House trained dog peeing on the area rug

[RichieBevilacqua]

We just can’t get out 8 year old beagle lab mix to stop peeing on our area rug. He is house trained but never has been completely trustworthy with it. Any help would be appreciated.

 

While i’m complaining about him, we cannot leave food out anywhere that he can see it. he will take it. nothing works

[Adrienne Farricelli]

Hello Richie,

Welcome to the forum!

 

With an 8-year old dog, you are likely dealing with a strong history of rehearsal of these problem behaviors and therefore I can understand how frustrating it may feel dealing with them. By implementing several changes and applying them diligently and persistently, you may see a reduction in these behaviors. My favorite saying for these cases is "when there is a will, there is a way."

 

I will start tackling the food stealing behavior first. With a beagle and lab mix you have the "best of both worlds." On one hand, you have a "nose on four legs, which is the beagle," on the other hand, you have the "stomach without a bottom" which is the Lab. It's not surprising therefore with such a mix, that your dog is so food oriented and eager to eat anything that is left around.

 

For dogs getting into foods, there is usually not a one-solution that fixes it all, but rather it often takes a multi-facted approach. Here are some tips:

 

1) Most dogs will gain acces to food items when the owners are out of out of sight. Management is therefore top priority to prevent rehearsal of the problem behavior. The more a dog rehearses the problem behavior, the more it becomes ingrained. Fact is, gaining access to food brings a strong reinforcement history. So every time your dog gets a hang of something tasty when you are out of sight, the reward history has already occurred. The dog got to eat the goodies and this behavior will reinforce and repeat.

 

2) Just to point this out, when you catch your dog eating some food left unattended, it often won't matter much what happens next (unless you catch your dog right in the act!) as the dog already gained his momentum of reinforcement. So if your dog already has the item in his mouth and you reprimand him for that, he'll likely not make the association between gaining access to the item and your frustration. You'll just end up just looking like a big party pooper who interferes with all the fun. Another good reason to eat things (and quickly!) when you are not around!

 

3) Now, it would help to take a look at the term "stealing" from a dog's persepective, as we often take it "personally" when dogs gain access to things they shouldn't have. Dogs do not have a sense of stealing in the same way we do. Among dogs, if you watch them interact, you will see that when a dog is eating and then gets up leaving some crumbs behind, to the other dog this is an official "signal" meaning that the dog has lost interest in those leftovers and is surrendering them. So an unattended brger left on the table from a dog's perspective is a relinquished item left to anyone who wishes to claim it. A dog who we therefore think is "stealing food" we have left on the counter, in reality is acting quite politely, waiting for the person to leave it behind and show no more interest in it.

 

Therefore, in other words, dogs do not the cognitive abilities to recognize that an item that is left behind and not in our direct possession still belongs to us and should not be touched. Dogs act out of instinct and are opportunists and after all without this trait they likely wouldn't have made it so far as a species (imagine a starving dog in the wild not eating food readily available to them).

 

4) I know this sounds repetitive but this cannot be emphasized enough. "Manage Your Dog's Environment." By managing your dog's environment, you are preventing access to things your dog can potentially eat when you are not actively watching. This often entails "thinking like a dog." In other words, look at your home and remove foods anything your dog may gain access to. This is similar to toddler-proofing a home only that dogs are capable of pulling and jumping up and stealing items from counters, unattended handbags and tables. This means never leaving around candy wrappers, crumbs, handbags containing candy or gums, and unattended foods on tables. Trash cans should be stored away or the ones with dog-proof lids should be used.

 

These dog-proofing measures are important as many times dogs who eat unattended foods are may be prone to costly surgeries to remove intestinal blockages (from bones) or hospitalizations associated with dogs eating things they shouldn't (think baker's chocolate left unattended on the table). To make life easier, it's best to restrict a dog's access to a small area that is easy to dog proof. For many dogs who tend to get in a trouble, installing baby gates or using a secure crate when dog owners are not around may be the best option.

 

5) Practice the Leave it Cue. Find it here:https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/m...take-leave-it/ Training your dog to "leave it" is important so that your dog understands that some items should be left alone. Make sure to practice with low value items at first and praise/reward your dog lavishly when he listens to your cue and then progress to foods.

 

6) Practice The Drop it Cue. Find it here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/m...e-101/drop-it/ Training your dog to "drop it" adds a back-up plan should you be to late to say "leave it" as your dog has the item already in his mouth. It can make the difference between life and death should the dog get a hang of something potentially dangerous such as a packet of sugarless gum containing xylitol.

 

7) Active Supervision. When you have free time, make it a habit of performing active supervision. This means that you will be closely supervising your dog and providing him guidance and feedback about what he can and cannot touch. Tell your dog "leave it" the second you notice intent of getting something you don't want him to have. Note: You shouldn't have to say "drop it" if you are actively supervising and trained "leave it" fluently.

