How can we stop her from doing that and go back to be the good dog she once was? We are taking her out all the time, there are people with her all the time. She has access to the yard, but she does it inside. Obviously it is a protest, what can I do to save my house?
By Sybille Betancourt from Houston, TX
People can be with a dog all day long, but is the dog getting personal attention time? It's jealous of the pup taking over her domain; she's been the only one and now it's different. She doesn't approve. To curtail the jealousy, see that your older dog gets lavish attention poured on her so she doesn't feel she's been pushed to the bottom of the totem pole.
Thanks so much for your answers. I do think she is acting out of jelousy and I have been given her more attention, like ultra more, and gone on walks only us two, seems to be what she needed, the last couple of days she has been doing better. It also probably wasn't good that at the same time we got Maxi we had to put her on a diet as she is 4 lbs overweight, and of course now she is not getting table scraps, and all the treats she used to get, and probably she thinks is because of him.
I watched an episode on dog whisperer and he said that when bringing in a new dog or puppy to the house that for the first day only give the older dog the attention and minimal attention to the new dog. I know it sounds hard to do but it's what would happen in a pack of dogs and makes it easier on the older dog.
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
I have a male dog, Mario, who is 16 months old. I did not get him fixed until he was 15 months old. I also have a female dog that I have had for 15 yrs. He was 60% potty trained prior to getting him fixed. My boyfriend has now moved in with his 2 dogs, A 9 yr old German Shepherd and a 13 yr old Chihuahua. Now my dog is acting out and has peed on the bed 2 days in a row. He is pooping in the house a lot more as well. What can I do? He has always slept in the bed with me. Now it is me, my dog Mario, my bf, and his 13 yr old Chihuahua.
Any advice will be soooo appreciated!!!
Normally you have a dog house trained by the time they are around 3 to 4 months old. There are some dogs that take a bit longer and normally by 6 months, this should no longer be a problem. You sound like you have your hands full right now with dogs and your younger dog is acting out and making it well know that this is his home and they are invading his space. He is angry that you are allowing the other dog to sleep on the bed at night and this is the reason he is peeing on your bed to try and stop the other dog sleeping there. If this one continues you will need to keep your door closed at all times and restrict the dog from going into your room. If he is pooping in the home then this is a major issue and you may need to get him a crate to stay in during the day.
Sounds like a doggie mad house.
I do not know how much room you have in your house but it is easy to understand why your young pup could feel overwhelmed with all the changes to his environment.
All that I can suggest is to try and watch him (no scolding please) and take him outside more often. Are you treating him the same way as before when you let him out to potty? Do you stay outside a few minutes with him or just open the door? Try to treat him the same as you did before the changes.
Most likely, the new dogs have the run of the house (and bed) so where does that leave Mario when the house and bed used to be his? I'm just trying to explain why this could happen.
Be sure that all soiled areas are cleaned with an enzyme cleaner because other cleaners will leave a smell that dogs and cats can smell and it will make them think that spot is okay as its been used before.
It is very common for dogs to act up and regress in potty training when there are changes. Your pup has been through several--getting fixed, new people, new dogs, new sleeping arrangements.
Dogs like routine and stability so it is very important to take these new normals and create new and positive bathroom regimes with him. Always reward him for good behavior--going outside, and literally ignore bad. If you yell at him for bad behavior he only sees attention and not that it is negative. Ignore the bad stuff and reinforce with food or toys or both, the good.
With the other new dogs in the house, it may pay you to do a one time meeting with a dog whisperer (yes, they exist--we had one of the best when we adopted our boy dog when our (now late) girl dog was 11 and she was used to being an only child.
The whisperer will look at the dogs acting toward each other and the humans and will help you focus on the good behaviors and reactions and teach out (train out with rewards) the bad. It works!
Prayers and blessings!! Post back with updates!
I'm hoping for some advice. My 11 year old Westie has started peeing in the house. We have a new male puppy who is 7 months old, but my Westie only started to wee since the new pup was 5 months old. Both dogs are male and haven't been castrated. The pup is house trained.
This is very common in older dogs that have been the only member of a houssehold for so long. The dog feels like he needs to mark his territory to let the new member know he is the boss. You older dog is not yet castrated and it might be a good time to consider this. The dog is no longer breeding so there is no need to not castrate him now. Maybe this will help. Another reason this happens is the new male is getting older and the other dog senses this. The dog smell can change when he become of breeding age.
I recommend getting both dogs castrated. It helps a bit. You might want to try some extra attention for the older dog too.
I hope this problem has resolved. If not, please have the vet test the 11 yr old for a bladder/urinary tract infection or for kidney/bladder stones.
Changes in pee habits can be "marking" from stress but more often than not they are caused by an underlying health issue.
If the pup gets a clean bill of health and the vet determines that it could be a behavioral issue, he/she can make suggestions for you.
Sometimes a quick refresher crate training works, as sometimes dogs revert or regress from training when they are stressed.
