Dog pees on floor at night - new dog owner needs help!

Pacco loves his crate in the bedroom in the winter. I keep the "gate" open, and the bottom all nice and fleecey.

Well, I am hardly an expert on dogs, only having been a dog owner for about 6 months. But it sounds to me like this dog's previous owners neglected it and left it alone far too often, and now it's afraid when you go away that you won't be coming back for a long time.

I don't see what would be wrong with letting him sleep in the same room with you, paaaatrick.

Dog training people may disagree, Eva, I dunno.

Pacco is older and certainly attachment disordered and I just let him be that way.

Since he sliced up the redwood trim on the front door...
and a few similar tasks, I put him in a crate when I leave, and I only leave max three hours with water and peeing aforehand, else the crate goes in the car (he already has a crate in the car - this just happens at night, once in a while, when I don't drive). I know that he just arouses from sleep when I quietly come in the door, and then goes into frantic dog mode... which explains the door.

Well, he is probably eleven now. We are who we are, he and I.

With a young dog, you can probably nurture him past this. ehBeth would be smart about ways to do that.

What you need, IMO Pat.....is one of these.........




You probably have one already.

Jack needs to have his own little sanctuary. It sounds as if the night time, and/or solitary time has been unpleasant for him in the past. Just the ritual of taking him somewhere to be shut up on his own seems to cause him great stress, and most animals will empty their tanks in this state, as a natural prelude to fleeing the situation as quickly as possible.

When he is in his bed, he should feel safe, so that should be the place where only good things happen to him. Give him a small treat and make a quiet, calming fuss of him when he is there. Try not to reprimand him when he is having a lie down.

It doesn't really matter where his bed is positioned at this stage, as he is obviously in need of company and security. Take the bed up to your room at night for a while, until he feels a secure and valued member of the pack.

Once he is totally secure in his environment, and he knows that you are a kind soul, you (if you want to) can gradually move his bed to another location at night, but make it a fun exercise.
Lots of positive vibes, another litlle treat or fuss, and he will soon get to learn that bed time is something enjoyable, or just a normal part of his daily routine.

Personally, my dog has a bed in our bedroom (stowed away during the day), and one which is permanently positioned in the living room.....it's called a couch. She's happy on either, but she knows that each sleeping place is safe and that she can be near us if she wants it.
She usually doesn't bother coming upstairs, which is fine by me as she snores louder than my wife.

Routine......it's all about routine in the end. As long as everything is done in a positive way, and you give Jack a bit of time, he will be fine.

Good luck.

It was the previous owners that trained him to go on papers for the first 8 months of his life, so I have to to try and break what they have taught him since being a pup. If I had had him fromt he start then, like you he would only be alowed to pee outdoors - it's just newspaper is better than on the floor for the time being,

I don't think the dog is showing dominance when he pees, when he does he has a very submissive posture.

I wouldn't have a problem with him sleeping in my room, but I wanted to get him used to be being alone sometimes, so it's not a total shock when I have to leave him in the day. If I give in and let him sleep in my room now won't that just be ignoring the underlying problem? And I have literally just bought him a doggy bed, adn I will try your tips to make bed time = fun time.

Jack is off to the verts shortly anyway, to have the pins taken out of his left hind leg. Previous owners partner had kicked him and broken his leg. They paid for the op, but never took him back for the follow up, he's half lame in that leg now and needs the pins taking out.

It infuriates me that
a) that they kicked him in the first place
b) that they paid a fortune for the bloody op, put couldn't get off their asses to take him for the follow up and have therefore caused him weeks of unecessary pain.- They never even got his jabs done!

Anyway.... I will mention all this peeing business to the vet when I see him.

Thanks all of you again for your help - this is a great forum for someone like me.


Jack thanks you all too!

Well, Jack is glad to have you now.

Don't worry about him getting too attached to you if
you let him sleep in your room. Dogs never want to be
alone, and always show some form of anxiety when
their master leaves, regardless if they sleep in the kitchen
or in the bedroom.

When we got our little Max from the rescue center, we
had him sleeping in our bedroom on a fluffy dog bed,
and that's where he still sleeps at night. During the day,
he's alone for several hours and he manages fine,
surrounded with all his toys.

I would wager that this and other kicks were dished out to him at the end of the day, owing to the fact that Jack gets so upset when it comes to bed time.

One of our adopted dogs was abused and kicked when young. She was terrified of men's work boots (she would not go into a room if she saw a pair on the floor), she would also run and hide if anyone loudly said the word "sh*t!". My husband "re-programed" her by filling one of his boots with dog cookies and calling the dog over. He would say the word "sh*t" and give her a cookie. It took a few lessons, but now if someone says "sh*t!" she happily runs over to them with a little drool coming out of her mouth.

Dogs are pack animals, it is normal for them to want to be with others. I agree with those who say let the dog sleep in your room and have her get used to you being away during the day.

Hello all...