 

8) Never run after your dog should he end up carrying around food he shouldn't have. This can prompt the keep-away game and even prompt to resource guarding in dogs predisposed to this. Instead, train your dog to respond to drop it and trade. You can find info about the basics of trading for toys (or any other items) here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/m...ctive-of-toys/

 

9) Out of Sight, but not Out of Mind. Finally, as a last resport for some challenging cases of dogs who tend to steal food over and over, it may help to teach the dog a valuable lesson: that although you are not in sight, you are still there. This sould entail leaving the dog with a food item that he is often likely to steal and watching the dog from a window at a distance or a remote camera from behind the door. The moment the dog attempts to the get the item, the dog owners should announce "leave it"to remind the dog that although he's not in sight, the dog is still being watched. These sessions require a dog who repsonds fluently to "leave it" and can be rehearsed several times, although there are no guarantees the dog won't steal the item if left alone for a long time. Also, such practice rehearsals should never be used with items that are potentially harmful to the dog.

 

10) Make sure your dog has access to plenty of legitimate interactive toys that stimulate your "dog's reward zone" of the brain. Kong Wobblers, Buster Cubes etc. help provide an outlet to those innate scavenging instincts many dogs have.

 

So to recap, by preventing rehearsals of problem behaviors, managing your dog environment, limiting access to interactive toys that encourage scavenging, training leave it and drop it fluently and providing structured guidance, with time, you should hopefully see a decrease in stealing food items, at least when it happens in your presence. Of course, this is on top of providing exercise, training and mental stimulation through all of the fun brain games.

 

Hope this helps! Will be posting soon about the other issue you are facing.

Edited July 17, 2018 by Adrienne Farricelli

[Adrienne Farricelli]

For the issue of peeing on the area rug, if that's the only area that your dog is peeing on, I have good news: localized peeing is much easier to tackle than dogs who pee in several areas of the home. It may be your dog is urine marking if he hikes his leg and just pees a small amount versus emptying the whole bladder. This is an article about marking: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/urine-marking/

Here is what I suggest doing:

 

1) Management. Even in this case, management goes a long way. When you are not actively supervising or must leave the house, prevent access to the rug. Keep your dog in a crate or outside in the yard with you or behind a baby gate in a room where he is unlikely to pee (make sure his bladder is empty before) This prevents rehearsal of the problem behavior. Many dogs will urinate when owners are not in sight since urinating in the presence of the owner often leads to scolding or some other display of emotional upset.

 

2) Actively supervise your dog when you are home. This means paying close attention to your dog. It helps if you don't have visual barriers (tables, stools) that block view.

 

3) Learn your dog's pre-potty signs. Before going potty, most dogs will perform some behavior sequence like sniff the area, circle or start lifting a leg. When you are actively supervising your dog, you need to watch for pre-potty signs so that you can interrupt him before he gets a chances to pee. Below is a way to interrupt him. In some cases, you may need to clap your hands to interrupt and then redirect as explained below.

 

4) Train a "going to the door cue" and make this behavior extra fluent. Use this cue when you notice your dog is giving pre-potty signs. Train your dog to follow you to the door and outside and make this very rewarding. You can use a verbal cue like "let's go!" Rehearse this several times to make the behavior very fluent. Simply say "let's go" in an exciting tone of voice as you rush towards the door. Give a food reward (which I am sure your dog will love!) Then progress to saying "let's go" rushing to the door and giving the food reward right when you are out, and then progress to saying "let's go" rushing to the door and giving the food reward after your dog goes potty outside.

 

5) Train to go potty on cue outside and make the activity extra rewarding. With a good reward history, your dog should choose going outside more and more over using the carpet. Here's how to train a dog to go potty on cue:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/potty-on-command/

 

6) Use the right products. With beagle blood running through the veins, your dog likley has a very powerful sniffer. If he smells previosuly soiled areas, most likely he will want to mark on them over and over. An enzymatic urine cleaner can help remove the scent, but you will need to be very careful and actively supervise to prevent him from soiling the area again which leads to more urine marking. Make sure the cleaner is color-safe for carpets.

 

7) Last but not least, consider other aspects of your dog's life. If your dog is stressed or anxious, this can sometimes trigger urine marking. It can often be seen when there are changes such as recent moves, a new baby, construction workers etc.

 

With management, active supervision, learning your dog's pre-potty signs and interrupting them as needed, training a "let's go" cue, rewarding outdoor elimination and using the right products, you should see a decrease in the peeing- on- the- rug behavior.

Edited July 20, 2018 by Adrienne Farricelli

[RichieBevilacqua]

want to further explain a few things:

 

he used to have accidents randomly in our apartment when we were in grad school together but not often. the accidents would be anywhere in the small living area of the apartment. never in the bedroom that i can remember. these accidents were ONLY when we were gone and NEVER when we were home.

