5 y/o urinating inside

[avlsarah]

Hi all, quick question - or maybe not so, I need some help problem solving.

My 5 y/o cairn, Maxwell, has recently started urinating in our house. It started to happen really rather unexpectedly, he has ALWAYS asked to go outside by sitting by the door and typically has only had 'accidents' inside when he has had a health-related issue. On the rare occasions he has had an 'accident' he seemed to be upset by it. Now it seems like he is just willingly choosing to urinate in the house without asking to go outside, and without seeming too upset.

I first noticed something that seemed strange one night when he asked to go outside every 20 minutes when we were at my boyfriend's house. He typically holds it for several hours at a time between asking to go outside. The next few days he urinated in our house and I began to be worried he was having a medical problem. I took him to the vet, where he urinated several times in the waiting room and the exam room. Our vet was very thorough and took an ultrasound of his bladder to check for stones, did a urinalysis, and took a sample from his bladder to try and grow a culture. All of the tests came back totally clear and Maxwell was given a short-term weak dose of antibiotics in the meantime 'just in case.'

That was about 2-3 weeks ago and since then he has continued to ask outside very frequently while we are at my boyfriend's house, but not at our house. He has urinated inside several times since then. One time he actually squatted to urinate right in front of me.

I can't tell that he is drinking any extra water, and the vet performed a blood test which showed that everything was functioning just as it should be. I think it is a behavioral problem, but I'm unsure what is at the root of it. I am considering steam cleaning the carpet using the additive to remove urine smells, and purchasing a small spot steam cleaner for future accidents - but I'm not sure this will be enough? In the meantime, it seems like I need to start house training all over again?

Is this a common issue? Has anyone else dealt with something similar?

Maxwell is a healthy, active, eager to please kind of guy so I'm a little baffled this has come up.

[avlsarah]

I was hopeful someone might have experience with an older dog that has been house trained for a while suddenly urinating inside, and hoping for some words of advice.

I figured I would write an update for anyone who finds this thread in the future.

After I wrote the post I went to the pet store and purchased a bag of fancy, smelly, yummy training treats and put them by the door and we've started our Potty Training 101 refresher course. Maxwell asks out several times a day, and the problem only seems to happen in the evenings. When he asks out I give him lots of praise and give him a treat. If he doesn't ask and I suspect he needs to go - if he hasn't been in a while, or just ate - I ask him if he needs to and if he gets interested then I give him a treat. Then the second he goes outside and pees he gets a treat. All other treats have been nixed from the daily routine - you want a treat you ask and then pee outside, simple as that.

So, the last couple of days Maxwell hasn't asked out and has urinated on the floor. I only do the 'no no bad dog' shpeel if I see him do it with my own eyes. Otherwise I just kind of get flambouyantly frustrated while I clean. He usually watches with his head tucked. I also have been using a carpet cleaner on the spots, which I hadn't before, so now the urinating isn't leaving a scent (hopefully). Anyway, today was a bit of a breakthrough because Maxwell asked out this evening - I asked him once after he had woken up from being asleep for a long while and treated him at the door and then again outside when he went. Then, not too much later after he had eaten dinner I saw him sitting by the door! Such a smart boy catches on so quickly. I'm contemplating getting him a new set of bells to hang from the door, which he used when he was a puppy.

Anyway, for a bit I was trying to wrack my brain about what could be going on that he's having this behavioral response, and it occurred to me that it doesn't really matter. Whatever it is, if I ever figure it out, may not be something I'm going to be able to change and he is ultimately going to have to adapt. Peeing inside isn't an okay way to respond if he's feeling stressed out, so I'm hoping the refresher course is going to help him understand that. Once he's consistently asking to go outside in the evenigns then I'm going to rent a steam cleaner and get a bottle of the urine scent remover additive. Hopefully we can just start fresh from here.

[Idaho Cairns]

Sarah, I'm not sure why  your first post went without a response but I suspect it was because you posted it in the "housebreaking" section and it was immediately snookered by someone posting another topic on "Cairn Life" or the "Health" area and thus no one actually saw your inquiry.  Or perhaps the reader, following your logic, felt you had the matter of your Maxwell's reversion to puppy behavior well in hand.  I hope you don't think we were avoiding you.

I think you are correct in assuming you have a behavior problem working with Maxwell--the vet can't find a physical reason for his action so it kinda boils down to you having to go back to basics.  This isn't a rare thing with dogs--seems like they sometimes just forget what they are supposed to do and this urinating in the house is the most irritating.
I think you are on the right track but I wonder if you are being a little "soft" in your response--you don't specify how harshly you react when you see the dog go inside or when you find it and the dog obviously indicates by the drooped head and ears that it understands what you have discovered.  I would be inclined to be very verbal and loudly so to such a behavior in my dogs--if I believe they can understand that what they have done is wrong, I will definitely reinforce my displeasure with "heavy handed" VERBAL abuse.  Really try to shame/frighten the dog into compliance. i

Other than that, complete identification of the spots in the house, a total biological attempt to remove the scent, and careful focus on any signals the dog gives that it is about to go in the house is the best first steps you can take.  I'm not one to use treats to reinforce commands because I am never sure when or if the dog understands the idea that these are rewards for "not" doing something instead of reward "for" doing something (i.e.--"Oh, I peed and got a treat, guess I ought to pee more if I want more treats!" kind of thing), even if it is in the wrong place.  Some owners give a lot more credence to what logical processes Cairns are capable of than I do.  I want my dogs to understand one thing and one thing only--peeing in the house IS FORBIDDEN!  I believe the only way to do that is to make the dog terrified of my disapproval and since I don't hit my dogs, the only way is to be as verbally negative as I possibly can when it happens--I want them to both respect and dread my anger at them for doing what is forbidden.

But, each of us is different. 
I agree with you--it is back to housebreaking 101 with Maxwell--I'm sure if you stay on top of him, remove all evidence of his indiscretion inside the house, and get him out often, this too will pass.

[Hillscreek]

You've had his bladder checked. What about his kidneys? I lost a dog once at six years old whose kidneys began to fail.If they are fine then I agree go back to basic training. No freedom in the house at all. In an xpen, tied to you with a leash gate off rooms etc. I have never used food when house training. Just praise when right thing is done. Silence when mistake made. Don't wait till he asks to go out. Take him out - every hour every half hour

A firm voice is needed if you think appropriate to scold him but no need to shout. A dog's hearing is 60% or more better than ours. It's the tone more thanthe volume I think.However each owner and dog is different. Find out what what works for you.

If all else fails have him wear a belly band in the house.