SENIOR DOG PEEING IN THE HOUSE

Question
QUESTION: Our 15 year old spayed beagle now pees many times a week in the house. We have hardwood floors except for door mats and dog beds. She will go to the mats or the dog beds to hide her pee. We leave the patio door open when we are home so that she can go out but she seems senile and doesn't bother to go to the door. We've had her urine tested by the vet and all is fine. It definitely seems like she is becoming senile and unaware she has to go to the washroom until it is too late. When we are gone to work all day, she is fine but the problem is making it through the night and through the evenings. When the family is around, she gets distracted by what we are doing. She is getting food aggressive and pesters for food all night long which means she is very active and that causes her to have accidents. She doesn't even seem bothered by the pee. It's causing a huge stress in our house. Have we reached the end with her?

ANSWER: It does sound like she doesn't realize she needs to go potty until the last second - not really incontinence, since she is actually going to a dog bed or mat in order to relieve herself, but similar. You could try letting her wear a doggie diaper and a maxi pad to soak up the urine if you are unable to get her outside before she has an accident. Other than that, I would just try to keep an eye on her, just as you would a young puppy, and take her out when you see her start to show signs of needing to go (or heading to a bed or mat!). You might also consider crating her, or putting her in an exercise pen with a pee pee pad on a mat during the night.

When do you normally feed her? What do you feed and how much?

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: We feed her breakfast (1/2 cup of dry food with a scoop of wet) then a treat (dog biscuit) when I go to work. She's home with the other dog (pug) from 8:15 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. and no accidents. She then gets another treat and shortly after her supper (same as breakfast). She will try to steal the pug's supper too so there are warning growls from the pug. She bums all through our supper time and all evening until we give her a treat at bedtime and she will try to get into garbage or steal the kids food (they are 5 & 7). She's gained over a pound in the past year and the vet wasn't pleased but it's like dealing with an animal who is perpetually hungry. (She weighs 24.6 lbs.) Her obsession with food causes her to be active because she is sniffing out food (always sniffing under furniture, following people whenever they head to the kitchen, etc.) As a result, she needs to go the washroom more often in the evening. She won't go potty while we are eating supper in fear she will miss out on something (we don't feed the dogs from the table but the kids may drop a crumb - they are annoyed with this behaviour as well). She bites your fingers when you give her a treat because she lunges for it and isn't as coordinated as she used to be. She's not the sweet, gentle dog she used to be :-(
Thanks for your help.

Answer
Have you considered maybe eliminating the morning feeding and feeding her 1 cup of dry food and a scoop of wet only in the evenings? Doing this might make her feel like she's getting more, and could possibly satisfy her 'hunger.' I would try it for a couple of weeks and see if her behavior improves any. If not, try only feeding her in the morning. If she doesn't get *any* food in the evenings, perhaps she'll stop begging for it.

Do not feed the two dogs in such close proximity that the other dog becomes defensive over his food. I would also recommend blocking her out of the dining room during mealtimes, so she cannot sit there and beg while you're eating. Stop giving treats if she cannot take them nicely from your hand, or, instead of handing them to her, toss them on the floor next to her.