Dog Peeing/Pooping in the House
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Dog Peeing/Pooping in the House
Nov 2010
Our poodle-Pom pooch, 13 years old, has mild epilepsy, kept
in check with a therapeutic dose of phenobarbital, but one
side effect is to make her thirstier, and as she grows
older, it's harder for her to not urinate indoors--same
spot, same rug, cleaned up with Nature's Miracle--when we're
away for a few hours. (Her vet knows about this, and it's
not a UTI or anything.) Since we live right by a public
park, we don't leave her in the back yard any length of time.
We can usually get a neighbor to walk her if we're going to
be out more than a few hours, but not always. I also tried
confining her to the bedroom, with a puddle pad on the
bathroom floor, which worked OK, except that I don't want to
risk her peeing on the bedroom rug and deciding that it's
her new favorite spot.
Any suggestions?
Melanie
I have a 14 year old dog and the same problem. He just
cannot stay inside for very long without an accident. He's
not TOO bad so far - pees about once a week when I get
home from work (that's not too frequent) but when it
becomes more frequent I plan on babygating him in my
kitchen. Yes, it is a drag but I don't want my hardwood
floors stained. Also found it's easier to keep the floors
empty, clean, get stuff off the floors, that sort of
thing. You might want to buy those ''puppy pads'', they DO
sell them now out of biodegradable materials so we
shouldnt' feel so bad about landfill issues. Good Luck.
We love our pets and it is hard.
pet owner of beloved older dog
When my 17 yo 20 lb dog became incontinent due to canine
cognitive dysfunction (dementia), I took him to doggie
daycare in the provider's home while I was at work. I also
provided more frequent walks or backyard outings with help
from friends/neighbors/people I hired. All of us helped
him to remember that the bathroom is outdoors.
I also bought used playpens from Darla's Baby Boutique in
El Cerrito (the store has a new name) for the petsitter's
house and my house. I put down towels/bedding/pads in the
playpens. If he had an accident, he could move to another
part of the playpen, I could easily clean up, and my house
was clean. He was content and safe in the playpen for up
to a few hours.
I am a dog lover, have had four long-lived dogs, currently
have a 7-year-old small dog, and provide overnight and day
care for dogs.
Good luck!
Auntie Julie
I didn't see the original post about this, but we have a
13-year-old much loved dog who was peeing in the house EVERY
time we left her for much time. We were going crazy.
Anyway, we went online and found Tinkle Trousers
(http://www.tinkletrousers.com/) and they have saved our
house and our sanity. Our dog adjusted to them quickly and
now we just have to pull out a wet diaper and rinse them out
occasionally. It really is such a relief to be able to
leave her when we need to without cleaning wood floors and
rugs all the time!
anon.
I have had three dogs that have lived to 15 or beyond, and
two cats. One dog had Cushings later in life, and this led
to incontinence. I installed a dog door with a flap for use
during the day, and a hatch that completely closed at night
(to prevent racoons from entering.) The dog door was
installed in a wall in the kitchen, not in the door (this
will not likely help renters.) For security, you can also
install a tunnel that the dog has to navigate through to get
outside. Just two feet length will do. Put a turn in it to
prevent small children from entering. This let the dog exit
and enter at will during the day when I was working. Of
course, you need a well fenced yard. Towards the end, more
walks, and eventually limiting water after 7pm, crating at
night or keeping the dog in the kitchen area with tiled
floor (gates worked.) Our dog was crate trained from
puppyhood. We never (or very rarely) had problems with that
system and had our dog home until the end. Best of luck!
Sottovoce
I didn't have an old dog, but I did have a geriatric cat
with kidney failure. It got to the point when he just
piddled wherever he was. It was a nightmare to run around
the house looking for puddles, but it also made him
miserable--cats do so like to be clean. We ended up
confining him to the bathroom with a towel that I didn't
mind washing every day in the washing machine. I removed
everything else in the bathroom that couldn't be washed. It
sounds like your dog is not so bad, and that he only has
accidents when he is left alone for a few hours. Can you
confine him to a bathroom or a kitchen that has no rug? If
he really can't hold it you can put down a pee pad, but at
least you won't have to keep washing your carpets and rugs.
The space will be smaller but I'm sure your dog will not
mind being confined just for a few hours (especially if he's
older he might sleep all the time), and it will make
everyone (including the dog!) happier that there are no
accidents, annoyed owners, and rugs to clean.
--Don't like cleaning carpets
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