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Carpet Wetting

sramirez

Well-known member
Does anyone have any suggestions for my beloved Sophie, who has taken to occasionally wee-weeing on the floor? I tore up my living room carpet last weekend (she had started on that) down to the wood floors, which I hope to get finished soon. Now I think she has wee-wee'd on my new rug runner I put down. :(

I usually try to get up at least once/night to let her out if I'm not too tired (I do work two jobs tho').

Thanx.

Sheri
 
Sheri,

How old is Sophie?

When does she do the wee? through the day or only at night time? is there a pattern of this like after a feed etc?

Alison, Wilts, UK.
 
Carpet wetting

I imagine she tends to wee when I'm not around - probably during the evening even tho' I walk her every evening before bedtime. I suppose I should just put her water up at night esp. now that she would rather sleep in the kitchen on the cool floor and the fan I have continually going in there.

Today is a beautiful, low humidity day. Tomorrow is back in the 90's with lots of humidity here! I'm definitely a fall season person, so summer here isn't exactly my favorite thing! There is a saying in Nebraska "if you don't like today's weather stick around for tomorrow - it'll most likely change".

Sheri
 
First thing to do is get her to the vet right away. When dogs start doing this and haven;t before, it is very often the sign of a urinary tract or kidney infection. These can be quite painful for the dog and as with people, makes you feel like you have to keep going even when you've gone.

If that isn't the case -- I'd lift all carpets and runners that you can and go back to the start with housetraining. Also clean the spots where she has gone with an enzymatic cleaner designed to lift urine smells from animals. These need to be totally destroyed so that the dog cannot smell them or she will return to go in the same places. Regular household cleaners that disguise the scent from you aren't adequate.

I recommend Shirlee Kalstone's How to Housetrain a Dog in 7 Days as a guide for all aspects opf housetraining -- including remedial housetraining. :)
 
Thanx Karlin. I'll look into the book and the methods. This morning I sprayed the rug, so hopefully she'll get the message. Yea, right like her memory is disappearing - but I don't think so. Even tho' she's deaf, somehow she can still hear the freezer opening when I get ice cream - go figure :shock:

Sheri
 
Even tho' she's deaf, somehow she can still hear the freezer opening when I get ice cream

:rotfl: :rotfl:

Maybe she feels the vibrations of the freezer opening... or smells a whiff of frozen ice cream... I swear I can do both!!
 
many years ago my cat started peeing all over the house, when she never had done that before. We had moved to a new apartment and we had let a nice stray cat come in to visit so i thought fluffy was just marking her territory. it went on for months. then someone told me to get her checked by a vet and voila she had a urinary tract infection, antibiotics cleared it up. months of smelly cat urine all over the place, wish i had gotten her checked sooner. :sl*p: karlin gives very wise advice, as usual. hopefully it's not an infection.

I was just reading a book last night that was talking about this, it's Tricks I Taught My Master by Robert Andrysco, a dog behaviorist. He was saying how dogs read their world by smell so much and how if they can smell urine or poop someplace, they process that as being the bathroom where it's ok to go.

what an ordeal for you. I hope it will soon be over. If it's not a urinary tract infection, i wonder what would cause her to start doing it now. good luck
 
carpet wetting

Thanx for all your great advice on the carpet wetting. I will definitely get her into the vet for a check to start with. However, I noticed last night that I think she wet on my new rug runner while I was at my evening part-time job, which is one of the times I've noticed she tends to pee! Funny thing is tho' my daughter is always home those evenings, so we've decided that it possibly could be a "mad at mom" syndrome as well icon_whistling Interestingly enough she doesn't seem to every wet on the floor during the day when we're both gone. icon_nwunsure

Who says these dogs don't have human emotions?? Or a great memory when they WANT to !

Sheri
 
It wouldn't be that she is mad as they don't have that sort of emotional response but could be that she finds the arrangement anxiety-producing. There'as also the possibility that she could be going on that place when you are there and don;t see her or during the day but it dries long before you are home (a UTI typically produces lots of small wees that can be hard to even detect). If she has thoroughly marked that area she will keep returning to it. Also maybe she needs to go out during the time your daughter is there and if she structured a walk halfway through in the evening, this would also solve the problem?

