She's been potty trained since we've had her, but we keep a potty pad out in our room because she isn't great about letting us know when she needs to go out in the middle of the night. So we keep the pad there, and she has rarely ever had an accident.
Well...that seems to be a thing of the past. She has started peeing on the carpet in our room a lot. Like, a lot a lot. She seriously will get up in the middle of the night and go just a few feet away from the pad. I know she knows it's there, I know she knows better...I just can't fathom what is going on with her. She's so quiet that I hardly ever notice, but there have been a few nights recently that the little clanking sound of her tags will wake me up and I'll see her finishing up her business. It is so beyond frustrating, but since it's so out of character I know something is definitely going on.
Last night it happened again, and I was just so upset because she looked so sad after we got onto her. Like I said, I know she knows better, and she just looked so sad and guilty. So I got up and started Googling to figure out what's going on. Of course my first thought is that she has some horrible medical condition and this is a side effect of that. And that was the first thing that most articles said. But the second thing mentioned was that this is often something that happens when there is a lot of change in a dog's life. Which is what I thought was possibly the case, but when I started reading about it it just made so much sense. It even said as one of the top examples that this often happens when a dog's owner becomes pregnant.
The one thing all this research didn't tell me was how to fix the problem. Things are changing around here, there's no denying that. There's also no changing it any time soon. I'm pregnant, my mom is staying with us, Arsen has started traveling, she doesn't go to daycare anymore, we've made some changes to the house (new floors upstairs, new landscaping, etc) so we've had workers in and out, we've had a lot of company, we're bringing new baby stuff in all the time...that's A LOT of changes for a little pup to take in. But there's literally nothing I can do to change any of that.
So basically what I'm doing is asking for advice. Has anyone dealt with a situation like this in the past? And if so, what did you do? I feel so terrible for her and I want to fix it...I just feel like I'm at a loss as to what to do! And it's making me so worried about what will happen when Baby A gets here...which could be any day. Dog and baby mama's, help a girl out!
My dog, Bronx, had issues with that when I went back to work after being unemployed. I got him when I first was unemployed and spent the first 6 months he lived here with him every day. When I went back to work, it was a huge change for him. It was hard for him, but I had to make sure I was showing him lots of attention when I'd get home and make sure I was praising him every time he went on his pad (like making a huge deal about it). He eventually dealt with it and has been good ever since. I'm worried about when our baby comes too!
ReplyDeleteWe had the same issue and we ended up waiting it out and it corrected itself. Lexi would actually pee in our bed. Talk about mad! She only did it twice when I was pregnant but there for awhile we thought we might have to find her a new family. We made sure to show her lots of love. Things were an adjustment for all of us once Jack arrived but now (almost 5 months later) things are much better. I think she knows "this is how it is now" and has adjusted.
ReplyDeleteFINALLY something I actually know about and understand! First thing's first, take her to the vet. The number one thing to do when a dog starts acting out of character is to just take them to the vet and make sure there isn't an underlying medical problem like a UTI or something neurological (some dogs actually get disoriented at night as they get older and have trouble finding their way around). Once that is ruled out and it's decided she has a behavioral issue there are a couple of routes you can take. And look on the bright side, once the baby comes you'll be up all night anyway so you'll be able to take her outside ;)
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