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Both behavioural and
medical problems can cause the inappropriate elimination of urine or
faeces. More common causes include -
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Submissive
Urination - A dog that rolls on its back, with one back leg
raised and urinates is expressing submission towards someone it
perceives as dominant. This behaviour is common in puppies and most
dogs will grow out of it. An adult dog that urinates submissively
should be approached in a less dominant posture e.g. don't raise your
hand over the dog's head, crouch down to dog level when approaching,
don't stare directly at the dog and talk gently.
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Stress or
Excitement Urination - Stress, fear or excitement may
trigger involuntary urination or defecation especially in puppies.
Usually the problem disappears with maturity but if it doesn't then
systematic desensitisation to the triggering stimulus should be
employed.
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Territorial
Marking - Usually practiced by male dogs who deposit small
amounts of urine at frequent intervals. Bitches may sometimes engage
in territorial marking but in both sexes it is due to the insecurity
of a stranger, be it dog or human, 'invading' the animal's territory.
A reduction in the dominance of the perpetrator may help. Some cases
respond to hormonal treatment or castration. Increased dominance can
be achieved by -
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Reducing
the amount of social interaction with the dog. Stop petting,
patting, talking to the dog. By being ignored the dog perceives the
owner to be more dominant and is also more rewarded when the owner does
respond. |
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Only
reward submissive postures taken by the dog. Getting the dog to
sit before you give him what he
wants is the easiest way of making the dog submissive. |
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Do
not allow the dog to take up dominant postures e.g. paws up,
sitting on lap, lying on the bed. |
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Have
a daily session of obedience training. In these situations the
owner is clearly dominant and the dog learns automatically to respond to
commands.
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Faulty Learning
- Dogs may urinate or
defecate regularly in the house in certain special places because they have
never been taught not to. Urination and defecation is triggered by both the
scent of the favoured place and by certain conditioning stimuli e.g. exercise,
feeding, sleeping. It follows therefore that to prevent house soiling -
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The
'scent' left by a previous soiling must be eliminated thoroughly with diluted
bleach or a biological detergent. |
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The stimulus for
elimination must be recognised and action taken to ensure that the dog is taken
outside at the right time. |
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Punishing the dog whilst it eliminates in the house
is not a good idea since it will teach the dog that eliminating in the
presence of the owner is likely to elicit a scolding. The dog will thus wait
until the owner is out of sight..... perhaps in bed at night, before emptying
his bladder and bowels. (If punishment is deemed necessary to
persuade the dog to abandon its favoured but undesirable sites for elimination
then the punishment must be of an indirect nature i.e. the dog must not
associate the unpleasant experience of the punishment with the presence of the
owner. The use of a water pistol, anti-mugging siren or booby trap will allow
this - the dog does not associate the unpleasant
experience of a jet of water on his face with the person firing the gun!).
Here are some measures to try -
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Rewarding the dog, when he eliminates outside in the
correct place, is of
course a good idea. |
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It must
be appreciated that elimination is a habit. The owner must learn to
recognise
the triggering stimulus for this habit and thus allow the dog access
to the
correct area for elimination following stimulus. Whenever the stimulus
is mis-timed
and inappropriate elimination seems likely e.g. when the dog
sniffs around
indoors, the dog must be quickly rewarded for his achievement
and taken straight
outside.
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Elimination in the owner's absence
- This
may occur at night when the owner is in bed or during the day when the owner is
out at work. The problem could be due to either -
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Faulty Learning - see
above. The dog has learnt to eliminate in the owner's absence since if it does
it in the owner's presence it gets told off. Remember.... reward for good
behaviour but don't punish bad |
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Separation Anxiety - Inappropriate
elimination is an example of the 'high excitement state'. The dog is anxious at
being separated from its beloved owner and reacts to its nervousness by emptying
its bowels or bladder. This behaviour is triggered by the same mechanism which
causes dogs to be destructive when left alone. In this case the problem of
separation
anxiety must be resolved.
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Elimination during the night
- A normal dog
should not need to defecate or urinate during the night. The dog should of
course be exercised last thing at night and should not be fed within two hours
of this last walk. If these measures fail to prevent the problem then it is most
probable that there is an separation anxiety problem that could be cured by
allowing the dog access to its owners bedroom. If this fails then the dog may
have faulty learning. To solve this problem the owner will need to
awaken when the dog rises to eliminate. This can be done by fixing a cow bell to
the dog's collar or attaching a long lead to the owner's wrist. When woken the
owner should get the dog to lie down before taking it outside. By lengthening
the 'lying down' period it will eventually be possible for the dog to go through
the night.
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Old Age Incontinence
- With the onset of old
age the ability of the bladder and anal sphincters to remain shut will fail and
cause previously well house trained animals to have accidents when restricted
from their usual toilet areas for lengthy periods. Old and senile animals may in
addition become lazy with their previously developed habits and eliminate more
conveniently near their beds i.e. in the house rather than get up and struggle
the long distance to their favorite toilet site. Old age incontinence can only be tolerated,
not cured.
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Incontinence in the Bitch
- A few bitches,
both spayed and entire, develop urinary incontinence in middle or old age which
usually responds to hormone therapy. Usually a patch of urine is
noted when the bitch gets up after lying down. Care must be taken to differentiate
this problem from cystitis or bladder infection where bladder irritation causes
frequent posturing and passing small amounts of urine. A urine sample is helpful
for the vet.
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Polyuria
- This is the veterinary term for an abnormally high urine
production. Obviously, if your pet's bladder becomes full more
quickly than usual it may be forced to urinate indoors if left for
more than a few hours. Polyuria is associated with increased
drinking; it may be useful to measure water intake over 24 hours. |
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