House soiling, whether through urination or defecation indoors, is a common concern for dog owners. Pinpointing the exact cause is the crucial first step in developing an effective solution. For dogs that have consistently soiled the house since they were first brought home, inadequate house training is often the primary culprit.
However, even well-trained dogs can develop house-soiling habits. These can stem from medical issues or behavioral problems. If medical causes are ruled out, common behavioral triggers include changes in the owner’s schedule, relocation, or any disruption within the home environment that may induce anxiety. For instance, if a dog is left alone for longer periods than usual, or if its daily routine is significantly altered, it may begin to eliminate indoors. Increased anxiety can lead to a loss of control, rather than a deliberate act of spite. Dogs suffering from separation anxiety, in particular, may require an intensive retraining program to address their house-soiling issues.
Why is My Dog Soiling the House?
The initial question to ask is whether your dog has ever been fully house trained. If the answer is no, you should review basic house training principles and ensure there are no underlying medical problems. If your dog was previously house trained and has recently started soiling the house, the cause could be medical, behavioral, or a combination of both. A thorough veterinary examination, including diagnostic tests and a detailed history, is essential to differentiate between medical and behavioral causes, or to identify stressors in the household that might be contributing to the problem. Your description of the signs can also help determine if your dog is marking, experiencing incontinence, or losing control due to fear or excitement.
What Does it Mean if My Dog is Urinating on Upright Objects?
Marking is characterized by urination on vertical surfaces, often in response to the scents, particularly urine, left by other dogs. Typically, the volume of urine in marking is small. While more prevalent in intact males, some neutered males and spayed females may also engage in this behavior. Dogs may mark their territory for various reasons, including hormonal influences, the presence of other dogs on their property, moving to a new home, introducing new furniture, or as a response to heightened stress or anxiety.
Why Does My Dog Urinate When Meeting New People or When I Come Home?
Two specific types of house soiling – submissive urination and excitement urination – differ from most other forms because the dog has limited control over the elimination. Submissive urination occurs when someone approaches, reaches out, looms over, or attempts to physically punish the dog. Alongside urination, the dog may display other signs of submission, such as flattened ears, retracted lips, averted eye contact, and a cowering posture. Although this can occur at any age, it is most commonly observed in puppies and young female dogs. Attempts by the owner to reprimand or punish the dog will only exacerbate the problem by increasing its submissive behavior, leading to more urination.
Excitement urination is similar, but the triggers are those that elicit excitement, particularly greetings and affectionate interactions. Dogs exhibiting this behavior may also be overly submissive, though not always. Often, a combination of excitement, fear, and submission is present. When conflicting emotions arise, such as the desire to approach and withdraw simultaneously, it can manifest as conflict behavior.
What Medical Problems Could Cause My Dog to House Soil?
Numerous medical conditions can contribute to house soiling, with increasing prevalence as dogs age. If you have an adult dog that begins to urinate indoors, or a puppy with a persistent house-soiling problem, a medical evaluation is strongly recommended. Particular concern arises if there’s an increased drinking, an increased frequency or volume of urination, or a loss of urine or stool control (incontinence). Concurrent medical signs and any medications the dog is taking are also important factors to consider. Therefore, the history you provide is critical for an accurate diagnosis.
For dogs urinating indoors, monitor their water intake, frequency of urination, and the locations where soiling occurs. Report any changes to your dog’s normal routine. Increased water consumption naturally leads to more frequent urination and potentially poorer control. Conditions like diabetes, kidney disease, and Cushing’s disease (overproduction of steroids) need to be ruled out. Dogs that urinate more frequently or experience discomfort during urination might have a bladder infection or bladder stones.
A puddle of urine where your dog naps or sleeps could indicate incontinence, while urine leakage during excitement might suggest conflict-induced urination. Dogs with neurological conditions, including cognitive dysfunction, may eliminate without a specific pattern due to an inability to recall house-training rules. Urination on upright surfaces might signify marking behavior.
If your dog is passing stools indoors, monitor their eating and elimination habits to note any changes in stool frequency (less often, more often, irregular), consistency (hard, soft, diarrhea, mucus, or blood), whether they experience a sudden urge to eliminate, appear to have painful defecation, a change in stool volume (constipation or large amounts), or lack awareness during defecation (fecal incontinence, with stool dropping while walking or lying down).
If Medical Issues Are Ruled Out, What Else Could Be the Cause?
Once medical problems are excluded, it’s necessary to determine if the issue is incontinence, marking, or loss of control due to excitement or fear. Each of these is discussed in separate resources. Next, ascertain if your dog was ever fully house trained. If not, review basic house-training guides and adhere strictly to the recommendations. If your dog was previously trained before soiling began, the cause and best management strategies depend on evaluating the history. Consider any household or schedule changes that coincided with the onset of the problem, and observe if the pet exhibits anxiety when left alone or confined. Detailed information about the home, schedule, and previous house-training techniques, along with the dog’s responses, will be essential.
