Suddenly going to the barthroom in the house

Question
Hello, we have a 8 year old Schipperkee/Chow mix that we adopted from the SPCA almost 7 years ago. He has been the BEST dog until the last couple of weeks. He NEVER went to the bathroom in the house. Now he has started peeing on this one rug in our living room, only at night after we go to bed even if we let him out before we go to sleep, we are going to throw it away because I am thinking he smells the urine even though we wash it. Also last night he peed on it right in front of me! He pooped in the house last night too. He has never done this. I just don't understand why he is doing this all the sudden. We had a baby 2 1/2 years ago but I don't think that is what it is. Other than that nothing else has changed. I don't want to have to leave him outside because it is cold and he barks. Any suggestions? Thank you.

Answer
Have you changed your dog food? Any change in his schedule at all? If he's seven years old my first advice would be a trip to the vet. Sometimes breaking housetraining is the first sign of illness. Rule out illness and then stop his food at five pm and water at 9pm. You might want to try taking him out later than you usually do for the last time every night and earlier in the morning, Dogs , like people as they age, have problems with bladder and bowel control, Could be that he just isn't as young as he used to be. Rule out illness first, and check your dog food. It might be time to change to a senior food. The less filler (by products corn) the better and one without soy, or wheat is even better than that. Stay away from bha and bht as preservatives.
Good luck
Cindi