Old Australian Shepherd

Question
I have a 14 yr old female spayed Australian Shepherd and recently married and brought my husband's 10 yr old lab/Dalmation female spayed mix to live with us. The dog, for the most part, tolerate each other but sometimes get into fights. Also, the Aussie has begun to urinate in the house. I'm sure one has to do with the other but is there anything I can do? I also have a 14 yr old terrier mix and 1 year old Maltese, both of whom get along with the group of dogs just fine.

Answer
Hi Mary,

Because your Australian Shepherd is 14 years old, before assuming her problem is solely because of the new living situation (which it might be) you should have her examined by your veterinarian to rule out a bladder infection.

Once a medical condition has been ruled out, even though your Aussie is a mature dog, you need to go back to the training regimen you probably followed when you were training her for the first time. That means constant supervision, crating or otherwise containing her when you aren't able to supervise, and giving her frequent opportunities to relieve herself outside (paired with lavish praise the moment she's done as she should outside). It might be helpful to keep her leash on while she's in the house, and tie the end of the leash to your belt-loop. That way, she can't sneak off to have an accident, or to mark. The minute she looks like she's even thinking about going to the bathroom in your home, you can rush her outside.

Clean the areas where she's soiled in your home with an enzymatic cleaner, such as Nature's Miracle or Simple Solution. This will help prevent her remarking those areas.

As long as your Aussie and the Lab/Dalmatian aren't drawing blood, and are not really hurting each other, let them establish their own social order. If you prevent them from working this out, it can escalate their fighting. Supervise, and only step in if one of the dogs is going to get hurt. When you do break up the dogs, have them do a couple of whichever obedience commands they might know. This enforces you as the true pack leader, who must be obeyed. Having a strong leader might be helpful in stopping the fights, as the dogs will accept that the pack already has someone in the leadership position.

Even though both the Aussie and the Lab/Dalmatian are older dogs, if they're able to exercise, that's something to do which will take the "edge" off of their behaviors, and help keep them calmer.

Best of luck,

Patti