Elderly dog now pees inside, new behavior (how much, clean, vet)
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We have a hound mix female, 13 yrs old, and still going strong, running 1-2 miles most days. However, some while back (a year or two ago) she started peeing on a downstairs rug occasionally. I need to hear what people think should be done next.
The carpet is a nice wool runner, so I took it outside and hosed it off thoroughly. She didn't do it for a while. Still it happened occasionally, and I would blot it up, pour white vinegar on it, and blot that up.
Then she peed on a cheap area rug about 6 ft away in my son's bedroom. Washed that one in the washer.
I had thought the problem was that she was getting too old and stiff to come upstairs and let us know she needed to be let out in the night. She has, most of her life, been a dog who gets up to go out sometime between 3 and 6.
Peeing on the carpet became more frequent - but not like every day, still just occasionally, but once is too often you know. I washed the carpet with the hose again - then again - and that last time I said, no more. Something had to change.
So, we started leashing her to her dog bed upstairs. Ok, so now we know it isn't because she can't hold it in the middle of the night.
Since doing this - she has peed on the carpet three more times. Last time I had to put it in the tub and completely immerse it and wash it that way. It still smells a bit, so after drying it completely I left it rolled up on end in a corner until I could figure out something there. Then, yesterday, with no carpet in the hall, she peed on a cheap runner, about 6 feet away, in the laundry room.
What the heck is going on here? My wife thinks it is behavioral. She thinks it isn't because she can't hold it. Maybe she is right, I don't know. The last 3 times she peed on the carpet it was the middle of the day, and one of us was home. She could have let us know she needed to go out. Or, maybe she did, and we didn't notice it. The only reason I wonder about that is because she came to me yesterday whining about something while I was working in my office area. A short time later I found the peed-on rug. However, I'm pretty sure she did not leave my desk area before I found the pee spot, so I'm thinking maybe she felt guilty? She can be fairly smart, in a hound sort of way. But we didn't notice any requests to go outside the other daytime occasions.
I was thinking it was continence issues, combined with urine odor remaining in the carpet. Now, I do not know. And I don't know how to change this behavior. I'm not putting the good rug down in that area again. I'll put a cheap washable runner down there if this is something we have to deal with in her senior years.
She is always picking a rug, and always, so far, in a fairly small area, but not one spot. The past few times seem to rule out the incontinence.
We've never had an issue with any inside elimination when she was younger. Not that I recall, anyway. She has a bad knee, and some arthritis, so I knew sometimes the stairs were hard for her. She still loves to run though, almost as much as she loves to eat. I think she would readily sacrifice a leg to keep running. So, she is healthy, but getting older and showing her age a bit. She has some motion issues when she has been idle, and some days are bad, others are not.
What's up in your opinion, and how do we fix it? Or do we just have to live with it?
I doubt it is a behavior problem. Maybe a bladder control issue where she doesn't realize she has to go. But, hounds can pick up odors really well so I wouldn't rule that out. I know they have a homeopathic medicine that can be used to help with incontinence but I haven't tried it since luckily, we haven't had that problem with our seniors. Have you ever crated her or have you considered doing that to sort of zero in on the problem? I have also heard that white vinegar doesn't work so you might try a different method for cleanup. I know it is tough with older dogs but hang in there.
Our old guy does this.
Luckily we have a tiled home,so easy to clean but he goes to our back bathroom to do it,usually in the middle if the night but he has had a few day time accidents.
For him it is just his getting old. We just clean it up .Been a wonderful dog and still IS a wonderful dog,not sure how many more years we will have him.
So we see no reason to discipline him just for being old. He now has begun with a collapsing trachea.(Been checked by the Vet.)
Makes us sad to see him failing.
We have a 14 year also, she too has her issues.
I don't think it's a behavior issue. Given her age and gender, I'd guess hormones, bladder infection, maybe stones. She needs to see the vet. Many issues like this can be treated with relatively cheap medication.
She's picking the rugs because that is what dogs do. If the rug is available and they have a strong urge to go, that's where they go. It's not intended to be vindictive or anything.
Diabetes is the first rule in. Plus other conditions. 13 is a CRITICAL AGE for some diseases/conditions to surface like Cushings and urination is a symptom.
I have a client who is 18 years old on Proin which corrected her particular incontinence issue.
I had a Pug client sleeping all day long. It's not normal even though he was a cancer survivor. He was 13, too young to be THAT lethargic. They didn't see how much water he drank because of another dog and four cats but he started urinating.
It was diabetes. He's on insulin now. Running around playing with toys like a puppy again.
Thanks all for the answers! We've been leashing her at night, and I removed the good runner from the downstairs hall. No recurrence since. I will discuss the issue with the vet though - certainly the physical issues have been brought up by most! So we will get that checked out.
She is still happy and healthy, and runs most every day. I'm not sure but that her hearing might be going, or a little senility setting in, as at times, in other ways, she responds (or doesn't) in ways that I haven't seen in years. Just little things - like getting out of sight when on a run - and staying distracted by a smell when she should be responding to a "come" call. Not something she would have done a year ago, but such a minor shift, it is hard to tell. But, she is thirteen, which, for a hound, is getting on.
A lot of you have discounted behavioral issues. I will get the vet to discuss the issues (we were at the vets not long ago, and she always passes her physicals with flying colors - but we have not discussed this issue directly). But, I also know that there are times when dogs can do things to act up. Or be vindictive, as one person put it. I've known many dogs over the years, and I've seen a few who could, and would, take out anger or frustration in a method they knew would get attention. Just like this one - who when she was younger, was known as an escape artist and a runner. When she gets daily runs, no problems. She doesn't get to run, and her need to run was just too large - so she would escape and go for a run on her own. She wasn't being vindictive, her only "thoughts" there were "I gotta run! Gotta run!" Still, I've known dogs who would be destructive for having been left behind when their humans went somewhere in the car - stuff like that. Trip could be boring as all get-out - it didn't matter. So I don't completely discount behavioral stuff - dogs are more complex than most people think. She might have been acting up because we did not go for a walk that day (although I really do NOT think this is the case. Just sayin', it is a possibility.)
Thanks again! We'll have a discussion with the vet - appreciate all the input!
Glad you're taking her to the vet. As my dogs have reached old age they've all had problems with bladder control. I'd be very surprised it it's behavioral. IMO it's more likely that she just can't hold it like she used to when she was younger.
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