She Peed On Our Bed!

[LaFlaca]

ARRRRGGGH! Lola just peed on our bed! Can anyone tell me what in the fresh hell that's all about?

[greysmom]

Our new girl Lizzie did the same thing last week. She and Lilly were up there playing and I didn't get to her fast enough. It was just excitement and being a puppy still and having to go RIGHT NOW!! She's been fine in the house since the first week, but even outside, when she has to go, she has to go urgently. We're still doing the "puppy" reliving schedule of after waking up, after eating, after playing with her and it seems to be good (except when it's not!).

[Guest nicky604]

Oh joy!

 

Sorry to hear this! I can tell you a little story to show you what's going on:

 

I once dog sat for 2 little toy dogs.

 

The owner told me that the male, 10 month old Yorkie might have an accident and his house-training "wasn't 100 %".

 

And she said there was no issue with the other one, a 10 year old female Pomeranian.

 

This wasn't exactly the case! In fact, far from it!

 

The little Yorkie, Liam, PREFERRED to pee AND poo inside and had learned how to hide it (He didn't lift his leg inside. He squatted so it would be less conspicuous.)

 

He very rarely peed or pood outside. Only the female Pomeranian, Betsy did.

 

So I started house-training Liam and put a belly band on him.

 

But I couldn't figure out why there were still puddles on the carpet .. I thought at first the belly band had slipped..

 

Nope! It was the female. She was MARKING!

 

Guess where she peed? On the dog beds AND MY BED!

 

Why?

 

She was CLAIMING THE RESTING PLACES by peeing on them.

 

Why? 1) the bed is the highest value resting place in the house.

 

2) The Yorkie had been allowed to pee and poo all over the house, claim his owner's lap and no longer allow her on it

AND needle her until she gave up her food or bone. All this made Liam feel VERY IMPORTANT!

 

Enough! I said! This is an all out territorial pissing war that MUST STOP immediately!

 

So, I I house-trained both of them! I also, stopped free feeding and taught Liam to "Sit"to be hand-fed and not to interfere with Betsy around food.

 

He learned that he was only getting fed if he wasn't grabby or interfering with Betsy and in a "Sit".

 

By the way, it took me 2 minutes to teach the little Yorkie to SIT...way easier than teaching a greyhound!

 

Sorry, I went on a tangent there!

 

Back to territorial pee pees!

 

Although males are worse for territorial marking, females can mark too!

 

I imagine she doesn't totally empty her bladder on the bed .. is it a relatively small amount (say compared to her morning pee)?

 

This is marking.

 

So you mustn't allow her on ANY of the furniture including your bed!

 

She could pee on any of your upholstered furniture (i.e.: claim the couch, a chair...etc.)

 

And watch out for any urine marking elsewhere too!

 

Be vigilant!

 

If she marks elsewhere (floors or carpets) do not allow her to go off unsupervised in the house until this stops.

 

The best way to stop it is to catch her in the act, correct her (clap your hands, "NO!" and quickly lead her outside).

 

If need be, put her under direct supervision and crate (when you can't supervise) until it stops.

 

You don't want her to get like Liam (he learned to wait until his owner was busy and not watching him and then he would discreetly squat and pee or go off

 

somewhere to pee when no-one was looking!)

 

But I taught Liam that I was watching him ALL the time and I caught him in the act!

 

And that's all that was needed. He stopped peeing inside! At least at my place...not sure what happened when he went home.

 

Has she only peed on the bed or on the floor too?

[LaFlaca]

A little background; Lola is 2 1/2 years old and has been with me since the end of August. She did pee on area rugs and on one of her beds when she first came home, but never on the bare floor. Just when I thought it was safe, she peed on a door mat a couple of days ago (interestingly, the mat is right in front of the door that leads to her potty area) and tonight she emptied her bladder on our bed which she is not allowed on. Lola is let out to potty several times a day and pees on her daily walk so she has ample opportunity to empty her bladder. I'm wondering if she has a UTI, but even if she does, why would that cause her to urinate on our bed?

 

Maybe it's time to go back to Housebreaking 101? Bring a urine sample to the vet? BTW, she has never defecated in the house. Can dogs be confused about where it's okay to urinate yet be quite clear about where it's okay to defecate?

Our new girl Lizzie did the same thing last week. She and Lilly were up there playing and I didn't get to her fast enough. It was just excitement and being a puppy still and having to go RIGHT NOW!! She's been fine in the house since the first week, but even outside, when she has to go, she has to go urgently. We're still doing the "puppy" reliving schedule of after waking up, after eating, after playing with her and it seems to be good (except when it's not!).

How old is Lizzie? Lola's need to pee always seems urgent to me; like a toddler who "holds it" until she's bursting because she can't take the time out from playing to use the potty.