The vet is the place to start though.

:)
 
We had a tough time of it getting Flora housetrained but found a non-chemical spray called NO GO at PetCo. After cleaning up the urine you spray it on the carpet or floor and behold, a miracle. :) No smell to humans and it doesn't leave a film or stain on either carpeting or hardwood floors. It really did the trick for us. You can find it on line at: http://www.petco.com/Shop/Product.aspx?familyid=6526
You might want to give it a try.

JaneB
 
Carpet wetting

We did a vet check on Friday - no UTI. So, guess we're back to the "change in attitude" philosophy. I will definitely look into the NO GO product today.

yesterday she knocked down the baby gate (when nobody was home) and went in the lvg. room and peed on the floor again. Good thing she's loved alot this week :luv:

I think she's kinda made 'cuz I'm working so much - even tho' my daughter is home w/all of them in the evening. Heck, I never leave them more than 5 hrs. at a time anyway. Don't they know how lucky they are - some little dogs stay home alllllll day by themselves.

Well, thanks for all the advice. I will keep you posted on her progress.

Sheri
 
carpet wetting

Jane: I bought some "NO GO" yesterday at the pet store. Thanx for the heads up. We'll see how the week progresses. I'm really wanting to get my floors refinished this summer, so I hope the problem settles down somewhat.

Also thanx to Karlin about the anxiety - that may well be part of the problem. Altho' Amber is usually really good about walking all of them in the evening if I'm working - otherwise I walk them when I get home from work. Poor Amber only has the use of one hand tho' so she has to walk everybody separately - gives her a better workout than the dogs :lol:

Sheri
 
Have you tried crate training her? My guys are never left out when there isn't someone to watch them.

Not that I don't trust them icon_whistling

They actually like being in their crate.

Just a thought
 
Sheri--you said she's deaf so im guessing she's a bit elderly. Is she? I take it she was once housetrained and has recently changed her habits. Is that right? In addition to UTIs there are probably other things that might cause incontinence--did the vet do a thorough geriatric exam--if in fact she is getting old? that's pretty frustrating when she knocks down the baby gate. :? maybe crating her isn't a bad idea as a temporary tool. that book Karlin recommended sounds interesting, if you use it, report back on how it works out. i know it's tempting to interpret her behavior in human terms, like passive aggression or whatever, but there are so many things that might explain what's happening, it's so hard to know. anyway, i feel for you. what a pain. good luck.
 
Well, I think she just wants to come to work with her mom every day ;)

Like my daughter complains - "all you do is work mom". I did remind her the other day that some "moms" do things like play the ponies, gamble at the casino, drink in bars.

The throes of being a single mom - but I won't go into that saga on this board icon_whistling

Thanx for all your input. I think it's a combination of things - but yes, she is getting up there in years - 8 1/2 and she is a retired breeding dog. She probably needs her bladder sutured up like the rest of ole' gals that have had kids icon_blshing

Sheri
 
I'd say you are right in guessing that she just doesn't like the long gap with you not there -- but I'd think if your daughter keeps her under a close eye while she is there, and is sure to take her out every 60 to 90 minutes for a supervised toilet break, this will establish a new routine and not give her time to build up enough urine to try and go inside. Once there's a routine then the time gap could be lengthened. I'd be inclinbed to view that time when your daughter is there as a repeat of housetraining -- eg keep her under constant supervision, make sure she gets out several times to empty her bladder, have your daughter reward and praise for going outside as 'normal'.
 
Byron had stopped wetting carpets after he was neutered, but last week he was boarded at a "cage free" kennel while we were out of town, and last night wet on the carpet and on a sheepskin we keep on the floor in the living room. I was thinking that because he was able to pee whenever all week that he might have gotten out of the habit of holding it or maybe that he's been spending time around other male dogs and has started marking again. He's slept in our bedroom the last couple of nights and hasn't wet there, so I don't think it's a UTI. Has anyone else encountered this? He's 11 months old.
 
someone told me that the cage free kennels they had checked out all had dogs freely defecating wherever they wanted, so i can understand how after a week of that 24/7, a dog would lose the house training habit somewhat. good luck getting him right back on the wagon. :xfngr:
 
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