Pawfect Manners | House Soiling in Dogs

House soiling is one of the major reasons pets are relegated to the back yard or given up for adoption. In young dogs, it is often a matter of teaching the animal where it is appropriate to eliminate. In intact adult or adolescent animals, marking behaviors are often the problem. In spayed and neutered pets, illness or stress can cause a change in elimination patterns.

If your adult dog is eliminating inside the house -

The first thing you need to do is make sure the urine or feces looks normal. If you are not sure, it's always best to get your pet examined by a veterinarian to rule out health problems. Normal urine should be a clear yellow. Normal stool should be formed and soft but not runny. The color often depends on what you are feeding, but dark, tarry stools can be sign of parasites and other illness. Very hard, crumbly stools are also not normal for a healthy dog. Click here for the scoop on poop!

If your pet's eliminations do look normal, you need to evaluate what might have changed in your dog's schedule.

Did your daily schedule change?
Did you let the dog out/walk the dog in a timely manner?
Is there a new pet or person in the household?
Was there a change of environment? Workers outside/next door? Strange noises? Thunderstorm?
Did your dog have more activity than normal?

If none of these have occurred, and the dog's eliminations are normal looking, then you may need to work on re-housetraining it. Make an appointment with your veterinarin so they can eliminate physical problems first, then we can discuss how to handle the house-soiling problem.