regress in housebreaking

Question
My puppy is 11 months old and just got spayed this past Friday.  Prior to the spaying, she almost never had any accidents.  She always did her business on the pad.  After this surgery, she has been peeing and pooping off the pad and all over the house.  Is she angry or was the surgery traumatic for her?  How can I get her back into her almost perfect routine?  She is a mixture of chihuahua, terrier and shitzu and is 5 pounds.

Answer
My vet says he is using a new, safer anesthetic.  Dogs are less likely to have a bad reaction to it, but they are slower to recover.  So the anesthetic may have left her confused.  For now, when you are around you need to keep a close eye on the dog.  Use closed doors or gates to keep it in the same room as you are, and perhaps as I do, a short chain fastened to the computer desk.  If you catch it in the act, give it a sharp ''Ah, ah, ah!'' and take it to the pad.  When you can't watch it, crate it.

Other dogs may not be as bad as the young Labs I am plagued with.  Still your house and dog will be much safer with the dog in a crate when you are away.  The dog may be happier in its den than loose in the house.  It relaxes, it feels safe in its den.  It rests, the body slows down reducing the need for water and relieving its self.  Dogs that have been crated all along do very well.  Many of them will rest in their crates even when the door is open.  I think the plastic ones give the dog more of a safe, enclosed den feeling.  They are harder for dogs to open too.  Metal ones can be put in a corner or covered with something the dog can't pull in and chew.  Select a crate just big enough for the full grown dog to stretch out in.

Leave it some toys.  Perhaps a Kong filled with peanut butter.  Don't leave anything in the crate the dog might chew up.  It will do fine without even any bedding.  You will come home to a safe dog and a house you can enjoy.

A dog that has not been crated since it was little, make take some work. Start out just putting its toys and treats in the crate.  Praise it for going in.  If you have been able to trust it with any bedding, put that in the crate. Feed it in the crate. This is also an easy way to maintain order at feeding time for more than one dog.

If she is still doing it when you go back to have the stitches out, talk to the vet about it.