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Old 03-13-2008, 02:55 PM
 
Location: Texas
690 posts, read 2,622,711 times
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Okay, I have owned many dogs in my life, but this is new to me. LOL!

Our baby, Bluebelle, is almost 5 months old and completely housebroken. She is an inside dog but is taken out to go potty frequently - in the mornings, as soon as DD gets home from school, in the evenings, and during the night. She's doing wonderfully and has had no accidents in the house in almost 2 months.

Here lately, though, she's peed in both our bed and my DD's bed! She just did it the other night. It's not like she sneaks in and does it, either - she does it right in front of us! It's not a frequent thing (thank the Lord) but it's happened about 4 times in the last three-four weeks and I don't get it. Just the other night, Daddy took her out, she went potty, then came inside into our room, got up on the bed to be petted by Mommy, and popped a squat and peed right there!

It's kind of funny, but it's also weird! Anyone else heard of or experienced this? What is the appeal of peeing in the beds??!?
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Old 03-13-2008, 04:13 PM
 
Location: Oxygen Ln. AZ
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Oh my. Our Mastiff, Motley, peed our bed when he was still a pup. He also peed on the new couch. We also were beside ourselves as to what to do to correct this behavior. He finally got it right at the rip old age of 2.
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Old 03-13-2008, 07:26 PM
 
Location: The Great State of Arkansas
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It may be Bluebelle's first attempts to establish dominance...or equality! First things first, though.. you need to get her to the vet and have her checked out for a urinary tract infection. If it is only once a week or so, I'm thinking not...but I'm not a vet. That would be your first line of defense.

I had a Yorkshire terror (yes, that's right a terror) who decided after 10 years with me that she HATED my new husband and proceeded to systematically destroy 1500 square feet of carpet by peeing. She would stand outside no matter how hot or how cold and just look at you...the second you brought her in, off she went. Then she elected the couch for her baptisms...and so on.

I think it's easier to allow them to exhibit this behavior when they are our "babies" and we don't correct strongly enough because they are so little, or they'll get over it, or it must be an accident. When they drop and pee right in front of you when they know better, there's either something physically wrong or they are making a big statement. The bed is YOURS, very much yours, and obviously Bluebelle isn't satisfied with that arrangement.

Take her to the vet - if there is nothing wrong, put her on the NILIF plan. Google it - Nothing In Life Is Free. No matter how old or how young, they want to please...work it to your advantage...or you will be replacing all the carpet after you get it through your thick head that the dog is outsmarting you.....oh, no, wait.....that was me with the thick head! Lol!
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Old 03-13-2008, 11:45 PM
 
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My first thought is that it's a urinary tract infection - it may not be but you could take a urine sample to the vet and he can analyze it (take it to him as soon as you get it, you can also refrig. it but it's best if it's fresh, would put it in a real clean jar too), we had to follow ours in the yard w/ a long-handled ladel and believe it, it was not easy - I got a drop or 2 - finally I brought her into the vet and he had to get it. ANyway mine is an adult and sleeps in our bed and still did it but in our case it was a UTI (she actually has had them a few times) but I generally play it safe now and keep the bedroom door shut. Anyway, would rule out something physical first. SHe's young and may still need to go outside a bit more often, sometimes they just don't have the bladder/bowel muscle control to hold it in for too long. Just some thoughts - good luck
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Old 03-14-2008, 01:27 AM
 
Location: St. Augustine, Florida
1,930 posts, read 10,150,224 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MSJones View Post
Okay, I have owned many dogs in my life, but this is new to me. LOL!

Our baby, Bluebelle, is almost 5 months old and completely housebroken. She is an inside dog but is taken out to go potty frequently - in the mornings, as soon as DD gets home from school, in the evenings, and during the night. She's doing wonderfully and has had no accidents in the house in almost 2 months.

Here lately, though, she's peed in both our bed and my DD's bed! She just did it the other night. It's not like she sneaks in and does it, either - she does it right in front of us! It's not a frequent thing (thank the Lord) but it's happened about 4 times in the last three-four weeks and I don't get it. Just the other night, Daddy took her out, she went potty, then came inside into our room, got up on the bed to be petted by Mommy, and popped a squat and peed right there!

It's kind of funny, but it's also weird! Anyone else heard of or experienced this? What is the appeal of peeing in the beds??!?
As others have said, it could be a UTI, but from what you have said, I seriously doubt that is what it is. Still, I would suggest you have her checked by her vet asap.

If it isn't a UTI, which as I said, I seriously doubt it is, it is a dominance thing. The fact that she is only doing this on the beds, and is only doing this every now and then, really makes me think it is a dominance thing. That is something that needs to be corrected right away before it gets out of hand. A dog that thinks they are the "pack leader", or even just dominate over a member or two of the family, is going to be trouble, for sure. The longer you let stuff like that go, the worse it will get and the harder it will be to correct. Dogs absolutely have to know, without a doubt, that the owners are the pack leaders! Every person living in the home with the dog has to establish their dominance.

