Pet Information > ASK Experts > Dogs > Canine Behavior > Dog Urination problem

Dog Urination problem

18 16:59:48

Question
I have two French Bulldog puppies who are seven months old (one male and one female).  After having been potty trained and being very well behaved with minimal accidents for quite some time, my male has started peeing in the house again.  He has been neutered and checked out by my vet for any physical problems which have been ruled out. My female has had no issues with going outside for her toilet and has miraculously only had two accidents in the house since we started training!

Last week, when I was doing spring housecleaning, I discovered that we have mice in our apartment again (feces behind my stove) and I saw a mouse run across the kitchen floor. We had a problem with mice before we brought our puppies home and had used poison to get rid of them.  However, I took up the mouse poison that we were using to avoid poisoning my curious pups.  

My question is could the presence of the mice in my house be causing the urination problems? I thought that I had read somewhere that this could be the case.  I would appreciate any advice you can offer.

Answer
Your Frenchie could very well be responding to these "invaders" of his home!  Without using poison, you can eliminate unwanted little visitors.  I purchased a product online a couple of years ago called a "Rat Zapper".  This device humanely (quickly) electrocutes little rodents (using two AA batteries).  I threw a peanut into the foot long blue metal box to lure the little culprits, and it worked every time.  Horrible thing to have to do, but ... necessary.  :o(

Reinforce your male Frenchie's appropriate elimination outdoors for a few weeks with reward and praise.  Confine him (with his female companion) to an area where urine can be easily cleaned (like the kitchen) until you see he has fallen back into his normal pattern.  Put the Rat Zapper in a place your dogs cannot get to (as putting a paw into it may result in a serious shock) at night.  Within a week or two, you should have eliminated your unwanted visitors and your Frenchie should be more relaxed and back on track.  If this doesn't work for some reason, please repost.