Elmination Problems

Question
My dog is a year old. She has been completely house broken since she was 6-7 months old. The past four weeks, she has had an accident each week. The 1st one was when I came home, she urinated on me. I excused this for excitement. The 2nd accident, she wet the bed on my husband's leg one night. The 3rd accident was that she pooped on the floor in our doorway one morning before my husband left for work. The 4th accident was last night. We were playing in the bed & all of the sudden she pooped in the bed. I'm really worried about her, but my vet said that nothing is wrong with/ her. What's going on with her? What can we do to stop this behavior?

Answer
Hello Nikki,

Sudden changes in your dog's behavior can usually be attributed to a cause and effect relationship. So I would expect that something has changed.

My guess (without conducting an extensive interview) would be that your dog is maturing and is seeking out her adult role in your pack. Perhaps your play in the bed with her and other behaviors has communicated that you and your husband are puppies rather than leaders. Her behavior seems more like marking rather then accidents. This would be a defensive behavior that a dog might employ to protect her pups.

I'd suggest that in addition to giving your dog adequate exercise, that you be sure she has firm, enforced rules. Begin to substitute obedience training for play and give her various jobs to perform before giving food or affection.

Recognizing her increasing maturity and responding accordingly should eliminate the "elimination problems".

Good Luck!

Sandy