Peeing in the house

[Icspots]

Long story. Jack has been with us almost a year and a half. Since my DH works from home most of the time Jack has not been able to fully get comfortable with no one in the house. He doesn't whine anymore, just a little pacing, but he sometimes finds a spot to relieve himself. I am sure it is stress but I don't know how to address it. There is no where to confine him that doesn't have carpet (open concept house) without building big obstructions that would defeat us getting in. The crate was never an option with him from the begining even though we spent weeks on it. Either he is too old or there is something in his background that we haven't been able to overcome. DH is getting tired of arranging his life around Jack and whether someone is home before he goes out. When I leave in the morning (after DH) I turn on the radio and Jack sees me getting all my stuff together. He waits for his Kong and I leave. Today he was alone for 2 1/2 hours and DH found a wet spot downstairs when he got home. I find it difficult to suggest things with DH that he would actually do on a regular basis and be consistent with (such as leaving for a few minutes and coming back a few times per day) to get Jack to understand DH is coming back. If DH had a more regular outside schedule I think the dog would be happier as he is very schedule oriented. DH thinks Jack is smart enough he should understand. Any other suggestions we may not have thought of to help solve the problem?

[Barb Wright]

Yes, it does sound pretty much like a stress issue. Since you can't confine him my only thought would be a belly band. Probably put it on him (actually put it on for a while, take it off, etc.) while you are home with him for a few days so that he gets used to it and you can determine that he won't try to chew it off. At least this way you won't be cleaning carpet all the time, and he should wipe down easily enough with a damp towel if he does wet the band.

Hope some other have some ideas for you.

[Cindy]

We have the same issue with Kayla sometimes. I don't think she's stressed - she's pissed (no pun intended)!! She does not like being left in the house for extended periods of time, particularly when she knows we've gone off and left all the dogs home. But it happens sometimes if I go out to mow the lawn and she's sleeping. When she wakes up, she sees that we're out having fun (in her eyes anyway) and she'll pee. At any rate, crating her definitely does the trick and if that's not a possibility then I go with Barb's suggestion of the belly band.

[Barb Wright]

Had a couple more thoughts about this......you might try a Thundershirt. They work quite well for many dogs with anxiety issues.

Also, since this may be a case of mild separation anxiety you may try a few of the suggestions for helping with that such as leaving music or the television playing. Sometimes some of the normal house sounds can have a calming effect. One thing I would do is mute the telephone when you are gone. If you think about it, if you are like most of us, when the phone rings we stop what we are doing and hurry to answer the phone. It could be that if the phone rings when you are gone Jack gets worried that there is no one to answer it......dunno, just guessing here. What made me think of the phone being perhaps a problem was that years ago when I was raising Siberians I had one of the dogs in the house for a couple weeks treating an injury. This was a kennel dog which means none of them were ever in the house except for illness or having winter puppies. Anyway, by the third day when the phone would ring she would get up from wherever she was and come stand by the phone when it rang, even staying there until the conversation was over. I have no idea why she felt she had to do this....she was a lead dog so perhaps she thought there might be some command coming that was connected to this "routine" with the phone. Again, dunno

If you use the "Search" function at the top right of the page you can look up discussions we have had about SA and give some of the tips a try....can't hurt might help

[Icspots]

When we first got Jack I did a lot of reading here and the internet and those suggestions were helpful to bring him down quiet a bit since we first got him. He does have a thundershirt but we use it for storms since he has that issue as well. He is so attached to my husband that I think it makes it more difficult and Jack really gets thrown off when the schedule changes. At the moment my parents haven't left for their winter vacation and they have volunteered to dog sit. When I leave in the morning I open the door to their apartment (they are upstairs) and Jack drops by during the day for company so the peeing hopefully is under control for now, but when they leave that will be another change to the schedule. I didn't know that there could be so much work with a rescue, but we will make it work as he is the best in every other way and we love him to pieces.

[DLDoiron]

Dr. Dodds gave me the suggestion of using lavendar. My Dazy Dew stresses when everyone is gone. I purchased lavendar oil and spray at Wal-mart and it has worked wonders for her. I put a couple of drops of oil on her collar and her bedding gets sprayed. Maybe it's worth a try.

[Lisa]

I'll second Barb's suggestions - belly band, thundershirt. Also, maybe an x-pen would be an option instead of a crate.