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Brooklyn always pee's in new dog beds!

BrooklynMom

Well-known member
Okay, so I have a strange problem (I think it is strange at least)...everytime I put a "dog bed" down for Brooklyn, she pees in it. Why???

Here is the background...Brooklyn is 5 months now and really good about going outside to her "spot". In fact, she has only had 1 accident (that wasnt on a dog bed) in the house since we owned her. She is really getting on in terms of actual potty training. Now, at night, she sleeps in her crate. Sometimes if she is really tired during the day, she will just take herself there too. However, the crate is in the back of the house and I would love for her to have a bed in the living room (right now she loves being in the living room and just lays on the floor). I would like her to have a bed in the living room for a few reasons...one, a place where she can chew things (like a bully stick, pig ear, whatever) that won't get on our carpet and two, so she can be trained to have a "spot" to be in the living space when she naps and sleeps.

BUT, every time I have put a bed down...any kind of bed, fluffy, hard, soft...she scratches and then pees in it. Today I got a new bed that is really flat and not cushy at all (since she likes to be on the floor I figured this would suit), and I watched her, knowing she might pee, and sure enough, scratch scratch and then she squatted and a little pee came out! I had just taken her to the potty too so I would know she didnt have to pee, but she managed just enough to come out the there were small dots of pee on the bed. I stopped her really quick, just picked her up and took her out back again, but either way, she always does this! New bed, old bed, blanket masking as a bed. Ugh, it is so frusterating! And if we leave a bed on the ground, even in the other room, she will go find it and pee in it. Why does she think these are pee boxes? :sl*p:

She has never peed in her crate, she has never even whined in it, and I know she loves it because she takes herself to bed every night (so cute), but being that it is in the back of the house (near our room as she is still potty training so we need to hear if she wakes up), I really would love to have a bed for her that she doesn't use as a pee box...even when I know she doesnt have to pee!

Help please :) Oh, and yes, I either wash the bed with the urine wash stuff or just throw it out and get a new one. Doesnt matter, within 5 min she pees. Oh, but if there are no beds down in the house (which is usually the case) she never goes inside, ever.

Help???
 
Polly did the exact same thing when she was that age. She would dig in her beds and pee in them. Sometime's she would do this in our bed too...:rolleyes: I'd always have to make sure no blankets were on the floor cause she would dig and go potty in them. We had many many trips to the laundry mat lol She did outgrow this though. She stopped when she was around a year or so. I don't know why they do this though! Very frustrating.
 
My puppy would always dig and pee on my bed or his bed, as soon as i would wash it and i equated it to the fact that it did not have a smell he recognized and he was marking his territory. I would not buy a new bed but instead i would wash the bed you already have but this time don't uses a fragrant detergent. When the bed is dry, rub the bed with toys or a shirt that has your smell on it so your puppy does not have the urge to mark the bed. I hope this works for you because it did for me!
 
There are two approaches you can take.

1. Wash the bed and hope enough of her scent is still on it for her not to want to mark again.

2. Throw the bed away if she keeps marking it.

Poppy used to do this and she just stopped for no reason!
 
You are all wonderful, thank you! I am glad I (and Brooklyn!) are not alone cl*pCavs are so funny...so crazy, but so funny. This is my first dog, so I am learning a whole heap of new things.

So what do we recommend? Take away all beds for now (aside from her crate) and just let her lay on the floor? When do I know to put them down again? At what age did yours stop doing this and is there anything I can do to help?

Is it the texture (fluffy or soft or cushy) or the scent? I could try putting the lining in my laundry basket for a while to get our scent on it???
 
I am glad I (and Brooklyn!) are not alone cl*pCavs are so funny...so crazy, but so funny. This is my first dog, so I am learning a whole heap of new things.

Rotolo is my first dog on my own so i can totally relate to how your feeling. When i first got Ro Ro i had the same thoughts that my cavalier was the only one acting naughty because you always read how smart the breed is and that they are so easy to train. For a while there i thought i might have found the only cavalier that was untrainable, I have now learned that i was setting the bar a little to high for my little baby. so don't stress your little cavy is still a Pup.

On the subject of the bed, i would still keep trying to introduce the bed for as long as you can stand it. I think getting some old shirts and putting them in the bed as a liner for a little while will help her feel comfortable and this will get rid of the brand need smell. I dont think it has anything to do with the material the bed is made out of because rotolo has several different beds between my two houses and we went through it n pretty much all of them except the crate like you had mention. Rotolo was fully house broken at 6-7months and that was when i started to feel confident in leaving him at home up to 4 or 5 hours if i needed to.

Let me know what you end up doing and how it works out for you. Good luck:)
 
All very good suggestions...

Gracie has never done this, but she does sometimes beat up on her bed when mad at us for not letting her have way.:roll: it looks just like a hissy fit that a child would have!
However, getting anything with her smell on it rubbed on to the bed might help. It could be rubbing her crate liner on the surface of the new bed or using a towel or other item she has laid on. I find that has helped Gracie accept a new rug we got her to lay on in the kitchen.
 
Holly did the very same thing when she was a pup. She drove me nuts, as soon as I would wash it she would pee in it. With that same action of pulling it towards her then pee. She did stop after a while. You will just have to be patient. If it's any help Kmart have the donut beds for only $8 if you get tired of washing. I know how you feel it is frustrating. Good luck.
 
I just had to respond because Debra mentioned Gracie 'tearing' up her bed......Claire will pull the little pad out of the middle of her's (well she actually has 3), and shake it silly, then turn the bottom part upside down and sit on it. It cracks us up every time she does it. We don't know why, but it seems to make her happy, so what the heck.

Of course, I put it back together correctly, and she goes and lays in it. So, the last two beds I bought don't have a removable 'center' pillow. It's all attached, and that seems to work better for her.

Do you think she knows it was really a 'cat' bed?

Claire only peed on her bed once, but that was when she was very, very young.

Have you thought about buying a baby blanket or two, and putting those in the bed and see if that makes a difference? If she still pees, you can just wash the blanket.

Claire (is not spoiled, lol) has several baby blankets that are her's. She loves them, and they are so easy to throw in the wash. And of course, they are 'girlie' colors :p
 
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