[cleptogrey]

Check for uti

Put a gate up at the bedroom no more bed privileges

Review house breaking

A dog will not pre where they eat, remember that

Edited November 23, 2017 by cleptogrey

[Busderpuddle]

Our puppy (5 months), who we thought was potty trained, peed all over the new rug we laid down in the living room 2 days ago. She will go 3-4 weeks, then randomly pee. I had taken her outside less than 30 minutes before she peed. I trusted her too soon. She fools me every time.

Sorry about your bed. That sucks.

[greysmom]

Lizzie just turned two, and her peeing in the house was exactly like that- a toddler who waits too long! She's been here since mid June.

 

But do check for a UTI, just in case.

[Guest nicky604]

About urgency: Males can hold their urine longer than females.

I can't remember who it was on this forum that described his male greyhound as having a bladder "the size of a 747."

I think they all do (both males and female greyhounds).

From my observations of house-breaking 3 male and 1 female greyhound,

the female could hold it 8 or 9 hours max and a male even longer!

One of my new foster greyhounds, a male, once held his urine in for 12 hours!

He refused to pee in the yard and kept waiting by the gate for me to take him for a walk.

He didn't want to waste his pee and then have none left for pee-mails!

My foster female also seemed to suddenly need to go urgently..

I offered to let her out more frequently, but she only went out to pee every 6-8 hours or so during the day.

She was much easier to house-train than the males. She only ever tried to pee in the house once.

And since I caught her in the act, she never tried it again.

If Lola tests negative for a UTI (likely), it means that either 1) she finds peeing inside on absorbent surfaces convenient.

Or 2) she is marking/claiming resting places with her urine.

Or a mixture of both.

Dogs mark territory with their urine and will claim things (and even people) by peeing on them.

One of my fosters, used to pee on my shoe when a stranger approached us.

It was his way of saying, "she's mine."

So when Lola pees on a bed, it's her way of saying, "this is mine."

The key component to rock solid house-training is catching them in the act and correcting them for it.

And not allowing them to go off unsupervised in the house too soon.

You must interrupt them WHILE THEY ARE URINATING (loudly shout "NO" !!! or HEY !!! and quickly lead her outside).

You must interrupt her while she is peeing. NOT AFTER she's done it. Too late!

Keep in mind that every unsupervised "accident" is self rewarding and solidifies the behaviour.

So the more unsupervised "accidents" they have during the house-breaking period, the more chance there is of this being a hard to break habit or repeated occurrence.

Do not allow her to be alone, unsupervised in the house until you have caught her in the act AT LEAST once and given a well timed correction.

Use baby gates and leashes (one end attached to her collar and one end attached around your waist) and as a last resort, a crate (if you can't supervise).

If she has already had too many "accidents" in the house (ones you didn't find until later), you may need to catch her in the act 2 or 3 times to break the habit.

None of my greyhounds ever had more than one unsupervised (not caught in the act) "accident", so I'm not sure exactly how many times you will need to catch her

to break the habit.

But do not allow her to go off alone in the house (especially the places with carpets and upholstered furniture) for now.

And don't leave her alone in the house unless in a crate.

Spend the time nipping this in the bud now, before the behaviour becomes really engrained and difficult to correct.

[LaFlaca]

About urgency: Males can hold their urine longer than females.

I can't remember who it was on this forum that described his male greyhound as having a bladder "the size of a 747."

I think they all do (both males and female greyhounds).

From my observations of house-breaking 3 male and 1 female greyhound,

the female could hold it 8 or 9 hours max and a male even longer!

One of my new foster greyhounds, a male, once held his urine in for 12 hours!

He refused to pee in the yard and kept waiting by the gate for me to take him for a walk.

He didn't want to waste his pee and then have none left for pee-mails!

My foster female also seemed to suddenly need to go urgently..

I offered to let her out more frequently, but she only went out to pee every 6-8 hours or so during the day.

She was much easier to house-train than the males. She only ever tried to pee in the house once.

And since I caught her in the act, she never tried it again.

If Lola tests negative for a UTI (likely), it means that either 1) she finds peeing inside on absorbent surfaces convenient.

Or 2) she is marking/claiming resting places with her urine.

Or a mixture of both.

Dogs mark territory with their urine and will claim things (and even people) by peeing on them.

One of my fosters, used to pee on my shoe when a stranger approached us.

It was his way of saying, "she's mine."

So when Lola pees on a bed, it's her way of saying, "this is mine."

The key component to rock solid house-training is catching them in the act and correcting them for it.

And not allowing them to go off unsupervised in the house too soon.

You must interrupt them WHILE THEY ARE URINATING (loudly shout "NO" !!! or HEY !!! and quickly lead her outside).

You must interrupt her while she is peeing. NOT AFTER she's done it. Too late!

