, and don't know how to handle that stress.
Second, rubbing their nose in it will do nothing. Dogs don't even mind getting pee or poo on themselves. They roll in poo. Besides they have no idea why you are doing this. It means nothing to them.
Lastly, "spanking" (hitting) a dog only stresses them out more which causes more bad behavior. They will not trust you if you hit them! And they have no idea why you're doing it. They don't understand it at all.
Please don't take bad advice! Dogs get stressed with babies, with too many people in the house, with noise, with strong scents like stinky diapers and with chaos. You have a nervous dog.
Walk your dog more frequently to burn off energy. Make sure there is a place your dog can go to get peace and quiet. Don't let the baby grab the dog's toys and things. Don't let the dog take the baby's toys and things. Keep the floors clean and the laundry done. Use a diaper genie. Insist on order.
Your dog will get used to it.
This is not, I repeat, NOT your dog's fault.
My dog, Yogi, is 3 yrs old. He has been with me since he was 1 and a half. Although we bring him outdoors 3 times a day, he is still peeing in the house randomly. Please help with some possible solutions, as I fear my hubby is getting fed up with his actions and I'm afraid he wants to give him up for adoption. I would hate to see this happen.
By Alicia
There can be many reasons why Yogi has trouble keeping his urination needs to your schedule. He may have a medical problem that results in his inability to hold his urine. Take your dog to your vet to rule out any medical issues. You vet can also help you with suggestions to help you help Yogi. If possible, you might consider a "doggie door" to allow Yogi to go outside when he needs to pee.
I have a 3 year male dog and two females They are all house dogs. They are trained to go outside. The male is neutered, but he pees on everything in the house when we are not looking. He has ruined so much furniture. Please help me. I am tired of cleaning up his pee.
By JB from Cincinnati, OH
I have a female whom we adopted this past summer and the same problem. The best advice (that works) that I have gotten is: keep him on a leash attached to your belt at all times when in the house, ie: when you are doing stuff around the house. Do not let him wander, if you cannot keep him attached to you, then he goes in the kennel, or outside. If he does start to pee while on leash (mine hasn't), then you can immediately startle him, stopping the peeing, and take him to the appropriate 'pee spot', wait for him to pee, then reward with lavish praise. If he doesn't pee, back into the kennel, and then try again outside later at 1/2 hour increments.
As long as you are consistently walking your dog as well, this has worked for me. It is a pain sometimes, and I do feel bad kenneling her sometimes, but it is better than her 'marking' in my home! Good Luck, I feel your pain!! PS- Also, do your best to neutralize the urine smell around the house, although this is almost impossible where carpet (& padding) and upholstered furniture goes.
I need some helpful tips and ideas on what to do with my dog! He's very attached to me and follows me everywhere. When I'm gone at work or just leave the house, he gets mad and pees on the corners of beds, couches, and on the floors. I live with my parents and sisters; this dog gets more attention and love than any other dog I have met.
When I'm not working I'm home and we go for car rides. I take him to Petsmart and play outside. Nothing I do is good enough for this dog and the peeing is getting worse, no matter how many times I let him out to use the bathroom. My family is sick of it and I don't wanna get rid of him. He's my baby, but if something doesn't change we're both going to be kicked out.
By Leslie
Crate train the dog.
When you go out put the dog in the kennel. When you come back, take him out to pee or poop. After a while of no accidents like this, you may be able to try it without kenneling him. Either way, this is the best solution so that you both don't have to be without each other.
We used to have this problem also..til we took our furbaby to the vet and he needed medication to control it, so your furbaby might be having problems and cant help what he is doing. We know by experience, so maybe a visit to the vet will help.
I agree with Lisa. Crate train him. I had this problem with my little dog when we moved the last time. He got so mad at me for not paying attention to him that he began pooping on my floor during the night. I work at home, so it's not like I wasn't with him always. I found that he'd become way too spoiled and had developed an entitlement mentality. So, I made life stricter for him. He no longer got his fluffy pillows and human scraps and other extra-nice things. I wasn't mean to him, but he lost a lot of privileges and even had to locked up at night. Then I weened him into being tied on his leash (inside) at night. Until, eventually, no more accidents and I could trust him again.
I know we love spoiling our puppies - But sometimes is spoils them. God bless you, your family, and your puppy. Hope this helps and wish you the best!
I'd take him to the vet because there may be a reason for this. I don't see how dog training has anything to do with peering in the house. Just my opinion.
First, make sure there isn't an underlying medical condition. Then, if there isn't, you should try to watch some episodes of "the Dog Whisperer", or get his book from the library/store & practice what he preaches.
It sounds like the biggest problem is you are treating him like a baby & creating so much anxiety in him that he can't stand it when you leave him. The more you do this, the worse he's going to get & it's not fair to him or anybody else.
You can still love him, and show him how not to be so anxious when you aren't around.
Crate training isn't a bad idea either. If you do it the right way, it becomes a soothing sanctuary that he feels safe in.
Interesting that my Cesar Milan (dog whisperer) newsletter this week deals with separation anxiety. Here is the link to part 1 of his video on the subject, then you'll find a link to the part 2 video here also. Hope it helps your poor confused baby.
www.cesarsway.com/
