Dog question, is it similar to cats?

jen

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Our dog Max occationally poops or pees when we leave for a few hours. He goes outside often when we are home and goes right before we leave. But often times, increasingly lately, he goes in the house. Once or twice he will sneek off when we are home and go upstairs when normally he is the type of dog that will bark and point at the door to be let out to go. He also stairs at the door knob when he wants to be let out to throw up, he trots over to the grass, lays down and chews some grass until he pukes, then he comes back to the door and scratches on it to be let in.

We were told he was 5 years or so when we adopted him but we are guessing he is much older.

Are dogs like cats where when they are going in the house, it is probably ill or stressed? I cannot think of anything that would stress him out. On the other hand, his behavior in every other way is perfectly normal. So I don't think of him as being sick...

Just curious. Why would a normally greatly housetrained dog, occationally go in the house? My parents were gone for 2 hours today and he pooped in their bedroom (he also teared up my sisters garbage can).

Oh seperation anxiety maybe? I just though of that. Is there something I can buy at Petsmart to calm him? That could be it I suppose, he freaks out during thunderstorms and becomes a quivering, drooling baby.

My mom wants to buy a dog crate and who knows, he might just be crate trained you never know. I can borrow one from a friend probably to try it out. My dad wants to put him in the finished basement. He might get into the litterboxes though and then the cats would be stuck down there too with him and thatr would not work too well. Otherwise the cats would be shut out of their food and bathroom area if the basement door was kept shut.

Just some thought please. Any suggestions or anything?
Thanks.
 

sharky

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Is Max a small dog??

What is he eating??


Have you discussed this with your vet/
 

hissy

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Sounds like separation anxiety. When you are home, do you trip over your dog? Does he constantly stay where you are in his sight?

You may need to leave him with someone when you are gone, or build him a kennel out in the backyard or crate train him.
 

shalva

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the answer to your question can be yes and can be no. You don't say what breed he is but I think the key is that he is a normally housebroken dog.... so yes like with cats any time you see a change in behavior then a vet check is in order. He may have a UTI or he may just be getting old and a bit senile... in either case a crate is not a bad thing..... my dogs all have a crate available to them at all times..... I show and breed retrievers so we have five dogs here.

However, if this is a change in behavior then I do think a vet check is your first step and it could be stress but it also could be an actual physical issue.
good luck
S
 
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jen

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Max is a sheltie. He is eating Nutro I believe.
I think it sounds like a seperation thing because yes, he is always right there with us no matter what. Me especially, I don't live with my parents but they say he is a whole different dog when I am around. I am taking him as soon as I move to a house. For now though, I will take him to the vet and see about a UTI and then borrow a crate from my neighbor and see how that goes.

Thanks.
 

kaleetha

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They also have a pheremone deal similar to Feliway for dogs... but I'm not sure of the name. Good luck!
 

leto86

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My dog did the same thing for a long time, whenever we would leave him alone.

We started leaving the tv on for him, on a channel that was most used, so it sounded famliar, that happened to be Animal Planet. Also we would fill up a Kong or two with kibble and peanut butter and let him work at that.. it tkaes a long time to get all the goodies out, and that usually always worked.

He's still got the seperation anxiety, but he doens't poop on the floor anymore, just cries and cries. Though he is rarely left alone now.
 

scamperfarms

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sounds like seperation anxiety to me. Isis my husky has it HORRIBLY she will potty in the house, chew anything and everything insight and just be a general naughty dog. so she is crate trained. she is crated when i am not home and at night. and shes fine. she LOVES her crate. So does Athena
key is to make it a safe comfy place
 

leto86

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Yup, Apollo was also crate trained from a puppy. So when he started he also crated him when we left, though for only short periods of time. We wouldn't put him it the kennel if we were going to be over 2-3 hours. I just didn't like locking him in it for any longer than that.
 

sharky

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One of my dogs ended up on "prozac " for dogs for her anxiety... today there are many calming aids otc that can help
 
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ghostuser

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I've dealt with a dog with severe separation anxiety as well. The thing that makes me think this is not separation anxiety related, is that you say that he has been sneaking off while you are home, to go in the house. That doesn't mean that he doesn't have separation anxiety too, since he is having problems when you are not home. But since it is a new behavior and it is happening when you are home, I would definitely look towards health problems for an answer first.
 
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