Keep in mind that every unsupervised "accident" is self rewarding and solidifies the behaviour.

So the more unsupervised "accidents" they have during the house-breaking period, the more chance there is of this being a hard to break habit or repeated occurrence.

Do not allow her to be alone, unsupervised in the house until you have caught her in the act AT LEAST once and given a well timed correction.

Use baby gates and leashes (one end attached to her collar and one end attached around your waist) and as a last resort, a crate (if you can't supervise).

If she has already had too many "accidents" in the house (ones you didn't find until later), you may need to catch her in the act 2 or 3 times to break the habit.

None of my greyhounds ever had more than one unsupervised (not caught in the act) "accident", so I'm not sure exactly how many times you will need to catch her

to break the habit.

But do not allow her to go off alone in the house (especially the places with carpets and upholstered furniture) for now.

And don't leave her alone in the house unless in a crate.

Spend the time nipping this in the bud now, before the behaviour becomes really engrained and difficult to correct.

Thanks for the great advice! The frustrating thing is that we've already "been there, done that" for 3 months with Lola and she appeared to have "gotten it". This "sneak-peeing" indoors and on the bed are new behaviors.

[LaFlaca]

Yesterday, Lola peed on one of her beds! Needless to say, we're off to the vet on Saturday to check for a UTI. <sigh>

[NeylasMom]

Always wise to check for a UTI first.

 

Otherwise, the thing about housetraining is it's not just about the dog learning to only go outside. They then also need to learn to hold it until they get outside, and THEN they need to learn how to let you know when they need to go out. I think the latter gets a lot of people hung up. So get her on a schedule where you take her out more frequently than you think she needs to go for a while, and then pick something that you can use as her signal when she needs to go and start training it. I'd watch closely for something that she offers and then build on that. For Skye, just as an example, I noticed one day she ran down our stairs to the front door. We were in a one level condo where the stairs went right to the door and nothing else. I had no idea if she needed to potty, but I jumped on it - snapped on the leash, took her outside and told her to go potty, then rewarded profusely when she did. A few more times of that and that became her signal when she needed to go outside of our usual schedule. It helps to have a "go potty" cue that the dog already understoods and when the dog gives the signal, you have to take the dog out on lead and just give them a chance to potty. Make sure there's no opportunity for other things - walks, play, meeting neighbors - so the dog learns that giving you that signal results only in the opportunity to go potty. Otherwise you'll get a dog asking you to go out constantly just for fun.

 

Btw, I don't know of any evidence that one sex is better at holding it than another. You've just gotta teach them that they need to hold it until they can get outside. And pay attention to things that may cause them to have to go outside of their usual routine - hot day so the dog drank extra water, etc. Dogs need to go out more frequently during play, especially when they're younger. Being cold may also be a factor. And obviously they can hold it longer while asleep/overnight than when awake.

[LaFlaca]

Always wise to check for a UTI first.

 

Otherwise, the thing about housetraining is it's not just about the dog learning to only go outside. They then also need to learn to hold it until they get outside, and THEN they need to learn how to let you know when they need to go out. I think the latter gets a lot of people hung up. So get her on a schedule where you take her out more frequently than you think she needs to go for a while, and then pick something that you can use as her signal when she needs to go and start training it. I'd watch closely for something that she offers and then build on that. For Skye, just as an example, I noticed one day she ran down our stairs to the front door. We were in a one level condo where the stairs went right to the door and nothing else. I had no idea if she needed to potty, but I jumped on it - snapped on the leash, took her outside and told her to go potty, then rewarded profusely when she did. A few more times of that and that became her signal when she needed to go outside of our usual schedule. It helps to have a "go potty" cue that the dog already understoods and when the dog gives the signal, you have to take the dog out on lead and just give them a chance to potty. Make sure there's no opportunity for other things - walks, play, meeting neighbors - so the dog learns that giving you that signal results only in the opportunity to go potty. Otherwise you'll get a dog asking you to go out constantly just for fun.

 

Btw, I don't know of any evidence that one sex is better at holding it than another. You've just gotta teach them that they need to hold it until they can get outside. And pay attention to things that may cause them to have to go outside of their usual routine - hot day so the dog drank extra water, etc. Dogs need to go out more frequently during play, especially when they're younger. Being cold may also be a factor. And obviously they can hold it longer while asleep/overnight than when awake.

NeylasMom, I was hoping you'd chime in! Your advice is always spot on.

 

When Lola first came home in August, I would take her out to the yard potty area many times a day and praise and treat profusely when she urinated or defecated. Her "signal" that she had to go during the day was pacing quickly back and forth. In the morning, at about 6 a.m., she'll come to get me if I'm still in bed. Good girl, Lola.

