Accidents In The House - Not A Uti - Maybe Behavioral?

[Guest BooandCalisMom]

Hi All - Our dear Boo Radley has had quite a few accidents in the house over the past few weeks (all pee). This is unusual behavior for him and in the 5 years we've had

him can not remember him ever having an accident.

 

These aren't accidents due to him being home too long without a potty break. For example, this past Sunday, we took the dogs out, immediately left for church,

and when we came back and hour and a half later he had peed. Same thing the weekend before when we went out to dinner (peed immediately before, we were gone

a few hours and came home to urine).

 

We took in a urine sample earlier this week and have ruled out a UTI so have a follow up exam on Monday.

 

One thing I have noticed is that he always goes in the family room in the basement, though never in the same spot there. When we keep the basement

cordoned off we don't have accidents, so I am not sure if this is a comfort area for him and he just feels he can relieve himself here, or whether it may be

behavioral because he's gone here before and just keeps doing it.

 

Anyone have any suggestions on things (medical, behavioral or otherwise) we may want to have

the vet closely look at? Figured you all may have some things we want to mention or have the Dr look into and want to have our bases covered!!

[Guest jaws4evr]

Well our female will potty in the basement occasionally. It's definetely a potty training issue for us, but we put a baby gate up so she can't get down there. She also seems mroe drawn to carpet which is what the entire basement is.

 

One thing you're supposed to do is spend time in the "accident" spot, to make it more like the living space like the rest of the house. They won't want to potty in their "den" or the places where they spend time with you, so if you make those spaces more like living spaces then that may help. Of course depending what room this is that might or might not be realistic.

 

We allow ours downstairs but ONLY while we're there and only while we're able to watch her like a hawk. We also try to make sure bladder is empty and all of that good stuff.

 

Allowing her to continue is allowing the habit to continue, so if you can keep her out of the room should help...

[silverfish]

One of ours had balanitis which caused him to feel uncomfortable enough to show signs of a UTI (including frequent peeing indoors) without it showing up in a test. We had to rinse out his sheath for a while with antiseptic solution and it went away, but good grief! The stuff that got rinsed out! No wonder the poor guy was uncomfortable!! You might ask the vet to take a look and see if it's that.

 

Also, Jim suffered from anxiety peeing as he aged. He was an anxious dog anyway, bless him (my heart dog ) but he got so he didn't like being alone, even overnight. We'd wake up to pee in the lounge pretty much every day. Vet checks all good, no sign of illness, so the vet said 'the problem is between his ears'. We plugged in a DAP unit and it helped enormously with him! Easy enough to try if you've ruled everything else out, but it doesn't work for everyone, and you do have to make sure you have enough units for the sq metre area you're using it in.

 

Good luck with finding the problem!

[Guest june]

It sounds like maybe mild SA since it isn't something he has always done. I totally agree with spending time in the area where he is peeing. After you get him checked out by the vet you also might try a belly band. Most males do not object to wearing it and if they go they are then "uncomfortable / wet" until you get home to remove it.

Good luck and I hope it is nothing serious,

june

[HoundHeavenAZ]

Yikes! I just adopted my first greyt boy and we're just finishing off a round of doxy to resolve a UTI. I guess I should be grateful that it wasn't a sheath problem At first I thought it was a marking issue since it was always the same spot but I should have guessed that it was a UTI since the odor was intense.

One of ours had balanitis which caused him to feel uncomfortable enough to show signs of a UTI (including frequent peeing indoors) without it showing up in a test. We had to rinse out his sheath for a while with antiseptic solution and it went away, but good grief! The stuff that got rinsed out! No wonder the poor guy was uncomfortable!! You might ask the vet to take a look and see if it's that.

 

Also, Jim suffered from anxiety peeing as he aged. He was an anxious dog anyway, bless him (my heart dog ) but he got so he didn't like being alone, even overnight. We'd wake up to pee in the lounge pretty much every day. Vet checks all good, no sign of illness, so the vet said 'the problem is between his ears'. We plugged in a DAP unit and it helped enormously with him! Easy enough to try if you've ruled everything else out, but it doesn't work for everyone, and you do have to make sure you have enough units for the sq metre area you're using it in.

 

Good luck with finding the problem!

[Guest Giselle]

When Giselle first started peeing uncontrollably and unusually inside the house, we also got her checked out. No UTI to speak of. BUT we did find out that she was hypothyroid. She was drinking a lot, which probably exacerbated the urinating problem, even if urination wasn't a direct symptom of hypothyroidism. You might want to get more medical tests done. After 5 years of housebreaking, it's more likely a medical or senescence issue than a behavioral one.

[Guest Bamn]

Make sure the area where he has peed is cleaned with something similar to Natures Miracle to make sure the smell for THEM is gone. I also rely on my first adoption coordinators advise - some dogs need 30 seconds to eliminate their bladder, some need 30 minutes. Maybe, whoever is ready first can take him off property to mark as much as possible before you go out. Have there been any major changes in your home environment? New guests? Pets? Furniture? Sometimes it takes so little to stress them, so the extra time on a one on one walk may relieve stress too? I wish you luck, as urine is NO fun!!

[Guest BooandCalisMom]

Thanks all for the input. I am going to go over the basement again with the Natures Miracle. I hope that it's not balanitis - but I would love to have some sort of explanation why this is occurring.

 

Also, no other major changes in our home or routine (no new pets, furniture, babies, nothing!).

[Guest Giselle]

Have you gotten his thyroid levels checked? Of course, they'll be low, but Giselle's was low even for a Greyhound. We got her on thyroid medication and the accidents (which, prior to the check-up, had become very sudden and frequent) totally disappeared. Good luck!

[Guest BooandCalisMom]

I will ask the Dr tomorrow to check his thyroid - good call. I also suffer from human thyroid issues so maybe Boo Radley and I are two peas in a pod:)

[Guest Swifthounds]

If you're going to check thyroid function, make sure it's a full panel with at least 5 measurements. Anything else is just a waste of money.