Been following a lot of advice on here. I now have Jack sleep in a doggy bed in my room. Letting him sleep up with me has shown almost instant improvement. He is now a lot more settled and will sometimes stay in his bed when I pop out for 5-10 mins and will be there when I get back... that's quite an achievement for him! He's just generally far less anxious. Also the peeing situation has got far better, he has just done 24hrs without an accident or even using the newspaper thats in a tray for him downstairs.

So thanks to everyone who has given advice, it is really paying off now.

As I mentioned before Jacks previous owner had given him a boot and borken his leg. They paid for the op to have the bone pinned but never took him back for a follow up. Since his op, his left hind leg has been a little lame, although he can still put some weight on it. The previous owners never walked him much either, since I have had him he has been regularly exercised but his leg has become more lame because of this, and now it has an obvious swelling. I took him to the vets and they say he needs the pins from the previous op taking out. He is having this done on Wednesday morning.

You can make out the lump in the pic below...



Just wanted to know if anyone has had their dog go through a similar procedure and if so how long is the recovery time? Do you think Jack will get full use of his leg back? He is only 8 months so should bounce back, and the fact that he can still put strain on the bad leg, i hope, bodes well for him getting full use back.

Would like to hear your thoughts.

I have no idea, just wanted to say that I think little Jack is adorable. Welcome to A2K, paaaatrick.

I suspect he'll heal well, but am no expert. What a sweetie.

Hello Patrick,

I am glad you let Jack sleep in your room now - he just
will get a better sense of security now. I've always done
that with my dogs too.

My last dog - and also the present one, have had numerous
operations (not the same kind as Jack though) and they
all came through with flying colors. Jack is very young
and will get passed this very quickly. Don't worry!

Keep us updated about Jack!

Ahhhhh, lovely little fella, happy in his bed.

Jack's young, so with a little bit of pampering and light exercise initially, he will likely make a very good recovery. I'm sure the vet will give you good suggestions for care during his recuperation. I do recall that when a neighbour's lab had early hip replacement surgery, the most difficult part was keeping Fergus from jumping once he started to feel better.

It really is amazing what a little dog can deal with and recover - as long as s/he's loved.

Great progress report, Pat. He looks as if he's settling down nicely.

A young dog will normally bounce back in no time, but I would ask the vet for advice re. his recuperation, which will probably be to keep him from running or jumping up and down off high places for a short while.

He looks a cheeky little so and so......and you sound like just the owner he needs.

Keep us posted, eh?

Thanks to all your advice he is far more settled & happy now.

Will definately get all the tips I can off the vet to aid his recovery. I'll make sure everything is done properly this time so he doesn't have to go through it all again. I'm sure all the other dog owners at the park think i'm an animal abuser when they see his leg, so can't wait til he is on all fours again. I better confine him to light walks only until his op, big run outs at the park seem to make it worse; although he forgets about his bad leg when he's outside.

Will be on here to give you a post-op report Wednesday evening.

Patrick

The problem with the big run-outs right now, Patrick, is exactly what you've posted - that Jack forgets about his leg. You've got to remind him to take it easy til he's all healed. Definitely not easy.

Hello I made a post here yesterday but it appears to be lost in some server glitch with your site.

I was pretty much reiterating what others have said here, like congratulations for getting Jack his own bed and placing it in your bedroom.

Also that peeing when left alone to sleep in the kitchen is just a puppy behavior meaning "I'm little and I'm afraid!" you'll see it done when meeting big adult male dogs in the park..

Good luck Wednesday, we hope for very good news from your vet!!!

Left young Jack with the vets this morning. Felt real guilty leaving him there with the nurse. He should be straight in for an x-ray then his op', I have to ring back at 4pm to see how it went.

The lump on his leg had been getting bigger all week, although this morning I noticed a little blood over that area for the first time. When I looked closer I noticed there was a tiny hole, all the fluid that had built up there must have drained out as the lump was a fraction of the size. I gave it a gentle touch, and could definitly feel a hard edge just under the skin. Hopefully this could be part of the metal plate put in during his first op under the previous owners that has come away; and not an open piece of bone or something. Although I was a bit alarmed by this; Jack actually seemed a lot better on his bad leg this morning, and was putting it down on the ground again while walking. Hopefully this is a good sign!

Anyway, I'll know exactly what the score is at 4pm. With a bit of luck i'll be picking him up around this time.

Fingers crossed!

Hi paaaatrick. welcome to a2k, both you and cute-as-a-button jack. draining is good, his body is dealing with the intruding object and infection he seems to have developed and i've no doubt that after today's surgery he will be fine as ever, or actually much better than he ever was. i'm very happy that jack has found you. do keep us posted and keep those pictures coming!

don't worry about what people in the park think. i have thought for months that this woman, walking three greyhounds, each with scars and two of the three limping severely, was a scandalous abuser. almost called animal rescue on her to take the dogs away... when my roommate (littlek, also from this online forum) stopped me. turns out, she was rescuing the greyhounds that got injured on the dog race tracks.... did i feel silly and stupid when i found out! just keep doing what you're doing, you're both doing great.

We'll cross our fingers and think good thoughts - and come back to hear how Jack's done today.

Yer a good dad, Patrick.