Sudden Accidents - Fire Alarm Anxiety?

[Guest pennmorgan]

Our apartment building, while wonderful, has had some occasional fire alarms in the 6 months we've lived here (maybe every 3 weeks or so). The fire alarm is very loud and Olivia absolutely hates it. We do too! The minute it goes off she stands up and whines and runs around and she won't settle down even if we force her to lie down, etc. At this point we just wait the alarms out in the apartment rather than getting dressed and going downstairs, because by the time we get down there the alarm is already off anyway.

 

On Thursday they were doing fire alarm testing during the day and Olivia was left at home in the crate as she always is. I assume the alarm was going off frequently, and no one was there to calm her down. The dog walker came that afternoon and I came home around 3 o'clock. She was panting (from the walk I believe) but lying down in her crate. She settled down soon thereafter, as there were no fire alarms. We had dinner, etc., and then the DH and I went out shopping and left her in crate. When we came home, we discovered she had peed in the crate. This was literally her first accident since the week we got her almost two years ago. We cleaned everything up with Nature's Miracle and put her to bed and everything was fine.

 

I spent today working from home, so she wasn't alone until this evening when DH and I went out for 2.5 hours for a drink with friends. When we got home (you guessed it) she had peed in the crate again. I have to assume this is sudden anxiety related to the fire alarm testing (though we did not have any more alarms today). We never did alone training with her in the first place, because she always loved her crate and never had any separation anxiety. She still seems to like the crate and will happily run in there and flop down, it's just that she's peed in there two days in a row when alone. What do you suggest we do?

[mychip1]

Not sure on advice....but boy, it does seem connected. Wishing you the best of luck with this.

[cleptogrey]

uti??? or not peeing enough when she goes out since it's cold out? if the alarm did not sound the second time then something else is going on. remember track dogs are used to crates. maybe her turn out schedule is a tad off, they are very ritualistic. try leaving a light and the radio on.

[Guest pennmorgan]

She appears normal in every other way--sleeping well, exuberant when we go out for walks, excited to see us when we get home, etc. We live in LA, so it can't be weather related--it's the same every day here (actually a teensy bit warmer these past few days, but only 75 or so). We do the same usual stuff when we leave, i.e., lights on, radio on, etc. She trots into the crate and lays right down. We're going to try a loooong exhausting walk/run before we go out today to see if that will do the trick. Tomorrow we might try watching her with a webcam if she has another accident today. If it's a UTI, that's an awfully huge coincidence. But, I suppose anything is possible.

Edited January 15, 2011 by pennmorgan

[TheFullHouse]

I have to agree with you, I think it's related to the fire alarm. If she's been fine up until now that speaks volumes to me. As to what to do about it, I've not dealt with something like that. Maybe giving her a kong with treats in it will take her mind off of being alone. She's obviously insecure without you there now so something to take her mind off of being alone and maybe starting some alone training. Maybe put something with your scent in her crate with her will help (obviously something you don't care whether it gets pee'd on or not).

[jetcitywoman]

No advice, but sympathy. Pets aside, I positively HATE fire alarms. Well, specifically I hate when they test the alarms in my office. I fail to see why they feel the need to deafen everybody as a safety precaution. Okay, so it's only temporary deafness, but I still think it's obnoxious as all get out. The fire alarm procedure for me personally is this:

 

1. peel myself off the ceiling

2. Stomp out of the building mad as a wet cat

 

And I only have human ears, I can only imagine what the dogs feel.

[krissy]

I realize it's not always possible to be home when the fire alarm goes off, but perhaps the next time it happens when you are home with her you can try working with her to get her over her fear of the fire alarm. While it's obviously escalated to the point of her being anxious when you leave, if you think the inciting cause is the fire alarm I would also address that.

 

Whenever there is a loud noise that gets Summit's attention (regardless of whether it startles him or not) I always say, "What was THAT!?" in a really happy, excited voice and often give a treat. He's really not afraid of any noise we've heard yet except this one in our neighbourhood. It's not very loud so I'm not sure why he's afraid of it. It does kind of sound like fireworks that are far, far away, or maybe a roofing team. It's the only time he statues and won't take treats. I use the "What was that?" phrase and shove treats into the corner of his mouth until he eats them. And I stand in one spot with him. I don't keep walking because he tends to try to pull/run when the sound comes on and gets really panicked. So I just make him stand with me. Maybe you could try something similar with Olivia. The next time the fire alarm comes on use a catch phrase in a really happy, excited voice and offer lots of treats. I would also start intentionally doing loud things and practicing that. Start easy and work your way up. Close a cupboard a little too loud, drop a spoon on the floor, use your phrase and give treats. If you get no fear reaction to something small like a spoon work your way up to something louder like dropping a pot, etc. and work your way up to something loud like a mixer or a blender. When you can do some really sudden loud things without much response from her (or if she startles but calms down with your phrase) then maybe try setting your smoke detector off (have hubby hit the test button or something).

[Guest Swifthounds]

What do you do when you're home and the alarm goes off?

[Guest pennmorgan]

Thanks for the tips. Yesterday we got her all tired with a family walk and then left for about 3 hours and she did fine. We're going to try the same technique this afternoon, so hopefully it will go well.

 

The next time the alarm goes off and we're all together, I'll definitely try the techniques you suggest. Normally when the alarm goes off she jumps up and starts whining, and we tell her to go lie down and tell her "Hush!" We insist she lie down and stay quiet until we decide whether we're going to go outside or not. But I'll try the treat thing--that's a good idea!

[GeorgeofNE]

I lived in a condo where the alarm went off a LOT.

 

First, let me nag you a second, please don't ignore it! One of the times it went off, we really had a fire, and someone died. The firemen had fits because most people hadn't bothered to leave the building! Nag over.

 

Second, my dog learned to HATE that alarm, and consequently hate storms (it went off every time we had thunder, as well as for other reasons). But it never made him pee.

 

I don't think this is actually alarm related since it goes off when you're home too,and she doesn't pee then.

 

I don't happen to think dogs are the sort of animals who lay around thinking, "Well, last week, when they were at work, the alarm went off, so maybe tonight when they go out to dinner the alarm will go off again!"

 

Sure, it's possible. But before you drive yourself nuts trying to figure it out, I happen to feel the first step when a housebroken dog starts having accidents is to take a pee sample to the vet!

 

Trust me; it's a LOT easier to deal with a mild UTI than to change a behavioral peeing issue!

 

Good luck.

 

Oh, I used to live in Rolling Hills, CA. Lovely place, Southern California!

[Guest pennmorgan]

Yessssss, I know we should listen to the fire alarm. Usually we give it about a minute or two and see if it goes off, and then start to get dressed. By the time we're done getting dressed, it's always off. But, we should get moving faster, I know. We're up on the 6th floor and I don't want to schlep down the stairs, but that's no excuse.

 

We had our second day out this afternoon--we were gone for about 3.5 hours, and we came back to a relaxed and dry dog. So, I'm thinking maybe it was just two bad days in a row, and we're out of the woods? We'll see--tomorrow we'll be home all day and Tuesday will be a bigger test because I'll be gone for probably six hours. If it happens again I'll do the urine sample. We don't have a vet here yet anyway, so it would be good to take her in no matter what.

 

We do love it here ... it was 78 and sunny today. Thanks!