Why Would My Dog Do This?!?
Filed under Care & Training Q&As
Chocolate lab/greyhound mix– really beautiful dog. 11 months old. House trained. Hasn’t had an accident in over 3 months, and that was a random, one time occurrence.
Yesterday, she ran with my husband (while he was mountain biking) for an hour, then she was exhausted & well behaved the rest of the day. She had obedience class yesterday from 5-6. Then at 7:15 we had some friends over for dinner. We took her out to use the bathroom at about 6:45. Then my husband & I were running around frantically trying to straighten up the house. We put her in her crate soon after our friends came because she seemed a little skittish. After they left, I was going to bed and there was a huge, cold urine stain right in the center of my white bed spread.
Why the sudden lapse in house-breaking? She’d been an angel all day & we’d given her adequate opportunities to use the bathroom.
Related posts:
It’s not a lapse in housebreaking.
Any one of the following may have happened:
-When you started preparing for your guests, the dog got excited. That made him need to pee
-He had a VERY active day, probably drank more than normal, and need to pee at an unscheduled time
-All the new people in the house either excited him or made him want to mark.
-If you tossed your friend’s bags and coats on your bed, he might have thought there was challenge to your bed. So he marked it.
It’s not a housebreaking issue, it’s a disconnect between you and the dog. If the stain was cold, he peed on the bed at least a half hour before you found it. Think about what gets your dog excited, how many times you’ve had a lot of people in the house that he couldn’t meet, whether any of them have dogs (he can smell that, even in another room.)
You have a miscommunication issue, not a housebreaking issue.
The simple answer is not disobedience – she was simply caught short, then behaved oddly because she knew she’d been bad.
It sounds like she knows she was wrong and I don’t think you are in for a spate of re-training or anything.
I wouldn’t allow her on your bed for a while incase she gets the scent and wants to re-scent it.
From all the exercise afterwards maybe she didn’t have time or the oppertunity to go potty outdoors. She was trying to hold it in. When dogs excersise they have to go to the bathroom, that’s why most people take their dogs for walks, so they poop.
I wouldn’t worry about this becoming a occurance. If it does she may have a UTI.
she is at an age that she will try to challenge you. my bulldog is 3 now but he used to do that. they are still looking for a place to mark their territory and your bed is where your scent is at and they want to take over. there is nothing to worry about. just make sure to discipline her when you catch her doing it again. use the discipline techniques taught by the obedience instructor.
She’s an 11 month old in training! Keep it up she will be an angel soon enough. You are doing a great job! I wish i came across more people like you on here. You might want to take her for a checkup, but my guess would be you have a teenager (dog) testing her boundaries!
Maybe she really had to go. My dog is one and has been trained for 8 months. He has had an accident every now and then. You really have to let them know its not acceptable.
maybe she was scared when your friends came over.
maybe she wants more time with you?
I understand this hasn’t happened before, that you know of, in at least 3 months. Sadly, part of the info will be missing because you were running around & not paying full attention to all that transpired that day.
It is possible… the basis for it is that she drank a lot more water AFTER her run & this didn’t “percolate” through, until well after her run. She sure as heck didn’t urinate, while running. (One hour of running). It might be that she didn’t urinate during the ride in the car to the run location – if hubby didn’t leave right from the house. She may have held urine while on the way home.
(You don’t indicate how much time between the run & water, before obedience class.) Did she go before or after that?
DID YOU SEE her urinate?
You indicate you gave her numerous chances to GO… but DID SHE? The problem is, in trying to answer your question, WE DON’T KNOW if she went… if you didn’t “witness” her going. Dogs don’t always GO, just because they are outside.
I teach mine a command to relieve themselves while they ARE going (as pups) and so I can get them to do whatever and empty-out…(on command) before we leave the house or before guests, arrive. It is hard to answer your question with incomplete info.
She may have “marked” your bed (I am suspicious, due to the location of the urine). It is also possible, that this urine release was due to fear. I have no idea how well socialized this dog is, with people/ strangers. Or how these guests interacted with her, or treated her in your bedroom.
You indicated she seemed skittish. I don’t know if she was “odd” due to the need to void & didn’t behave normally (to indicate she needed to go OUT) due to your guests. Or, if fear due to the guests, elicited this urination on your bed. Did anyone try to pet her/interact with her? Could she have felt CORNERED? Could she have reacted in fear?
She could also have developed a UTI (infection). If you see additional accidents, have her tested for a UTI. I don’t allow my dogs to get on furnture, AT ALL. (I guess you do, but we also don’t have that info).