Post back with an update. If you are not planning to breed the puppy, I suggest getting him fixed. It is helpful to prevent marking tendencies when he gets older and can help reduce the chances of the developing a number of different cancers.
The older pup may be too old to have this be of any benefit for him (being neutered). The vet can tell you if that would even be a valid option. I am thinking NO, but I am not a vet.
Post back with an update!!
I have two male dogs and they are house trained. A week ago I got a female dog. Now my boys are peeing in my house. Why?
Well, since it started after you introduced the female dog it seems this is the cause and so you can rule out any health related problem.
You do not give the ages of the male dogs or the new female dog and sometimes even this difference can affect the behavior of the dogs and make them feel their territory is being threatened.
I assume the two male dogs have been spayed(?) but has the female been neutered? If not, this is another trigger to upset your males (even spayed males). Is the new dog a "cutie" and is getting most of the attention the males usually get? Could be another trigger. Has the male dog's time outside been adjusted or changed? Another trigger.
I think you can see there are probably things/changes that have happened that could set them off and cause them to do things they have not been doing.
I believe one of the first things a trainer will say is "Do not scold or punish the dogs" and second would be to try and return the household schedule back to the way it was before and make changes gradually. They do also recommend keeping the dogs apart for several days (when possible).
Thoroughly cleaning the urine affected area is of tremendous importance as the dogs "smell" is better than ours will ever be. A quote from a trainer: "Scent elimination. It is important to remove the scent of previous urine marks with a good enzymatic cleaner. Camouflaging the odor with another scent is not effective. An enzymatic cleaner can help neutralize the scent to prevent recurrences of the behavior."
Here is a link to an excellent article on this subject.
www.vetstreet.com/
We have a 7 month old female Frenchie Pug mix (neutered) who was mostly house-trained. 3 weeks ago we adopted an 8 year old diabetic Pug female. They get along pretty well, but fight over toys (and me) a bit. The puppy has started peeing all over the house 2-3 times a week, usually when we are in another room - she sneaks out to do it.
I don't know how to stop this behavior.
I have tried giving her tons of attention, and minimizing the attention the poor new dog gets, but she is a very strong-willed little girl. I think they are both trying to establish themselves as alpha, but it is still not resolved - help!She is jealous and wants attention. I would crate her. She will get the idea very quickly that if she wants free run of the house, she will have to do her business outside.
Crate her. As soon as you find where she has gone, take her to the spot and then scold and crate.
this is definitely territorial behaviour. You just have to demonstrate that you are 'top dog' by providing firm discipline and curbing all other territorial behaviours, also provide lots of exercise.
It's still early in the new home environment, but the pup should be taken outdoors more frequently than the older dog who can hold its water longer and if the pup goes to the water bowl more often which you might want to zero in on. That might be a part of the problem as to urinating in the house. When a pup plays hard, it's natural to get thirsty afterward. Also, you could try washable doggie diapers on the young one while indoors. I would also take the pup outdoors with the older dog to go potty and the pup will learn from the senior dog. My young dog would sniff out the place where the older dog went and it became a habit for it to go in the same area. It is spending time retraining the pup's mind and it shouldn't take long before outdoors is the place to go when duty calls.
I agree this is an alpha dog struggle and will clear up with time. I think there are things you can do in the meantime. Make places for each of them to have their food and water bowls that keep them separate. If you can do that with the beds as well, great. Separate but equal is what we are going for. When you come home, greet both dogs at the same time and with the same level of intensity. Continue whatever training you were working on for the puppy. Remember scolding and correcting needs to be done in the 1st 10 seconds after the infraction. Coming back later to scold confuses and frightens the dog.
Terrible advice. Do not scold and then crate. Never use the crate as punishment or more problems will unfold.
No no no, absolutely not. That will teach the dog to fear you.
No no no, absolutely not. You should never, ever use the crate as a tool for punishment; that is supposed to be a dog's sanctuary, a place they enjoy going into. And you're definitely not supposed to take a dog to "the spot" and scold them - that will do nothing but teach the dog to fear you. Don't give out advice unless you know what you're talking about.
Correct crate is the safe home
Exactly. The crate should never be a place of fear. U should never punish a dog anyway!!! It our job to show the dog what to do instead. And teach them.
My older dog used to be able to sleep through the night. But since getting a pup a month ago he can no longer hold it throughout the night. He is now at the point where he will wake up before the puppy to go out. If I don't open up for him he will pee in my room.
I find it difficult to train my pup to hold it when my older dog is not setting the example. He doesn't pee in the house during the day. It's just getting him to sleep through the night again.
It appears that your older dog is crying out for attention and he is doing this in the middle of the night so you need to stand up to pay attention to him. I am sure you take the two dogs out before going to bed. You may need to take away his water a few hours before he goes in your room to sleep. If he continues on like this he may have a bladder problem or even an infection that a vet should take a look at.