 

I thought we were good to go with potty training and then the inappropriate urination happened.

 

If it turns out that this is behavioral and I have to go back to Housebreaking 101, should I take her out to the yard on lead each time? I've just been opening the door, saying "outside" and letting her out.

[greysmom]

Always wise to check for a UTI first.

 

Otherwise, the thing about housetraining is it's not just about the dog learning to only go outside. They then also need to learn to hold it until they get outside, and THEN they need to learn how to let you know when they need to go out. I think the latter gets a lot of people hung up. So get her on a schedule where you take her out more frequently than you think she needs to go for a while, and then pick something that you can use as her signal when she needs to go and start training it. I'd watch closely for something that she offers and then build on that. For Skye, just as an example, I noticed one day she ran down our stairs to the front door. We were in a one level condo where the stairs went right to the door and nothing else. I had no idea if she needed to potty, but I jumped on it - snapped on the leash, took her outside and told her to go potty, then rewarded profusely when she did. A few more times of that and that became her signal when she needed to go outside of our usual schedule. It helps to have a "go potty" cue that the dog already understoods and when the dog gives the signal, you have to take the dog out on lead and just give them a chance to potty. Make sure there's no opportunity for other things - walks, play, meeting neighbors - so the dog learns that giving you that signal results only in the opportunity to go potty. Otherwise you'll get a dog asking you to go out constantly just for fun.

 

Btw, I don't know of any evidence that one sex is better at holding it than another. You've just gotta teach them that they need to hold it until they can get outside. And pay attention to things that may cause them to have to go outside of their usual routine - hot day so the dog drank extra water, etc. Dogs need to go out more frequently during play, especially when they're younger. Being cold may also be a factor. And obviously they can hold it longer while asleep/overnight than when awake.

 

This is what was holding up Felicity. She developed a signal on her own within a day or two, and was basically potty trained. So we stopped worrying about her getting outside so much. The she and Lilly were playing on the bed and - whoops! - she peed! So we went back to taking her out - on lead - for several weeks. We also started delaying taking her out by just a tiny bit each time, so she *had* to wait. She seems to have learned that she has to wait to go potty now, even if she has to go.

[Houndmommy03]

One of my girls would sneak in our bed to sleep when we were gone. Came home to finding she peed in our bed. I was baffled because we hadn't had any peeing issues with her to that point. Took her to vet and she did have a UTI. She didn't pee in the bed on purpose. I suspect she was sleeping there, heard us come home, got excited and due to the UTI, peed by accident, in the bed. So, get your pup checked.

[LaFlaca]

One of my girls would sneak in our bed to sleep when we were gone. Came home to finding she peed in our bed. I was baffled because we hadn't had any peeing issues with her to that point. Took her to vet and she did have a UTI. She didn't pee in the bed on purpose. I suspect she was sleeping there, heard us come home, got excited and due to the UTI, peed by accident, in the bed. So, get your pup checked.

Lola had her in-office urinalysis on Saturday and it was negative. Just to be sure, the vet sent it out to a lab. I expect the results today. Oddly, she has not had an accident in days.

[robinw]

Iker peed on my mom's bed once. My mom has never particularly liked him and I thought at the time that he sensed that. UTI testing was negative. I'm sure that's not happening with you, though. Nature's Miracle did a great job of getting out the smell and stain from both her mattress and her sheets.

[LaFlaca]

Iker peed on my mom's bed once. My mom has never particularly liked him and I thought at the time that he sensed that. UTI testing was negative. I'm sure that's not happening with you, though. Nature's Miracle did a great job of getting out the smell and stain from both her mattress and her sheets.

Thank heaven the urine did not soak through to our brand new mattress! It had a thick bedspread, flat and fitted sheets, two blankets and two mattress protectors. It filtered down through everything and stopped at the 2nd mattress protector. I added Nature's Miracle to the washer along with detergent and fabric softener.

 

When I was a kid, we had a Sheltie who would poop on my Mom's bed!

[Guest Greyhound1988]

Our pitbull puppy peed on the bed once. Our female dog was somewhat difficult to housebreak. With male dogs, I find the pee signs are pretty obvious - sniffing for a spot to raise a leg. You can get the dog outside when you see the signs or startle him just before the act. With our female dog, she could be running around the house and break into a squat at any time. When she was playing with the other dogs, she did the same thing on the bed, spontaneously assumed the squatting position and let loose. She never did it again afterwards, and she is now well housebroken.

 

I would not be concerned unless it becomes a habit.

[LaFlaca]

Well, the urinalysis the vet sent out to the lab came back negative, thank God. Lola has been perfect in the pee-pee department since the dreaded bed wettings. I don't understand what was going through her little pointed head but, whatever is was, seems to have resolved itself. Thanks, all, for your advice.