Vital Pet Health

Why is my dog soiling in the house?

Paul Manktelow.  There are a number of reasons why your dog may be soiling the house.

The first cause can be identified as a lack of house-training. If your dog has soiled since being obtained then it is clear that they have never been trained properly.

Secondly previously house trained dogs may start soiling the home due to medical reasons. This can be identified and treated by your vet.

Finally house soiling may be attributed to behavioural changes with your dog. This may be a change in routine for yourself and your dog, differing home environment or an acquisition of a new family member, animal or human. Your dog will be exhibiting increased anxiety and will be soiling the house due to a lack of control rather than spite.

What medical conditions could lead to my dog soiling the house?

The general rule is that the older the dog the more chance there is of soiling problems to occur. This is related to a decrease in cognitive brain functioning. Below are a few examples why you may see an increase soiling from your dog.

Medical conditions related to urination within the home

An increase in urination frequency could be caused by medical problems including bladder infections, bladder stones / crystals, bladder tumours. Drug usage such as steroids may cause a dog to intake more water and thus urinate more often.

An increase in urination volume could be attributed to kidney disease, liver disease, diabetes, or Cushing’s disease.

A decrease in control or mobility could possibly be due to neurological deterioration or arthritis.

Medical conditions related to defecation within the home

An increase in the frequency of defecation could be colitis.

An increase in volume could be caused by problems with your dogs absorption rates or lack of digestive enzymes.

How can house soiling problems be identified?

The initial stage will involve a physical examination and a look through your dogs medical history. For most cases urinalysis and blood profiles will also need to be performed. Further testing may lead to the use of radiographs and contrast studies.

Factors which provide vital clues to the soiling problem include abnormal soiling frequency and volume, changes in urine odour, variations in stool colour and/or consistency.

How can house soiling be treated?

Re-training your dog to soil at appropriate times and locations is primarily the same training initially given to puppy’s when they are first being taught good behaviour.

The key to effective housetraining is constant supervision. This way you remain in control and aware of your dogs behaviour.

First of all prevent your dog accessing sites which they have been accustomed to soiling. This can be done by ensuring doors are closed or by using devices such as baby gates. This does not mean your dog should not go into these areas it means it should not be left there alone.

Knowing what your dog is doing is essential for you to re-establish correct soiling behaviour. One method is to keep your dog on an indoor lead so that you are aware of their behaviour. This method allows early identification of pre-soiling behaviour such as sniffing, circling or squatting. When this is noticed you can then direct the dog to the appropriate outdoor soiling area.

It is not always necessary to put your dog on an indoor lead. As long as you can monitor their behaviour then this will be fine.

When discovering that your dog is showing signs of pre-soiling behaviour (sniffing, circling and squatting) in an inappropriate area then you must

mildly correct them with either a loud command or whistle. This should stop soiling long enough for you to direct them to the appropriate soiling site.

If your dog soils in the correct location then lavish them with praise or food rewards. If you also use a command word prior to the soiling – reward process then your dog may learn to soil on command. By rewarding their good behaviour it reinforces the correct location to the dog.

For times when you are unable to supervise you must leave your dog in a confined space where it does not soil. This may be a bedroom or pen.

Where by the dog will be left for longer periods of time they must be left in an area where soiling is allowed. This may be outdoors, the dog run or a papered room.

Is there anything else I could do to stop house soiling?

Commercial odour eliminators should be used to erase any scents that may attract your dog back to the problem areas. Once sufficient coverage has eliminated all scents then it could help to feed your dog from this area. This way your dog will associate feeding behaviour, instead of soiling with this area.

Creating a routine of feeding times can help control when your dog will soil. Usually a dog will need to soil 15 to 30 minutes after eating. Creating two feeding times when you are able to stay with the dog until soiling occurs will inevitably help the problem of indoor soiling as you will be there to let your dog have access to the appropriate area.

Giving your dog a low residue diet could also aid the problem as your dog will have less urgency to soil.

