Wetting on OUR BED-Where he sleeps too!

[Rayne]

Okay, here is the background, Tigger ( he actually bounces like the character Tigger) is a happy go lucky, adored, and loved 9 month old male, neutered 3 months ago. Don't kill us, we bought him from a pet store before we knew about all of the abuses that go on, etc. We have been through a whole bunch of medical issues with him related to parasite infestations when he was a little guy. In spite of all of this, housebreaking has really gone well, except for accidents that usually were our fault, with the exception of a couple of times he deliberately urinated on our bed when he was in our room with us. That was before he was neutered, and one of the reason's he was neutered. We have used the positive behavior reinforcement, while ignoring the bad behavior. He had not wet on our bed ever since he was neutered until recently. About 6 wks. ago, over a weekend, we had to leave him in his crate for hours at a time. He was able to be let out to go potty and play for short periods every few hours. Then, that Monday when we came home from work, took him out and he did his business as usual, we played and went upstairs to change out of our work clothes and in the blink of an eye he jumped on our bed and squatted. We were right there, we yelled at him and told him he was bad (I know now, bad move, but what is done is done). For a few days we watched him closely, and he did not repeat the behavior. We decided that the less time he had to spend in his crate, the less he would feel ignored, besides, we love to have him near us, he is our joy in each day. We started letting him try to sleep with us over the next week or two, and finally he made it all night without getting fidgety and waking us up. He has slept with us all night ever since, except on long weekend nights, although this weekend, he finally mastered holding it all night then too. So, he was NOT in his crate a whole lot this weekend, and I even penned him in our pantry instead of crating him when I had to do things that would be unsafe for him to be loose for. Then, what does he do, today, Monday, he again urinated on our bed, we did not see exactly when he did it, but man, p.u. We used our "very disappointed in you" tone, and put him in his crate while we cooled off, AFTER we took him outside to be sure he was finished. Does anyone have any idea how to get him to STOP this behavior? My husband adores him, but this habit will ruin the relationship if it is allowed to continue. Oh, he is in his crate for most of the day on weekdays. Thanks, sorry this is so long.

Rayne

[Susan]

I always wonder if there's a physical thing going on when there's a sudden change in behavior. Out of an abundance of caution, I would take him to the vet and have a urinalysis done. It might be a physical problem that he can't control. It could be a little UTI. Or I've had problems in the past with two of my cairns having crystals in the urine caused by a pH problem, which can be treated with a change in diet. If it's not treated in time, it can lead to bladder stones. After eliminating the physical reasons, then I guess it would be behavioral, but I'd check that out just in case.

Susan

[Guest]

I have 2 crates. Rebel climbed the gate to the small area I had him in while I was at work. I didn't want to keep him in a small crate where he sleeps at night all the time because he needs to have some movement but he is very clever and went right over the gate. We purchased a large wire crate the size for a German Shepard and in the day time when I can't watch him or need to leave he goes to his "room". When I feed him its in his room and when we eat our food he is in his room. He can see us and knows if he is good he will soon be let out to go outside to handle his business and then he gets to come inside and play . This works for us.

I try to change out the toys he has in his room so that he doesn't get bored and he always has something for him to chew on since he is teething now. We hope to be able to teach him to go to his room when we have company, I hear it's possible, we will see. He has started hiding his bones under the cushion in his room so it is very much his space.

Good luck