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HELP! Dog weeing on the floor overnight
big_hard_lad
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Hi guys,
Wondering if anyone has any suggestions or help for me. We have a male Shih Tzu, he's coming up on 1 and a half. We had a reasonably easy time toilet training him, he picked it up quickly and he was pretty well behaved. He did have the odd accident (especially overnight) but we put that mostly down to the fact he was small and his bladder was obviously tiny! Anyway, come around 10/11 months old, this all stopped and he was great.
Now...in the last month or so, he's started to go on the kitchen floor overnight. It's always on the same spot and it's always what I would describe as medium sized. And it's almost every single night. When I come down in the mornings, I show it to him and I put him outside for a bit. In the last week or so, when he sees me coming down the stairs, he runs off behind the sofa, so he knows what he's doing is wrong. We've also been scrubbing the floor with bleach every night to try to get rid of the scent of it as I heard that they tend to go in places where they can smell they've been before?
I'm a bit concerned, if I'm honest, I don't understand why he's doing it when he's only on his own for 6-7 hours overnight but 3 days a week he's on his own for 8-9 hours during the day and he doesn't go then?! I'm also concerned for my kitchen floor as we've had a lot of trouble with leaks over the past year and it's only been relaid about 4/5 months ago...he's wee is running and it's going underneath the kitchen kick boards and seeping into the concrete...it's really quite unpleasant! I should also add that by the time I get down in the mornings, the wee is cold and it's spread out a bit into the grout in the tiles, so it's obviously been there for a couple of hours before I get there.
Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. My wife did wonder if we tried to block off the kitchen (the downstairs of my house is all open plan and that's where he sleeps).
EDIT: Just occurred to me that I never mentioned that my wife is 8 months pregnant and over the last couple of months, he's been very clingy to her like he knows something is up. Could he?! Could it be related?!
Wondering if anyone has any suggestions or help for me. We have a male Shih Tzu, he's coming up on 1 and a half. We had a reasonably easy time toilet training him, he picked it up quickly and he was pretty well behaved. He did have the odd accident (especially overnight) but we put that mostly down to the fact he was small and his bladder was obviously tiny! Anyway, come around 10/11 months old, this all stopped and he was great.
Now...in the last month or so, he's started to go on the kitchen floor overnight. It's always on the same spot and it's always what I would describe as medium sized. And it's almost every single night. When I come down in the mornings, I show it to him and I put him outside for a bit. In the last week or so, when he sees me coming down the stairs, he runs off behind the sofa, so he knows what he's doing is wrong. We've also been scrubbing the floor with bleach every night to try to get rid of the scent of it as I heard that they tend to go in places where they can smell they've been before?
I'm a bit concerned, if I'm honest, I don't understand why he's doing it when he's only on his own for 6-7 hours overnight but 3 days a week he's on his own for 8-9 hours during the day and he doesn't go then?! I'm also concerned for my kitchen floor as we've had a lot of trouble with leaks over the past year and it's only been relaid about 4/5 months ago...he's wee is running and it's going underneath the kitchen kick boards and seeping into the concrete...it's really quite unpleasant! I should also add that by the time I get down in the mornings, the wee is cold and it's spread out a bit into the grout in the tiles, so it's obviously been there for a couple of hours before I get there.
Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. My wife did wonder if we tried to block off the kitchen (the downstairs of my house is all open plan and that's where he sleeps).
EDIT: Just occurred to me that I never mentioned that my wife is 8 months pregnant and over the last couple of months, he's been very clingy to her like he knows something is up. Could he?! Could it be related?!
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My dog was exactly the same - was toilet trained and very clean around the house, but all of a sudden started urinating in the house (mostly overnight). I took him to the vet and they found a bladder infection, which was successfully treated with antibiotics.
Your dog may be in a lot of discomfort, so it's important that he sees a vet as soon as possible.
I would do what kiteys suggested too as it could be a physical problem.
Thanks guys, I'll keep this thread updated and any other advice, feedback, etc. would be great!
If he gets a clean bill of health from the Vet, maybe look at your routines?
What time is his last walk? Could it be later? I had a few incidents after the ex left as he used to do the late walk at about 10 pm where as I did it at 8pm because of my lad. He's a little older now so I take them (or at least the one that pee's) out at 10 just to walk up and down the road to empty his bladder. Just putting him in the garden isn't the same.
How do you mean he doesn't understand why I'm punishing him? If I show it to him, surely he does? That's what we've always done with all of our dogs and it's always worked. It's also how he was trained...that if he did it in the house, he gets shown it and put outside and told that that's where he should be going.
He usually gets a walk between 8 and 9 for an hour, then he comes home and sleeps on the sofa. Then I let him out about 10.30 or so into the garden and he does a wee before bed.
He's booked in for 5.20 tonight at the vet so we'll see what he says.
No it's long been proved dogs have to be caught in the act they don't have the ability to think like we do and put two and two together like that. So unless you catch the act punishment won't help. Personally I don't punish for wees anyway as it sets up a difficult situation where they can be afraid to go in front of you.
As mollie says, you'd need to catch him in the act for there to be any chance of him making the connection between act and punishment. Most likely you toilet training despite punishment rather than because of.
Animal behaviour studies have shown that dogs make associations best when the consequence of their action is immediate, and that reward based training is much more effective than punishment based. This is why clicker training is so effective.
