Advice needed about my dog *O/T*

[kimbobaloobob]

well i have a 6 year old staffordshire bull who lived with me and my mum since she was one and she has always been such a good and clean dog. Obv. having the odd accidents but what dog dosent?. But since i have had her at my new house away from my mum and the other dogs (we had 2 other staffys) she keeps having accidents. I brought her home on halloween and she was really good until end of november. But the last week she has pooed twice peed 3 times, twice on carpet and once on wooden flooring. And last night my OH woke me up at 3'o clock telling me that either I had peed my self or my waters had gone. I felt myself and told him to stop being so stupid and go back to sleep, then i rolled over into a huge wet patch. Bringo (my dog) had got into bed with me and my OH and peed right in between us while we were sleeping. I really dont want to get rid of her as she is part of the family iykwim but im really getting worried there is something wrong with her now. But it she never does anything during the day so i cant see how there is something wrong with her. She has had breast cancer and had her ladybits done when she has a c scetion. The cancer is a recent thing (october 08) so could it be something to do with this? Has anyone got any advice or tips on what i could do with her as i cant be cleaning at 3o' clock

 

[anothersquish]

Take her to the vets first and see if there is anything physical causing it. If not then there are many things that can help but its not worth getting into that until you have checked she is healthy.

 

[kimbobaloobob]

she does have yearly health checks of the vets, her last one was september ish and she was all fine had all her boosters ect....

 

[anothersquish]

something could have developed since September...it was 3 months ago. Take her to the vet first. Wont do her any favours to start treating it as a behavioural issue if infact its a physical one.

 

[kimbobaloobob]

true... ill have to see if my mum will take her for me

 

[Jenni1991]

For the time tho i'd keep her locked in the kitchen till you know for sure just too keep her off the bed from peeing. And get her too the vets when you can. She may be doing it for attention as well tho but get her health checked first to be on the safe side x

 

[angie79]

i would agree with taking her to the vet but you must remember she has just been uprooted so to speak and taken away from her friends (the other dogs)
i have 2 staffs and when we moved they both wee'd everywhere to mark there territory even the female and they went off there food - they soon settled but it took a while. Also when i had to split them up because one was having a op the one left behind really acted up and the vet said she had seperation anxiety
Is she used to your garden or the area you take her to go?

Its all so new for her - bless

First of tho take her to vet to get checked in case anything is wrong
the last thing is my 2 go out alot more now they are older not always on a walk but just to do there business

 

[mrskx0x0]

Our dog weed in the bed a couple of times and had a few accidents a while back and the vet said it was because she had fleas. Apparently she was biting ahem down there and it caused her to go without realising it. She has been better since then but she still has little accidents at night but never during the day so I wonder if a bit of it is psychological. Also our dog will be 8 in March so could be having probs as ladies of a certain age (and us pregnant ladies!) have. Hope your pooch is okay

 

[_Vicky_]

Awww get her to the vets - a check up wont be dear and it will be worth it.

Apparently one of the most stressful things you can do to a dog is move - also I think dogs KNOW about babies our three dogs have been really weird recently xxx

 

[hypnorm]

For the time tho i'd keep her locked in the kitchen till you know for sure just too keep her off the bed from peeing. And get her too the vets when you can. She may be doing it for attention as well tho but get her health checked first to be on the safe side x

Dogs don't do things like that for attention, and as for locking her in the kitchen that will only cause to confuse her and stress her even more.

Our dog weed in the bed a couple of times and had a few accidents a while back and the vet said it was because she had fleas. Apparently she was biting ahem down there and it caused her to go without realising it.

I've worked in veterinary surgerys for over 10 yrs and i have never met a vet who would say that fleas cause a dog to wee!!

To me it sounds behavioural, she has been uprooted, used to being with other dogs and now she is on her own in a strange place.
One thing i would recommend to try is DAP diffuser, its like an air freshener that you plug in but it contains dog pheremones that make them feel safer and secure. (you cant smell it)
I would take a urine sample to the vets and just get them to do a routine check on it to make sure there is no infection.

I would also consider implementing some ground rules, especially once baby arrives, you dont really want her peeing upstairs. i know its not for everyone but our dog is not allowed upstairs, that is our place, Our dog has a crate/bed in the kitchen next to the radiator and she knows that is where she goes to have peace away from the kids and to go to sleep.

It easier to start doing this before baby arrives rather than changing things once baby is here, that way the dog knows where its place in the pack is.
hope this helps.

 

[abbysbaby]

hope u get it fixed watever it is, dogs are part of the family and i treay my dogs like kids lol spoilt buggers lol

 

[MrsSixx]

I have an elderly Staffy who has recently been relegated from our bed to the living room sofa because I cosleep with Beth / use a side-car cot and am worried about him squishing her while we sleep. Anyway, this minor move (from upstairs to downstairs) caused him all sorts of upset and for the first two mornings I came downstairs to find he had peed on the carpet. So it could well be the move that has upset her and it will settle down. However, I would say it's unusual for a dog to pee where she is sleeping so I would rule out any physical problems with the vet in the first instance.