As dog’s age health implications may mean they must soil more frequently. This will therefore require you to change your routine in order to be available to let your dog soil in the correct area. If this is not possible then you must look at alternative methods of letting your dog soil without punishment for doing so. Suggested ideas include installing a doggy door, supplying a papered area within the home, employing a doggy walker or by enrolling into a doggy crèche.

Why does my dog urinate when greeting myself or visitors?

There are two types, excitement and submissive urination.

Excitement urination occurs when your dog becomes aroused. This could be due to affection or greeting behaviour carried out by you or your visitors.

Submissive behaviour is exhibited when a person expresses dominance over the dog. This could be due to a style of approach, reaching out to or standing over the dog. Attempts to physically punish the dog could also bring on this type of urination. Other signs of submissive behaviour include lack of eye contact, cowering and your dogs ears pinned back.

How can excitement urination be treated?

The best way to combat excitement urination is to avoid stimulating the dog. During greetings people need to avoid eye contact, stop verbal communication and physical contact. Once your dog has calmed down then the greeting needs to be very low key with regards to physical actions and vocal tones.

Avoid praising and rewarding your dog at this time as this will excite their behaviour and could lead to the onset of soiling.

Counter conditioning, distraction techniques and drug therapy may also provide a useful role in difficult circumstances.

How can submissive urination be treated?

In order to treat submissive urination it is essential that all people interacting with your dog do so in a non threatening manner. Establish the level of threat (noise and/or actions) that causes your dog to soil. Then use this as a bench mark to work from.

All physical punishment and even mild reprimands must be stopped otherwise a dogs submissive urination will intensify and be reinforced during greetings.

All efforts should be made to reduce the need for your dog to exhibit submissive behaviour:

Allow your dog to approach you. This way they will feel more confident as it is them who is taking the lead in the greeting process.

Kneeling down instead of standing over the dog evokes less threatening vibes from yourself.

Keep verbal interactions very low so not to startle the dog.

Try petting your dog’s chest rather than the head. This will also reduce threat as the chest is a less vulnerable area to have contact with.

The method of ignoring your dog may need to be experimented with. By completely ignoring the dog (including eye contact) it allows time for the dog to become accustomed to a persons arrival and thus reduces anxiety levels.

How can my dog be treated when it exhibits excitement or submissive urination just to visitors?

This requires you to expose your dog to visitors in order so that your dog can associate appropriate behaviour with visiting persons.

If you have infrequent visitors then it will be hard for your dog to establish appropriate behaviour when these times occur. One method is to ask your visitor to enter, stay briefly, exit through the back door and then re-enter through the front door. Each time this occurs the dog becomes more familiar with your visitor and the occasion. It also allows your dog to practice good behaviour and appropriate responses to this event.

Counter-conditioning can be very helpful when trying to combat submissive urination. The dog must be trained so that on greeting people they will perform a behaviour which does not give them the opportunity to soil. For example sitting for food or anticipating retrieving a toy.

Why is my dog marking in the house?

Marking on vertical surfaces occurs commonly with undoctured males and sometimes can happen with neutered males and spayed females. A small amount of urine is sprayed and it is most likely to occur in areas where there are unfamiliar marks and odours.

How can indoor marking be treated?

The most common solution to marking is to have your dog neutered. It is estimated that over 85% of male dogs will stop marking after the operation.

Female dogs have a 50% chance of ceased marking habits after being spayed. Spaying is recommended for female dogs that mark during oestrus.

Non operational methods which may help reduce the problem of marking include:

Blocking window views, this therefore reduces the chance of copy cat behaviour of other dogs within the home.

Urine from stray dogs must be removed from window and door areas, ensuring no unfamiliar scents are in range of your dog’s senses.

New upright objects must not be placed on the floor until your dog has familiarised themselves with the objects alien scents.

Rewards need to be given for marking outside the home. This will help your dog associate good behaviour with marking at outdoor sites.

Finally marking should not be permitted in any other locations than outdoor sites.