 

when we graduated and bought a house he kind of did the same thing. would have random accidents in the living room, family room, dining room, and upstairs hallway. never in the kitchen because it was a hard surface, never in the basement because it’s a hard surface too and he’s scared to go down those steps (probably also because they’re hard and not carpeted) and never our bedroom as far as i can remember. then we babysat an 8 month old dog who we were told was housebroken (huge lie) and that dog literally pooped and peed on EVERYTHING in our house. after that our dog got MUCH worse with peeing and pooping in the house, but still never did it when we were home.

 

a few months ago i ripped out all the carpets on the first floor and replaced them with hardwood. now the only soft area on the first floor is the 6 foot square area rug in the family room. i also replaced the carpet in the upstairs hallway where he used to have random accidents with new carpet. so far he has had all his accidents on the area rug downstairs and hasn’t gone upstairs. not sure why he hasn’t gone upstairs, but i think it’s only localized to the area rug on the first floor because he refuses to pee or poop on a hard surface.

 

also he has been babysat at relatives and friends houses when we went on vacation or something and has always had accidents at any house he’s been at.

 

our dog is anxious and whines a lot when things aren’t the normal routine. if we’re home on the weekend or after work he’s super chill. if there’s too much out of the ordinary or if we are leaving (other than leaving on a normal work day, he’s used to that) he whines like crazy. he also whines incessantly in the car and especially if we drive him to the trail in the woods where we sometimes walk him. he goes insane screaming and whining and yelping as soon as he sees it.

 

also we just had a new baby so there’s that too.

 

the difficulty with keeping him out of the family room where the area rug is is that the house is kind of open concept and there’s not really a good way to block it off. mostly when we’re not home he sleeps in our bed upstairs and that’s where he’s comfortable and we want him to be able to do that. we’re afraid to lock him in our room though because we don’t want him to start peeing or pooping in there. we hesitate to crate him because he will truly lose his mind and i don’t think he will be able to settle himself down the whole time we’re gone.

 

we’re thinking maybe asking the vet for medicine?

[Adrienne Farricelli]

Richie, just wanted to keep you posted. I am working on a detailed answer. Will get in touch shortly.

[Adrienne Farricelli]

Hello Richie,

Thanks for providing these additional details as they are very helpful for getting a closer insight into the situation. However, there may be several possibilities for the peeing behavior and it would take a bit of detective work to pinpoint the exact cause.

 

The accidents you mention occurring in your apartment a while back seem to point to potential separation anxiety, albeit this is not an easy diagnosis as it depends on several factors. However, one common factor in dogs with separation anxiety is that the peeing is mainly evoked by the owner's departure. So the big question to help clarify is: Are you finding accidents mostly upon your return? Or are these accidents taking place also when you are at home?

 

Dogs with separation anxiety follow particular patterns of behavior. Typically, the owner comes back from work and is greeted by an overly excited dog. Next thing, as the owner walks inside, he finds a small puddle often by the door or other area nearby the doorway (although some dogs will also pee in other areas such as on the owner's bed). The peeing in this case took place possibly hours prior to the owner's return.

 

Separation anxiety in dogs causes them profound distress. Owners may witness their dogs starting to pace as they get ready to leave the house. Pre-departure cues such as taking a shower, having breakfast, then putting on clothing and shoes often evoke the dog's pacing and whining. These signs then progress and culminate when the owner closes the door and starts the car engine to leave the house. Does this sound familiar?

 

Many owners of dogs with separation anxiety are not aware of what happens when they leave the house. They only see the pacing and whining prior to their departure and the puddle of urine upon coming back.

 

If you suspect your dog may be displaying separation anxiety, it might be a good idea to set up a camera (safely out of reach from the dog) or some form of remote monitoring so that you can see what is truly happening. I actually recommend doing this as well with dogs who do not seem to fit the picture as sometimes the recording can be quite insightful. Is the dog pacing, whining, salivating, scratching the door, having accidents in the house and acting in distress for several minutes or hours at a time in your abscence? In this case, the peeing may be an expression of the deep anxiety the dog is feeling when being left alone. There may be chances that the fact your dog pees on the rug may be because it's located in an area closer to the door. There might be though some substrate preference at play too. Pups develop this substrate preference at a young age and absorbable surfaces such as carpet and rugs are often a favorite.

 

This kind of anxiety peeing in dogs requires behavior modification which often entails gradually desensitizing the dog to pre-departure cues and creating positive associations with them. Severe cases may require medications along with behavior modification.

 

On the other hand, dogs can have accidents when owners are not home also for other reasons. Some dogs may see other dogs walk by and this may evoke marking behaviors and some dogs who have a history for being punished for peeing in the home in the past may get sneaky and do the deed when the owners are away or not looking (in this case though one would find accidents as well when just leaving the room).

 

If the accidents take place when home as well, then there may be other factors at play and I can provide more info pertaining this based on your answer. You may be dealing with a more generalized form of anxiety or perhaps more concomitant forms of anxiety.

Edited July 21, 2018 by Adrienne Farricelli