Hopefully you wouldn't really consider getting rid of her if the messing continues though? If my Staff ever ends up incontinent (hopefully not) I will invest in some dog nappies but would never dream of getting rid of him. If your dog ends up in rescue the sad fact is she is likely to get the needle as Staffies are so hard to rehome, let alone one with toilet issues

 

[kimbobaloobob]

i finally got hold of my mum and talked to her about it and she said that bringo dosent like the cold, and when she used to let her out back home she just used to stand by the door if it was too cold and not do anything....
I dont think she is pining for the other dogs as she was fine until the last week or 2 and surely pining would start straight away, not 1 and a half months after shes taken away from the others, and she hasent gone of her food at all. She isnt normally allowed in our bed, she has a duvet on the floor which is her bed (until we can get her a proper one) but some times she sneaks into our bed while were asleep. i just dont know what to do with her. Shes brill throughout the day, lets us know when she wants to go out ect but it is a whole new area to her as i have moved 17 miles away from my mums.
Does anyone think it could be because i havent taken her for a walk in a week due to it being way too cold and me not being able to bend down easily to pick up her poop?
I will get her in the vets on monday though and see what they have to say though

 

[stephwiggy]

Do you have a partner .. who could walk the dog or may a friend or even pay someone a week and no walk is a long time ??

 

[kimbobaloobob]

I have an elderly Staffy who has recently been relegated from our bed to the living room sofa because I cosleep with Beth / use a side-car cot and am worried about him squishing her while we sleep. Anyway, this minor move (from upstairs to downstairs) caused him all sorts of upset and for the first two mornings I came downstairs to find he had peed on the carpet. So it could well be the move that has upset her and it will settle down. However, I would say it's unusual for a dog a pee where she is sleeping so I would rule out any physical problems with the vet in the first instance.

Hopefully you wouldn't really consider getting rid of her if the messing continues though? If my Staff ever ends up incontinent (hopefully not) I will invest in some dog nappies but would never dream of getting rid of him. If your dog ends up in rescue the sad fact is she is likely to get the needle as Staffies are so hard to rehome, let alone one with toilet issues

Noooo if it got too bad i would take her back to my mums, as she has wooden flooring all through so it wont small as much as my carpets would. And if my mm wouldent have her i would put up with it

 

[Snoopy]

First, it's either physical or behavioural. It could be physical for a number of reasons.....not least because she's a spayed bitch of a certain age Nighttime incontinence is a very common problem for spayed bitches - you can either learn to live with it, get her meds or see if she can have a op to sort it out. All three are options. It could also be any number of other physical conditions that could be at play and you need to take her to a vet before making any decisions.

For the behavioural side of things, as others have said she's had a huge change in her life. She may well have seemed fine before, and you may not think it's such an unheaval for her.....but she's not a human and doesn't understand why things have changed. That doesn't mean she's necessarily unhappy or anything, just that she might be very nervous. Until she realises things aren't going to change again she can't be expected to be comfortable - as far as she's concerned, things could change again tomorrow. Some dogs handle change better than others, and it's our responsibility as humans to understand all this.

From a behavioural perspective, she could easily be marking your bed as a way of reaffirming her place (and therefore security) in the pack. No, it's not nice for you, but if she's doing this due to nervousness (as opposed to a physical problem) it's somewhat akin to a child wetting the bed due to a nightmare or stress at school.

It's got nothing to do with you not being able to pick up her poop or taking her for a walk. She's not doing this to upset you or to cause you inconvenience - she's doing this involuntarily, either due to a physical problem or as a behavioural response to the (to her) massive change in her life.

 

[kimbobaloobob]

Do you have a partner .. who could walk the dog or may a friend or even pay someone a week and no walk is a long time ??

my OH wont walk her as he cant control her (typical male) we have just moved to a new area so dont know anyone as such and we cant afford to pay some one as we only have my OH wage coming in and thats only minimum wage...

 

[hypnorm]

Does anyone think it could be because i havent taken her for a walk in a week due to it being way too cold and me not being able to bend down easily to pick up her poop?

You haven't walked her for a week!? dogs need at least an hour of exercise every, or they can become destructive and bored.
I had to walk my dog at this time last year till i was full term pregnancy, and in all the snow in february.
If you can't get out and walk her the you must find someone who can do that for you at least once a day, there are plenty of dog walking people out there.

 

[New2Bumps]

To me it sounds behavioural, she has been uprooted, used to being with other dogs and now she is on her own in a strange place.

I would also consider implementing some ground rules, especially once baby arrives, you dont really want her peeing upstairs. i know its not for everyone but our dog is not allowed upstairs, that is our place, Our dog has a crate/bed in the kitchen next to the radiator and she knows that is where she goes to have peace away from the kids and to go to sleep.

It easier to start doing this before baby arrives rather than changing things once baby is here, that way the dog knows where its place in the pack is.
hope this helps.
[/COLOR]

I agree totally with this - certain dog breeds suffer from seperation anxiety (I know Springer Spaniels do!) and can feel really misplaced with change, especially the older they get. If this was a child wetting himself you'd assume that there was an emotional reason for this and the same may well apply for the dog. After getting the urine sample checked out then you can focus on this emotional aspect.

 

[kimbobaloobob]

and it costs money that we havent got to get someone to take her for a walk...