I'm baffled? One of two older Cairns is "un-housebreaking" after all these years??

[montdoug]

We have two Cairns, Gus 10 years old and Kat 7 years old. I've had Airedales all my life so Gus and Kat are my first small dogs .
 Both have been well house broken for many years. Now it seems they (or at least one of them) have un-housebroken themselves? I've had dogs all my life and never experienced this. Urine only and never have seen one do it so the culprit obviously knows they shouldn't be doing it. Usually in proximity to a wall or corner so I start thinking Gus but fairly often it's a fairly large quanity so that makes me think Kat the female?

We live out a bit but around other houses and on occasion (usually) initiated by Gus he'll smell something, be it a deer, other dog on a walk or whatever and run barking from one end of the house to the other (scares the bejees outta ya !). If its about another dog passing our house I'd expect him to just "Tag Up", so to speak but it's quite often different then that would be. Never seen the like? Gonna call the vet this morning but thought I'd stop by here first. Thanks for any ideas.

 

Edited August 12, 2016 by montdoug

[sanford]

When this happens out of the blue as you describe, the first thing is to suspect a UTI, so a trip to the vet is warranted and you already will be doing this which is good. Unfortunately, you don't know which dog is the culprit, so I guess you will have to bring in urine samples from both dogs!

Edited August 12, 2016 by sanford

[bradl]

A vet check to rule out a UTI would indeed be my first check. If the urine is more of a puddle than a spritz I'd guess Kat too, but you might want to have both checked just to be sure. Or maybe check Gus if Kat checks out clear first.

[Idaho Cairns]

We had this happen with one of our two first rescue Cairns--a sudden behavior change in her.  Fortunately she finally urinated on a harder surface and we discovered that the urine was syrupy in nature, which led to a vet visit and a diagnoses of the canine version of diabetes!  Once we got her on a stabilized dosage of insulin (same medicine humans use to control the condition) the uncontrolled urination stopped and her whole demeanor as a companion dog changed for the better.  Not sure why the onset of diabetes caused the uncontrolled urination but, fortunately, the behavior change led us to a solution.  Cairns are pretty regimented/stable when it comes to adult behavior and I think it is wise to check out any substantial changes that occur with them.

[pkcrossley]

i agree with everybody, the first step has to be a vet visit, probably with a blood panel. one hopes the problem turns out to be something that can be (relatively) easily cured or managed, like UTI or diabetes. and if it is something more serious like cushings, the earlier you can intervene the better. it can be a behavioral issue, but that is unusually, and something you would only come to after the vet has had a chance to check all the more likely things. hope your Gus gets fixed up soon!

[Hillscreek]

Yep. Agree take samples from both dogs and have vet check.

[sanford]

2 hours ago, Idaho Cairns said:

...Not sure why the onset of diabetes caused the uncontrolled urination ...

This is a classic symptom (among others) of the onset of diabetes in humans too.

[Sam I Am]

Agree also with all the above. Also if it's Kat, older spayed females can also have hormonal issues which can also cause urinary incontinence . Our first Scottie had this issue and a few weeks on a herbal supplement from the vet stopped this problem. 

[montdoug]

I sure appreciate the response from all and while it looked like I just posted and ran I didn't, been on vacation and read em all on a "Smarter then me" phone which is to small for me to type on. Home now and still curious as to our issue, very sporadic which makes me doubt the UTI cause but regardless we are going to see the vet? My vet has a young tech who he tells me is quite adept in the collecting urine dept but she has also been out and about so we'll be seeing them soon. Still suspect Gus's dominant male display cause not one time did it happen in a car, motel or crate?

Sure grateful for the site here. I posted pictures here of Gus at 12 weeks and now he's 10 years, turning gray and I still come here to share the "Cairn experience". Thanks to all.

 

 

[sanford]

2 hours ago, montdoug said:

...read em all on a "Smarter then me" phone which is too small for me to type on...

Montdoug - I have the same typing issue, (fat fingers). There is a gizmo called a "typing stylus" for smart phones. It plugs into the headphone jack receptacle, so it doesn't get lost. It's cheap, handy and easy to use. Mine was given to me, but I've seen them on Amazon and I assume they might be sold at Best Buy, etc

 

 

[bradl]

If you're up for some hilarity, try the voice dictation   (if available).

[kieiras mom]

I like the "smarter than me phone" fits my thinking also

[montdoug]

Update.

Got a stylus for the phone, works better then fingers. Thanks.

We started reacting to Gus's growling snarling fits at things he sniffs in the air and instantly  letting him as well as Kat outside, no further incidence of late.  In watching all this closely I also noticed what I already knew, Kat is an "extremely" dominant female. She sometimes lifts her leg, she does the scraping after urinating and tearing up the Earth with all 4 feet. All that makes me wonder if she is totally free of response marking as a male would? She is thirteen pounds of "I'll take ya all on"!