As far as correcting this, if there is nothing medically wrong with her to cause this that is, there are several things I would suggest you do. Now, every person has their own opinions when it comes to training and disciplining their dogs, and every dog is different so different things work for different dogs. I'm sure some people would disagree with me on this, but first of all, I would suggest every person in your home claim the beds, the sofas, etc. With our dogs, they are allowed on the bed and sofa pretty much whenever they want, but they cannot get on the bed or sofa until they are invited. Since my husband and I are the leaders of our "pack", our home, and everything in it, are ours. They will sit by the sofa or the bed when they want to get up and when we say "okay" and pat the sofa or bed, they can get up. If they get up on the sofa or bed without permission, we make them get down until we decide they can get back up. I know that probably sounds mean, but dogs do not follow nice leaders! I mean, that's not to say you need to be mean to your dog, we are never mean to our dogs, but we do not let them walk all over us either. Dogs follow strong, confident leaders and they absolutely have to have rules, boundaries and discipline to be confident in their leader and comfortable with their place in the pack. Dogs are pack animals, they are social animals, they have to have a set pack, or social order, and if they feel you are week, they will naturally take the position of pack leader. The pack leader is always in charge, so you have to be very consistent or your dog will take the pack leader position. Anyway, so again, I would suggest you claim the beds, sofas, etc.

I would also suggest you walk your dog regularly, for a few reasons. Obviously, all dogs have to have plenty of daily exercise in order to be happy and healthy, also, a walk is one of the best ways to establish dominance. Well, a structured walk is one of the best ways to establish dominance. IMHO, a walk is for exercise, socialization, etc, etc, etc, not to go potty. With our dogs, we let them out to go potty and after they have done that, we take them for a walk. Our dogs have to walk next to us or behind us at all times, no questions asked. The pack leader is always in front, so if we allow them to drag us around, or even just walk nicely in front of us, in their minds, they are now the pack leader. We take our dogs on 2-3 45-60 minute walks a day and for the first half of each walk they have to just walk, next to us or behind us. No sniffing or marking, just walking. Half way through the walk, if they have walked nicely and stayed next to us or behind us, they earn the privilege of sniffing around, marking, etc. I don't know what breed(s) your dog is, but I would strongly suggest all dog owners dog this, especially people that own terriers and/or working breeds. IMHO, all dog owners should always have their dog walk next to them or behind them because regardless of what people may feel about this, in a dogs mind, the person leading the walk is the pack leader.. period. As far as earning the right to sniff around by walking nicely for the first half of the walk, again, I would suggest all dog owners do that, but especially people who own terriers and/or working breeds. Working breeds, and most terriers, have that need to work. They have to be both mentally and physically challenged on a daily basis, and making them earn things, even the simplest things, helps to fulfill that need to work.

We also do things like claim the table before we eat that way the dogs won't beg for scraps. We eat before we feed them, we feed them at the same times every day (between 7am and 8am and then between 7pm and 8pm), we make them sit before we put the food bowl down and then we make them wait until we say "okay" before they can eat, and we give them 30 minutes to eat what they are going to eat and then their bowl is taken up. Each of our fur-babies has their own set amount of food that they get at each feeding, so it's not like we just fill up their bowl and see how much that can eat in 30 minutes or anything like that! lol! They each get the amount of food that they need to stay at a healthy weight and they always eat all of their food within 5 minutes tops, but if for some reason they were to not eat, or to not eat all of their food, within 30 minutes or so we would take their food up and they would have to wait until their next feeding to eat again. We also make sure our dogs we go out and come in the door first, always. Again, the pack leader always leads, so when we are taking our dogs outside for a walk, to go potty, just to play, whatever, they have to sit and then after we are out the door we tell them "okay" and they can follow us. We do the same thing when coming back in the house.

Anyway, I'm not sure how you feel about all of this, and as I said, I know everyone has their own opinions on training and disciplining their dogs, but this is what we do and it has worked wonders for us! I would definitely recommend at least trying what I have suggested. Every dog is different and different things work for different dogs, so you will just have to figure out what works best for you, your dog and your family. Even though you, and everyone else in the home, do have to establish your dominance over your dog, you obviously need to correct the peeing on the bed when it happens, if it happens again. As far as that goes, I'm not really sure what to say. We have never had to deal with that, so I don't know? I guess all you really can do is tell her no and make her get off of the bed. If you do decide to claim the beds sofas, etc, I'm sure that will stop the peeing because she will know that the bed is yours, without a doubt, so she won't feel the need to claim it herself, you know? Okay, well I hope this helps some! Good luck with everything!
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Old 03-14-2008, 09:43 AM
 
Location: Texas
690 posts, read 2,622,711 times
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Thank you, everyone, for your thoughts and suggestions!