How Can House Soiling Be Treated?
The training techniques for dogs that soil the house are virtually identical to those used for house-training a new puppy. However, even if retraining is successful in encouraging outdoor elimination, indoor sites may continue to be used due to lingering odors, the familiar substrate, and established habits that attract the dog back. Furthermore, dogs that eliminate indoors are engaging in a self-rewarding behavior, as they relieve themselves without perceiving the indoor area as inappropriate.
Constant supervision is key to effective house training. Prevent access to indoor elimination sites unless you are directly supervising. Offer mild corrections if the dog is caught soiling in an inappropriate location. Accompany the dog to its designated elimination area when necessary. Reinforce acceptable behavior with abundant praise or food rewards when the dog eliminates in the correct spot.
If a verbal cue is used before each elimination-reward sequence, the dog may soon learn to eliminate on command. If keeping the dog in sight is challenging, use a remote indoor leash. This leash can also deter elimination or pre-elimination behaviors (such as sniffing, circling, or squatting) and allow for immediate redirection to the appropriate area. When you cannot supervise, the dog should be confined to an area where it does not eliminate (like a bedroom, crate, or pen) or an area where elimination is permitted (such as a dog run, a pen with paper, or a specific room). If the confinement area also serves as the dog’s bed and play area, it is more likely to keep it clean. If the dog experiences anxiety when separated from the owner (separation anxiety) or when confined, it may soil the area, intensifying its distress.
Establishing a consistent daily routine that includes exercise, sleep, play, and scheduled opportunities for elimination is another critical component of treating house soiling. Identify times when your dog is most likely to need to eliminate to plan walks effectively and prevent indoor accidents.
Your dog must never have unsupervised access to indoor areas where it has previously eliminated. Block these areas using closed doors, barricades, or other deterrents. Odors that might attract the dog back can be neutralized or removed using commercial odor counteractants. Ensure sufficient application to reach all areas where urine may have permeated. The appeal of the substrate can be reduced by altering the surface covering, such as using a plastic runner with raised nubs, removing carpeting, or employing electronic mats.
Regulating feeding schedules can improve owner control over stool elimination. Typically, a dog will need to eliminate 15 to 30 minutes after eating. Dogs fed free-choice often need to eliminate at various times throughout the day. Dogs fed one or two scheduled meals daily tend to eliminate more predictably, making scheduled meals more advisable for house-soiling issues than free-choice feeding. A low-residue diet may also be beneficial, as it can lead to less urgency to defecate and produce fewer stools.
Dogs that eliminate in their crates present unique challenges. In such cases, crates and cages might not be the ideal training aid. Since the crate’s purpose is to provide a safe, comfortable space for the dog to relax, it’s unsuitable for dogs that are anxious about entering or staying in it. While this can be overcome with specific training techniques, it may be better to confine these dogs to a room where they typically play or eat, or to an area where they nap and sleep.
If a dog has reduced physical control due to health issues, schedule adjustments may be necessary. Some owners can modify their schedules to allow for more frequent trips to the elimination area. Alternatively, hiring a dog walker or utilizing doggy daycare may be considered. If the owner cannot accommodate the dog’s decreased control, installing a doggy door or providing a designated papered area might be required. For suspected age-related cognitive decline, a drug trial with selegiline or a diet enriched with antioxidants specifically for cognitive impairment may be helpful in conjunction with retraining methods.
How Can I Determine Whether the Soiling is Due to Separation Anxiety?
To differentiate house soiling from separation anxiety, owners may need to keep detailed records of when and where eliminations occur. If elimination happens when the owner is absent or the dog is prevented from being near the owner, separation anxiety should be considered. Dogs with separation anxiety are often uncomfortable when separated from their owners and may exhibit pacing, circling, barking, whining, or other signs of anxiety as the owner prepares to leave. Distress vocalizations, excessive salivation, and destructive behavior are more common indicators of separation anxiety and are often observed alongside house soiling.
Dogs with separation anxiety might urinate or defecate shortly after the owner departs, even if they have recently eliminated outdoors. A video recording of the departure can help determine if the house-soiling behavior appears anxiety-related.
If house soiling is linked to separation anxiety, treatment should target not only re-establishing proper elimination habits but also addressing the underlying separation anxiety. Pharmacological therapy may be beneficial when anxiety is a significant contributing factor. It is important to note that punishment upon the owner’s return is not only ineffective for correcting a problem that occurred during the absence but also increases the pet’s anxiety during future departures and homecomings.
This client information sheet is based on material written by: Debra Horwitz, DVM, DACVB & Gary Landsberg, DVM, DACVB, DECAWBM © Copyright 2013 LifeLearn Inc. Used and/or modified with permission under license.
