She wee'd on my bed!!!

[Phoebe]

Phoebe is now eight months old and has always been really good with toilet training. I can't remember the last time she had an accident, but last night, shortly after she had been out in the garden for her last wee, she jumped on our bed, scratched the duvet for a second and did a little sprinkle!! She came into season four days ago and this really must have something to do with it because this behaviour is so out of character. I've read all the recent posts regarding do's and dont's when girls are in season, but I was wondering if anyone might be able to comment on this? I know it's not a big deal and we certainly didn't make a fuss about it (she's pretty miserable at the mo as it is without giving her a hard time!) I'm just curious as to what anyone else might think

[hbmama]

Yikes! Well, Dottie just came into her first season also, two days ago. We keep cute little panties lined with a segment of a sanitary pad on her when she is in the house. Right now she is running back and forth in the yard panty free chasing what look like June bugs flying around. She is spotting so don't want that on the furniture and rugs, but other than that, no signs of potty problems. I don't know if other people have had problems with regressive potty training behavior, so far we are fine here. Will keep you posted, and good luck!

[Phoebe]

Hi hbmama,
I've tried the pants with the little pad in, but she just tries to chew them off!! I will persevere with them as her spotting is getting heavier and I've resorted to putting throws and old blankets on absolutely everything. She is contantly trying to keep herself clean bless her and I don't want to discourage that by not letting her have access to her bottom. Please keep me posted as to how you are getting on with your little girl, have you found that her sleeps are longer and deeper than normal? Phoebe seems to flake out every so often and she absolutely out cold!

[Daisy's Mom]

At about 9 months or so, after we thought we had pretty much handled the housetraining thing (but still with supervision), Daisy peed on the bed right in front of me. I was pretty horrified, I have to admit. Don't know why she did it and thankfully, she has never done it again. Hopefully your little girl won't either!

I can't comment on the season thing as we had her spayed before her first one.

[Cathryn]

With regards to the first heat/season, I personnally prefer to leave my girls minus the pants/towels, this encourages them to clean themselves, if you find they are spotting heavily then confine them to the kitchen or another easily cleaned area temporarlily, the bleeding/spotting only lasts for 10 days. Please don't think that once they have stopped bleeding/spotting that all is OK, this is actually the danger time as they are matable once the bleeding/spotting stops!!

Thought I would mention this as a puppy buyer of mine was told to only seperate her bitch from her entire dog for the duration of bleeding/spotting!! Luckily she called me to double check! A first heat can last a bit longer than subsequent heats too as there are so many hormones being released, on average a first heat will last anything up to 5 weeks, but 21 days is the norm, it will take a couple of weeks more for the vulva to go back down again but it will never be as small as it was prior to the season unless you have your girl spayed when it should go back down to "pre-Pubescent" size.

Apologies if this is a bit graphic/detailed, just trying to help is all!! Feel free to PM me if you need further info!!

[Karlin]

Here is a guarantee: at some point, and probably several , no matter how well housetrained a dog is, it will have accidents for no discernible reason. One of the most popular places to have such an accident is on the owner's bed. Beds are full of scents the dog enjoys and it may merely be adding its own. Lily did this on my bed a couple of weeks ago and she has been almost perfect in the house ever since I got her. In this particular case with Chloe, while heats can cause all sorts of behaviour changes, keep in mind as well that 8 month isn't really old enough for a puppy to be fully housetrained -- it would be extremely rare not to be having occasionally accidents through to age one.

Often -- if the dog is already allowed the run of the house and can spend time out of your sight -- I hate to say this but the likelihood is very high that this isn't a one-off but that she may well be going inside now and again when you don't notice. Cavalier wees can be extremely small and unnoticeable on a carpet or rug or even on a floor that isn't being checked (especially dark colours! I only recently realised one of my cats has been weeing on the small, dark coloured bathroom rug for ages -- they dry quickly too and I never noticed any dampness but clearly he was doing this . I couldn't believe I hadn't noticed because he has gone on the floor as well since I removed the rug -- that room now has to be completely closed to him while I try to modify that unwanted behaviour! -- and the volume on the floor when he did go was as much as one of the dogs! So, it is indeed very easy to miss what you think would be pretty darn hard to miss!).

Overall: I would not allow a dog under 12 months ever to have free rein in a house and be out of sight in rooms that I am not in and watching, especially any rooms with rugs, carpets or soft furnishings like beds or sofas. I have learned from my own frustrating experience that this is never a good idea! If they wee into a mattress or sofa it will be well nigh impossible ever to remove that scent, for them to return to and pee again. And that we give the dogs far more credit for being further along in a training process than they often are, usually because we start to slack off on training on the assumption that they've 'got it'. When you think how quickly they can slide on basic obedience commands that aren't constantly refreshed and positively enforced, it's amazing they don't have more housetraining issues than they do.

I'd be very cautious at keeping her always in sight and in reach and be sure to continue to positively reinforce with opraise and occasional treats, the right housetraining behaviour. I'd be very cautious about giving her access at all to the bedroom unless it is at the point where you are going to sleep, if she sleeps with you.