Hello Friends,
I once again turn to the wealth of knowledge on this forum for any input, advice, or comments you may have.
Problem:
Dog didn't have an accident for months, all of sudden starts to
Details:
We have a 9 mo. golden retriever + cocker mix (basically a mini golden retriever ~34 lbs) who'm we diligently spend time training, exercising, and loving on a daily basis. We started crate training him and slowly expanded his free space as he progressed with potty training. At present, he sleeps with us in our room at the base of our bed and 9/10 times through the entire night without getting up. We had a solid few months without an accident in the house and make sure to continue praise every time we caught him pottying outside (at this point I think he might have US trained...).
About 3 weeks ago he started dribbling pee on his way out through the doggy door. We shrugged it off as an accident however we noticed he has kept this up. We'll often catch him starting to pee as he bolts out the door to finish.
To me this clearly says "Hey..I know what SHOULD be done, I waited too long/got excited/it hit me all of a sudden...better run outside!". He doesn't do this every time, but it sure feels like at least once a day.
Sometimes he'll run outside, come back in and run up to us, turn around and pee on his way back out. Perhaps he just got distracted?
Summary
We don't think he has a UTI because:
Our best guest:
We think he may be getting over excited and perhaps is just rebelling a bit. We have read that this is a "thing". We are on top of him with love and praise every time he goes to the bathroom outside so we don't think that's a factor. His routine hasn't changed too much, especially when we're home with him.
Our plan of attack
We would LOVE to hear what you have to say. Have you experience this? Is it normal and should we just bare through it as he goes through this 'teenager phase'? I did read some other posts with similar issues but it seemed their pups were a little younger than ours so I figured I'd reach out myself.
THANK YOU!
I once again turn to the wealth of knowledge on this forum for any input, advice, or comments you may have.
Problem:
Dog didn't have an accident for months, all of sudden starts to
Details:
We have a 9 mo. golden retriever + cocker mix (basically a mini golden retriever ~34 lbs) who'm we diligently spend time training, exercising, and loving on a daily basis. We started crate training him and slowly expanded his free space as he progressed with potty training. At present, he sleeps with us in our room at the base of our bed and 9/10 times through the entire night without getting up. We had a solid few months without an accident in the house and make sure to continue praise every time we caught him pottying outside (at this point I think he might have US trained...).
About 3 weeks ago he started dribbling pee on his way out through the doggy door. We shrugged it off as an accident however we noticed he has kept this up. We'll often catch him starting to pee as he bolts out the door to finish.
To me this clearly says "Hey..I know what SHOULD be done, I waited too long/got excited/it hit me all of a sudden...better run outside!". He doesn't do this every time, but it sure feels like at least once a day.
Sometimes he'll run outside, come back in and run up to us, turn around and pee on his way back out. Perhaps he just got distracted?
Summary
We don't think he has a UTI because:
- He isn't drinking an increased/excessive amount of water
- He isn't straining or doesn't seem to be in any discomfort when he urinates
- There's no unusual color or smell to his pee
- He's all of a sudden breaking house training
- He dribbles pee as he walks and runs outside
Our best guest:
We think he may be getting over excited and perhaps is just rebelling a bit. We have read that this is a "thing". We are on top of him with love and praise every time he goes to the bathroom outside so we don't think that's a factor. His routine hasn't changed too much, especially when we're home with him.
Our plan of attack
- Reduce his space, he'll be sleeping downstairs only until he gets better. At least this way the clean up isn't on carpet
- If he continues to have issues, re-instate the crate training further reducing his free space and work our way back up
- Continue with praise/treats/love when he successful urinates outside
- If this doesn't get any better, collect a urine sample and stop by the vet on Friday
We would LOVE to hear what you have to say. Have you experience this? Is it normal and should we just bare through it as he goes through this 'teenager phase'? I did read some other posts with similar issues but it seemed their pups were a little younger than ours so I figured I'd reach out myself.
THANK YOU!