Sometimes, older dogs develop urinary incontinence or bladder infections that increase the need to go out more frequently. It could be that this is the problem with your dog rather than an attention-getting issue. If your older dog need to go out more frequently during the day, it's probably a health issue not a behavior problem. You may need to have your older dog examined by a vet. There's inexpensive medication that can help with incontinence issues and the vet can prescribe something if your dog has a urinary or bladder infection.
I have 4 dogs, all of them rescued from the streets. All of them have access to the garden at any time to go and pee or poop outside. We take them for a walk without fail every day for at least 30 minutes.
One of the dogs have been with us for 3 months. All the dogs are fixed. According to the vet this dog is less than 1 year old, however he was very good on going outside to pee and everything as the rest of the dogs. He has been peeing inside the house for a week now. I went into the garden to see if something was wrong. He comes out with me and he seems to be fine. He even pees sometimes while I am in the garden. He has peed while I am upstairs and yesterday he did it in front of my dad and I without any hesitation.
Again, he has full access to the garden, he gets walks, I just came into the garden and he peed and poop without any problems. After a few minutes he came back to start licking his poop (I don't know why) and I said "No" and he stopped it.
There haven't been changes in the house recently. The last change occurred more than a month ago when we adopted the 4th dog and he seemed to be fine with the garden.
I really really need help. I am desperate.
When he peed in front of us inside the house yesterday I spanked him and yelled at him - he seemed very scared. The other times when I have seen the pee, as it was not "on real time" I just said "no", cleaned it and continued with our day. I have tried to find info about how to correct a dog when you do not catch them in real time and I haven't been able to find anything - I am watching every single episode of the Dog Whisper. I don't know what else I can do :(
Dont spank him or yell at him. Take him to a vet to see if there is a urinary tract infection or other physical issue.
Please don't spank the pup. That always makes it worse. Please consider taking him to the vet for a check. Any time a pup in my world has pee issues, if it isn't old age..not your issue...it is a UTI or other bladder/kidney issue.
If the pup gets a clean bill of health, then you may need to talk to tell vet about crate training. It is easy but requires consistency.
Prayers for you and your pup. Post back to let me know what the vet says
Look for patterns that may give a clue as to why he feels the need to pee in the house. You may need to adjust his schedule or gout out with him alone for awhile. Use lots of praise when he does it right. There is really no way I know of to correct them after the fact. He may just need some retraining, and there are many ways to do that. As to chewing, make sure he has chew toys he likes and will use. You can try Bitter Apple (from the pet store).
I am having the same issue with my older dog (10 yr) and new puppy (7 mo) both males , neutered. I plan to have the puppy neutered next week but in the meantime I found belly bands for both dogs, when inside they wear the belly bands
U have to teach the dog. U have to show it the behavior u would like instead and use a lot of treats and positive reinforcement.
Victoria stillwell has a dog training/psychology show that's amazing for tips. Check it out
Also dogs read energy. If u get angry he will see u as weak and not follow you. U have to be assertive not aggressive. Dogs don't respond well to anything negative. Every credible study shows this.
We have a 18 month old male Giant Schnauzer and recently got a 10 week old female ShihTzu. They get on really well with each other which is what we wanted as the GS had separation anxiety, but occasionally he is peeing in the house.
The puppy is really good and goes outside. Have you any advice please?
My 4 year old Goldendoodle is peeing in the house, all of a sudden. He is peeing in the same spot and it has happened three days in a row. He is acting and eating normally. The only change that has occurred is that we recently watched a friend's lab.
The dog has been gone for a few days, but I'm not sure if that had any correlation to my dog peeing in the house suddenly. Any insight or help with this situation would be greatly appreciated :)I think the change in schedule has set your dog off. Make sure you clean the spot with an enzyme cleaner like Nature's Miracle, or else he will keep coming back to it. If it continues, see the vet. He may have a urinary tract infection.
Poor pup! It could be that the other dog is stressing him into marking his house against the other dog.
I will tell you that in 9 of the 10 times my boy has accidents inside, he has a urinary tract infection or bladder stones, so best to take a pee sample to the vet (or bring him in however your vet does it) and get it checked.
Post back with an update! Prayers for healing if it is health issue.
Definitely because of the recent doggie sitting. Your dog is doing nothing abnormal. I will bet the other dog left some urine drops in the spot and your dog is just taking back charge of his territory.
As the other answer suggested, you will have to use the enzyme to remove all of the urine and this may take more than one application. Try keeping dog away from that spot and see if he goes anyplace else. If he continues to go in other places you will have to take to the vet, even though it may be a training issue and not a medical issue. You will have to be certain which issue you are having.
I own a 6 year old Yorkshire terrier who is/was toilet trained. Since we brought a pup yorkie home 1 year ago, the older dog pees inside now, as well as the pup.
I did however toilet train the pup who does toilet outside most of the time. I will find pee inside the house, say every second day. Usually their pees
are alongside each other! The pup occasionally poops as well. It's the urine that I'm concerned about. I'm sick of bending over and cleaning it! I don't know how to rectify this issue. Can it be fixed?
