[Steffenwollau]

Hey fellow dog-owners

We've had a chihuahua now for a good 10 or so years, and there's generally been no real problems, we've tended to him as well as we possibly could. When we got him as a puppy, we had to teach him 'how' to pee outside, and honestly it didn't take that long, he now knows to sit next to either one of our doors (the front or back) and wait until he gets let out, which doesn't take awfully long time as there is almost always someone near either door. We also walk him once every day, at evening around 11 pm (note, we've delayed this a lot, see later why) and we generally walk him until he poos, and makes sure that he doesn't actually pee anymore, and this has been completely problem-free until lately.

It started not too long ago when he started peeing in the middle of the night, before this we used to walk him around 9-10 pm every evening. The main issue in this was that he peed on the carpet in the bedroom, which can be a pain to get off. Eventually we started trying to take precautions to see what could be causing this.

1 - We opened the bathroom door, which is right next to the bedroom where he sleeps, that way if he HAD to pee, he could at least do it on the floor in the bathroom, where it wasn't as difficult to remove.

2 - We 'delayed' his walk times to a little later, aka we went from around 9-10 pm every evening, to around 11 pm, meaning the only time he wouldn't actually have access to getting out, would be between 11:30 pm (when we'd come home with him again) and around 6-7 am (when the first person would wake up and let him out in the garden).

3 - We 'removed' his water and food bowl after we came home from walks, this was to ensure he didn't start drinking in the middle of the night, which might cause him to suddenly need to pee.

Now our concern starts because we've had him for 10 years now, and it only just started happening. At first we saw it more of an accident that could've happened one or two times (as many has already mentioned on this website, dogs have accidents too), but now it's been happening at least once or twice a week the past several months.

The real concern began today, when he not only didn't piss during the night (but actually during broad daylight, just when we didn't know) but also twice, both in the bedroom and in the bathroom. Especially considering we let him out at almost every opportunity, even if he doesn't just sit at the door, we might open the door, and sometimes, harshly force him out.

We're unsure what else we could do at this point, and even worse, we're afraid it might be something with his bladder.

I've got a picture of the most recent pee in the bathroom, though I'm not sure how useful it would be. Any information you lot need to possibly help us would be wonderful, we're just not sure what else we could do at this point.

Sincerely,
Steffenwollau.

 

[myrottenones]

Especially considering we let him out at almost every opportunity, even if he doesn't just sit at the door, we might open the door, and sometimes, harshly force him out.

You can take him out more often and encourage him to go by taking a walk.
It helps greatly if there is a neighborhood "pee pole" or something where different dogs go. Going out for a pee should always be a positive thing though, I'm not sure what you mean by "harshly forcing him".
Give him treats every time he goes outside. Make it a party!

We're unsure what else we could do at this point, and even worse, we're afraid it might be something with his bladder.

10 years old is up there for dogs so I would most certainly take him to a vet and asking there. I would find this to be most likely.

Good luck and don't hesitate to post updates!

 

[Steffenwollau]

You can take him out more often and encourage him to go by taking a walk.
It helps greatly if there is a neighborhood "pee pole" or something where different dogs go. Going out for a pee should always be a positive thing though, I'm not sure what you mean by "harshly forcing him".
Give him treats every time he goes outside. Make it a party!



10 years old is up there for dogs so I would most certainly take him to a vet and asking there. I would find this to be most likely.

Good luck and don't hesitate to post updates!

Hey myrottenones, firstly thanks for the quick reply

Secondly I apologize for the awkward way the 'harshly being forced out' came out, by that I meant that sometimes when it rains or blows cold air, he'd rather snuck up in his bed, therefore sometimes he needs to be taken outside.

Thirdly I'm rather odded out by the first half, this is the first and only dog we own, and therefore we're rather confused, can it really be that he needs treats whenever we take him out to walk? Don't get me wrong, he loves walking and he enjoys being able to mark everything; so much in fact that he can hardly control his body when he hears the sound of the leash. But we've been walking like this without problems for 8-9 years, can he suddenly have changed his mindset about it? I know chihuahuas can get rather upset, maybe he's upset at someone or something and pees inside in retaliation?

Finally, if we do decide to take him to the vet, I'll be updating this as often as possible, that is unless we manage to solve it beforehand, we might try walking him twice a day, but as far as we've read, chihuahuas dont need walking that often as compared to many other dogs.

If there are any visible spelling errors or anything the like, I apologize, I'm currently on my phone so it can be rather flawed.

Sincerely,
Steffenwollau.
Posted via Mobile Device

 

[myrottenones]

I figured you meant something like that when you said you force him out.

I would go to the vet as soon as possible, to at least rule out anything health related because I do believe that with his age and this being a new thing, that this might be the issue.

After you get that checked out, then you can focus on other stuff.

I suggested the treats just because it never hurts.
If nothing else, he might get more excited for potty trips.

 

[Rain]

First thing to do when a dog suddenly starts pottying in the house when they have been fully housetrained for years is to take him to the vet and make sure nothing medical is going on. There's a few medical problems that can cause a dog to potty in the house. Bladder stones, kidney or bladder infections, diabetes, are the ones I can name off the top of my head. An accident or two shouldn't be cause for alarm but when it keeps occurring like it has with your boy then it's time for the vet.

After you know that he doesn't have a medical problem you can start looking at it like a behavioral issue and it might be worth it to go back to housetraining 101 for a couple weeks to see if it helps. First though have him checked by the vet because if it is medical then all the re-training in the world will not help it's like digging a hole in the sand with the tide coming in.

 

[Steffenwollau]

I figured you meant something like that when you said you force him out.

I would go to the vet as soon as possible, to at least rule out anything health related because I do believe that with his age and this being a new thing, that this might be the issue.

After you get that checked out, then you can focus on other stuff.

I suggested the treats just because it never hurts.
If nothing else, he might get more excited for potty trips.

First thing to do when a dog suddenly starts pottying in the house when they have been fully housetrained for years is to take him to the vet and make sure nothing medical is going on. There's a few medical problems that can cause a dog to potty in the house. Bladder stones, kidney or bladder infections, diabetes, are the ones I can name off the top of my head. An accident or two shouldn't be cause for alarm but when it keeps occurring like it has with your boy then it's time for the vet.

After you know that he doesn't have a medical problem you can start looking at it like a behavioral issue and it might be worth it to go back to housetraining 101 for a couple weeks to see if it helps. First though have him checked by the vet because if it is medical then all the re-training in the world will not help it's like digging a hole in the sand with the tide coming in.

Hi again, thank you for the answers to both of you.

We've started giving him treats, both when we walk him and when he gets let outside (he just gets the treats when he get back in then). We'll look into going to the vet as soon as possible, likely in the following week if we find the time, unfortunately for both our dog and us we're entering a rather busy week, but we should have time in the weekend, which hopefully will be the time where we can bring him to the vet. Meanwhile we'll be testing by trying more stuff like giving him treats.

I'll keep everyone interested updated!

 

[crazy]

ive a dog who is 3 years soon but had trouble with lots of urine related issues including the following any of which could be whats wrong with your precious dog:

Strutive crystals
Urine infections
cystitis
behavioural incontience (from anxiety)
Also found the fruits and veges didnt help this as well as her PH issue.

This could be incontience or anything really. good luck with the vet but one piece of advice get a clean pot/container and when goes for wee get a sample for the vet so its there all ready to be analysed.