Why would my dog suddenly start pooping and peeing in the house, on the carpet, after over a year of pretty much flawless behavior?
Lizzie is 14 months old, I got her at 2 months and she was almost effortless to house train. The only issue was that she would whimper both when she needed to go out and when she was feeling alone.
But for over a year she has not had any problems, just all of a sudden.
Even as a puppy she had the bowel and bladder control of a champion. The first night I had her, in the hotel, on the way back from Indiana, she didn’t have an accident. Except for a couple of peeing incidents, the only “accident” she had was during a thunder storm when she literally had the sh*t scared out of her.
She sleeps with me, all night, with the bedroom door shut so she doesn’t get into the rest of the house and eat things, and except for the thunderstorm incident, has never had an “accident” overnight.
What’s going on with her? There were no massive changes in her life or environment, as far as I know, when this started happening.
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7 Answers
If this is a very recent change, you may want to visit the veterinarian to rule out any bladder or G.I. tract troubles.
@Hawaii_Jake She needs to go to the vet anyway, so I will ask about it.
It is going through puberty. Puberty usually means a big amoung of rebelliousness.
You need to take away its game console and TV and ground it for a month.
These may be symptoms of canine depression.
Have the vet prescribe SRI medication.
Or it could be canine ADHD.
Maybe Ritalin or Adderall.
Parents love to use this stuff on their children. Why not dogs?
From 6 months to 14 months many dogs go through a second fear stage (the first being around the first couple of months of a dogs life)? At work I quite often see dogs of a similar age to yours that have, all of a sudden, started messing in the house. It can often be traced back to something that has traumatised (even what us humans would consider a very minor trauma like a door slamming and making them jump) them recently which has made them back track slightly in their house training. I’m not saying this is definitely the reason for the change but do think about whether anything may have scared your dog recently or if she is showing any signs of anxiety as she is at a fairly critical stage in her emotional development.
Like others here I would also recommend a vet check just to rule out any physical health issues.
@lillycoyote, what do the stools look like? Are they normal or loose? If they are loose, it may be an obvious answer like something is wrong with her digestive system. You haven’t introduced another animal or person into your home? I’m also wondering if she is going in the same areas inside the house and how you clean up the poop and pee?
Asuming that she isn’t sick in some way, which she very well could be, it might be a territorial thing. Have there been any other animals in the house? A friend bringing her dog over? The only time my dog has ever peed in the house was after we had watched our neighbors dog for a week.
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