My Older Dog - His New Behavior

Question
We have an 11 year old border collie...he's always been a wonderful dog, always been an inside dog - he's always been house trained. We've gone out for hours, even on vacation, and had neighbors watch him...never a problem... All of a sudden, in the last month, if we leave for 5 minutes, he pees and poops all over the place...always in the same spot. I've tried every product known to man to keep him away from that area, but then the other day, he actually walked right in front of us and pooped - right in front of us...I've changed his feeding schedule to try and avoid the overnighters....waking up to the smell of urine and dog poop is not fun....but he's doing it anyway....I am at a loss...today, we left him alone for 25-30 minutes in the house, and sure enough, we came back to a huge puddle of urine and two piles of poop - a total mess.....he's healthy, but what's going on with him?....I have had to keep him outside, which we never did before, because it is constant...and we just can't figure it out...any ideas why all of a sudden he seems to be doing this? We are at our wit's end....

Answer
Hi Lori,

From the information that you have provided, I would guess that your dog is displaying signs of senility. If this is the case, then he would also show other subtle changes in his behavior. Does he seem to follow you about more and generally act more "clingy"? Does he show confused behavior in other areas? Is he showing any change in his response to your commands? It would not be unusual for an eleven year old dog to be physically healthy yet in a state of mental decline.

I would suggest you have your vet check for signs of mental impairment. If this is the case, then you must probably resign yourself to keeping him outside and/or making whatever accommodations necessary to cope with his decline.

One of the saddest things about owning a dog is the fact that we outlive them.

Good Luck!
Sandy
perfectdogtraining.com