How do I stop an old dog from peeing in the house?
Asked by
kellylet (
858
)
September 17th, 2010
I am starting to take care of a grown dog who someone else raised. She is a 13 year old rat terrier and marks all over the house. I don’t know if it’s territorial thing, accidents (I definitely think she does it on purpose) or separation anxiety. She mostly does it while I am not home and occasionally during the night (funny enough she goes into the bathroom.) She has done it for years. Previously she lived with two other dogs and is far happier now they are not around.
I am hesitant to crate train her as I think it may do more harm than good and freak her out because she has always had free reign of the house.
I am moving into a new house and really do not want her peeing all over my stuff. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to stop this behavior?
Thanks for the advice!
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6 Answers
Just take her out as often as possible to use the restroom. I think teaching a 13 year old dog something new will be difficult.
At 13 she is probably slowly losing control of her ability to hold it. Be compassionate and put her somewhere that will not be hurt by her incontinence when you are not home. When you are home you just need to take her out often as @Mom2BDec2010 suggests. I don’t think she is playing games, they just get a little senile, she would be 91 in human years. I have 2 13 year olds and they are both beginning to have similar problems. It is an annoyance but the only other option is having them put to sleep and I know it is not time for that yet.
They have doggie diapers if it gets too bad. They sell them at Petco. Talk to the people at Petco. They would have some ideas.
You may also want to try pee pads. I don’t know if older dogs are attracted to them, but puppies typically are.
My 17 year old dog never had this problem. We let him out very frequently and he never had a problem,
I know large pet stores carry training pads for adult dogs. Also do a search for pee pads for dogs. There are a lot of options.
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