I don't think it's a UTI. I entertained that possibility for a bit (I worked for a vet for 6 years) and she's just not doing it frequently enough, or showing any other signs of a UTI, for me to think that's it.

PitBullMommie, I totally understand where you're coming from on discipline....and now that you've all mentioned it, and I don't know why I didn't think of this, I TOTALLY think it's a dominance issue, the little brat! We're fighting for control right now. For example - last night, she got a bath, then proceeded to do what she does and go totally nuts afterward and run around the house like a crazy dog. No problem - until she started running like mad across the couch. Uh, NO, we are NOT allowed to do that, ma'am! I used a firm, "NO, Bluebelle - DOWN," which she knows and is very familiar with, and she just stood there on the couch and looked at me like, "Whatever! HA! MAKE ME get down!" Oh yeah, we're in a battle, for sure.

I think she's chosen her "master", so to speak - she listens to my husband much better than she listens to me or my daughter, so I am working with her much more to make her understand that my word is law, also. She's such a sweetie, so loving and affectionate, and she's doing so much better (of course, as she gets older).....but *we* run the show, whether she likes it or not. LOL!

Thanks again, guys - I never even thought of it being this!
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Old 03-14-2008, 09:53 AM
 
Location: Jax
8,200 posts, read 35,335,304 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MSJones View Post
. No problem - until she started running like mad across the couch. Uh, NO, we are NOT allowed to do that, ma'am! I used a firm, "NO, Bluebelle - DOWN," which she knows and is very familiar with, and she just stood there on the couch and looked at me like, "Whatever! HA! MAKE ME get down!" Oh yeah, we're in a battle, for sure.
Something else that might help...

When you are giving her a verbal command/discipline, it's usually best to keep it to one word and don't use their name.

If you use their name every time you discipline them, they associate their name with the bad behavior and discipline. In a multi-dog household, you sometimes need to single one dog out from a distance, but even in a multi household you want to use their name as little as possible. Save their name for positive praise instead.

So I would choose one word as the command. In your example "DOWN" is probably your best choice. Personally, I use "OFF" when I want them "off" of something because "DOWN" might be confused with "LIE DOWN".

Your husband may be using less words to get his point across and that may be why he's having more success in Bluebelle listening to him. A male voice is often deeper and can sound more firm to a dog and that helps too.

And yes, the urinating definitely does sound like a domination technique and you want to nip that in the bud right away.
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Old 03-14-2008, 10:31 AM
 
Location: Texas
690 posts, read 2,622,711 times
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You're right, Riveree - I only use her name in correcting her if she's not paying any attention to me whatsoever and is in her own world (like last night). LOL! That's an excellent point about using "off" rather than "down" - I need to incorporate that. Thanks for the tip!

I'm not sure what her punishment should be for the urinating on the bed: what I've done is tell her NO, then take her outside immediately to her potty spot. We also do not allow her on the beds anymore as a result. She has her own beds, both in our room and the living room, so we keep her to those, although she is allowed on the couch and we haven't had any problems there (knock on wood).

She is doing terrific otherwise with her housebreaking, as I said earlier, and we are very active with her in the evenings and on weekends - she is prone to high energy and has to "work" some due to the fact that she's an Australian Shepherd. But stubborn! Whoo! Our last Aussie, Montana, was NOTHING like Bluebelle at all. Montana was very submissive, gentle, feminine, and quiet - Bluebelle is hard headed, active, tomboyish, and nuts at times! Night and day. We're having fun with her.
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Old 03-14-2008, 11:23 AM
 
Location: Jax
8,200 posts, read 35,335,304 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MSJones View Post
I'm not sure what her punishment should be for the urinating on the bed: what I've done is tell her NO, then take her outside immediately to her potty spot. We also do not allow her on the beds anymore as a result. She has her own beds, both in our room and the living room, so we keep her to those, although she is allowed on the couch and we haven't had any problems there (knock on wood).
And that's really all you can do. If you catch her in the act, stop her mid-pee, tell her 'No!" and take her outside immediately.

The peeing on the bed is the symptom. Once she knows who is in charge, you'll cure the source of the issue. She's only trying for dominance because she thinks it's up for grabs!

I like the spirited dogs. They can be more of a challenge, but they usually have great personalities.
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Old 03-14-2008, 11:47 AM
 
Location: Texas
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Thanks, Riveree. Good to know I'm doing all I can!

She definitely has a great personality - I think she's just in her "toddler" phase and she's going to try and see how far she can go and what she can get away with, just like any child!
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