my male dog started peeing on my kids bed

Question
hello i have 2 staffordshire bull terriers mother and son
the son who is now 6 has just started weeing on my 8 year old girls bed and only hers and no where else and this is even after he has been out for a wee
dont know what has started it the only thing i can think of if he is picking up that her body is changing and she is smelling different to him as she has started to get bo and i think thats a different smell to him please help

Answer
Hi Sarah,

There may be several reasons as to why your male Staff bull has starting weeing on your eight-year-old daughter's bed.  

Most dogs urinate on sofas and beds out of insecurity.  These items contain very strong scents of family members.  I'm wondering if your daughter has been absent more often (maybe playing more with friends and away from home more?), or has less time for the dog when once she had lots of time for the dog?  This might be true especially if your dog has been very attached to her.

The other issue could be an example of a dog marking territory to protect it from predators, or other dogs.  What I'm thinking here is:

a) that the son dog sees your daughter's bed as a preferred sleeping area/resource and is marking it to tell Mom Staff bull that it's his, particularly if she has had access to the bed or has tried to gain access to the bed.  That's one possibility.  I would assess this in part by determining if you've seen any change in the relationship between Mom dog and son dog, where son dog seems to be taking charge more recently.

b) Possibility two is that your daughter underwent something recently where perhaps she was injured or very ill, and your Staff bull is urinating on the bed to protect her.

Another possibility is that your dog has developed a substrate issue.  That is, he likes what it feels like to urinate on your daughter's bed, so he does it more often.  Now that his urine scent is there, he's likely to return to it.  If he doesn't get caught in the act and interrupted, he's also likely to keep doing it.

Given your dog's age remote but perhaps also a possibility.  Your dog is six, and may be starting to suffer some early signs of Canine Cognitive Disorder (similar to dementia or Alzheimer's in humans).  Have you noticed anything else, such as your dog standing or staring aimlessly, sleeping more than usual, lower activity level?  These might be signs of CCD.  If you think so, it's best to check with your vet.

Also, rule out any signs of a urinary tract infection (UTI) if your dog is urinating in other places or in general more frequently.  UTIs are not that uncommon, and a urine culture at your vet's can help determine whether he may be suffering from some discomfort from a UTI.

It's possible too as you suggested that your dog is responding to changes in your daughter's hormones and scents.  If so, I would be very careful about leaving them alone together, because of the possibility of his mounting her and not letting go of her, and her being unable to extricate herself.  I've both read and contributed as an expert to articles about this sort of thing occurring (see my comments in last year's Tonawanda News about one such case), and generally the dog is aroused by some scent.  In the Tonawanda/Lockport News case, thed dog mounted a young child when the parent wasn't present and able to supervise, with disastrous results for the child (and ultimately the dog, I'm pretty sure) in some cases.  So, observe dog and child carefully and make sure they're not left alone unsupervised at this time.

As far as his urinating on your daughter's bed, for whatever reason if the reason is not medical, the best way to stop it is management right now.  Prevent his having access to the bed by closing the door to her room if it only occurs when no one is in the room sleeping in the bed.  If it's occurring when your daughter's sleeping on the bed, then you'll need to have him sleep elsewhere until you feel you can trust him again.  If you haven't caught him in the act yet, and you can catch him in the act of weeing on the bed and interrupt him (I might yell NO and also bang a few times on the wall to interrupt him, then whisk him outside to finish so the message that he only wees outside gets reinforced), he might stop if he finds the interruption aversive enough and 'gets the message.'

Hope this helps!

Best,
Madeline Friedman, M.A.
AllExperts Volunteer
www.ny-njDogTrainer.com
Animal Science major, Rutgers University