However, there is still such a lot of 'old' misinformation about training - even on TV with morons like Cesar Milan, that you are certainly not alone in training like that and I hope I haven't come across as judgemental.
If there is no medical problem, it might be worth having a quick walk at 10:30 just to let him 'mark'.
Hope you get it sorted soon - I know it isn't nice waking up to a pool of pee:(
OK...in that case I guess I'll change the punishing!
Hopefully, though, it is something like an infection that can be easily treated. Obviously, I don't want him to be ill, but it'd be nice to put it down to something and not just him acting up. I'm a bit worried about the wee critter now
Not at all...I'm grateful for your input. It's just cause I've had dogs my whole life and that's the way my parents and subsequently me have trained them all. But that's great advice and I'll certainly be adopting my ways in future.
The pile of pee honestly doesn't bother me...I just want my boy to be ok!! And I'd also quite like it if I didn't have to excavate the kitchen floor again because it's all seeped through and now smells of dog wee.
And yes, Cesar = moron!
But surely that doesn't explain how he was able to hold it all night for months and the fact he can do it all day when required?
I'll happily take him for a later walk if that's what's required, I quite enjoy a late night stroll myself!
You know, the more I think about this, the more he hasn't been himself lately. He's been very very clingy to my wife (as I say, I put that down to her pregnancy) and he's been a bit strange, like not wanting to go for a walk. Maybe he is in discomfort. Makes me feel terrible that I've missed it until now
As others have said, punishment doesn't work, especially if it is stress related as it'll make it worse, just ignore it completely and use pet deodoriser to clean it (most stores do a pet specific one) which breaks down the enzymes and reduces the smell, bleach, dettol etc just smells more encouraging!
Check the vet route first, but if there's nothing medical try plugging in DAP diffuser - it's a calming dog pheromone and might help.
Thanks...that's certainly something to bear in mind if he gets the all clear from the vet.
I have noticed he has been very, very clingy with my wife recently. Normally, of an evening, I sit on the sofa with him and my wife sits in her chair. Past couple of weeks, he's pretty much insisted that he sit on my wife's lap/bump, and doesn't want to come near me unless it's for a play.
definatley sounds like her hormones are changing his behaviour, not unusual - my doberman was real clingy with me both pregnancies, she used to sleep ON me :eek: which was fun! then when babies arrived she went back to her normal aloof self.
But remember a baby may upset things too - even in the short term, so just try not to change your attitude towards the dog, and try the dap as its brilliant stuff!!
She didn't say much to be honest, I've got to drop a urine sample to them tomorrow morning and they'll do a test. Other than that, she pretty much just said it could well be the whole pregnant wife thing.
lol, worth a trip then?! well at least if they clear the urine test you'll know its a behaviour thing and can treat it.
Totally worth the trip and the £33! As you say, if the test comes back clean then I know to try other methods and see if it can be rectified that way.
As I mentioned earlier on, he is at home some days on his own for more than he is overnight and doesn't do it. Today was one of those days, and guess what?! He didn't do a thing!! So confusing.
Definatley worth a try with the plug in Dap. Plug ins tend to work longer, therefore last longer. Is he crate trained? Might be worth trying that too, then he has 'his' space when baby comes.
If it's behavioural, I'll definitely try the plug in.
He isn't crate trained, the vet did mention that may be an option as he won't soil his own territory. Is it not a bit late to introduce a crate at 1 and a half, though? Bearing in mind we used to have issues with him at nighttime barking all night (for months, not just at the start) and throwing himself at the living room door. I'd just worry he'd throw himself at the crate door and do himself damage...one of my friends dogs got their paw stuck in its crate when they were a puppy and broke their leg
No he's not too old, and it's all about how you introduce it. If you put it somewhere he likes (best where you want to have him sleep) and put his bed, toys etc in it, then leave it for him to explore. Don't shut him in, after a few days of exploring, praise him every time he goes and settles in there, even if its just a min or two. Then start making that his 'treat' area, so if begets bones, give them to him in the crate. Be careful not to invade his space, it's his and you don't want to ruin that, so no sticking your head in, peering at him in it etc. just throw the treat in and praise him for eating it in there, if he brings it out, ignore him.
Once he's happy and associates the crate with nice things you can start closing the door (not locking it), so he can push it open, and so on. It's all about baby steps -if you feel he's not happy in there, either try a new way to make it nice (a jumper of yours or your wife's, or similar) and keep trying. Just don't make it seem like a big deal.
Re:the foot stuck thing, it could be that he wasn't trained properly and panicked, or that something spooked him, or the crate bars were too big, allowing him to get his foot stuck or it could just be one of those freak things, that just happen! My cat broke his leg at 10 weeks old and was in a crate for weeks, I turned round one day and he'd got the bad leg and cast thru the tiniest gap he could find
Thanks for the advice...I'll certainly follow it if we need to go down that road.
And yes, I do understand that the thing that happened to my friends dog was possibly a freak accident, it's just that obviously I have that in the back of my head always now.
I'll keep this thread updated as things develop.
Thanks for all your help so far!
I rewarded mine as pups when they went outside and now my oldest, although she is 3 now, still runs down the garden wagging her tail and wriggling because she is so proud that she has done a poo, and expects lots of praise