dog will not hold bladder when I'm home

bostonbaker

My dog is about a year and a half old and amazingly well behaved when we leave her during the day.  She is not crated and has no accidents in the house when home alone for 10 hours.  I take her out as soon as I get home and she goes right away.  However, when I am home on the weekends or working from home, she demands to go out every two hours.  If I don't take her out she will often pee in the house, usually right near me.  I feel like she's trying to manipulate me into getting more walks.  What should I do?

schneider

How long has this been going on?  Have you had her checked for a UTI?  What do you clean the floor with?

As devious as they sometimes appear to be, dogs won't manipulate you and then punish you by peeing.  Something bigger is going on.  It's also possible she is peeing while you are gone but you don't see it.

I would have her checked by a vet if it's a newer behavior.  Also, clean your floor with an enzymatic cleaner.  If you can't watch her closely while you are home, crate or confine her to a safe area.

Good luck.

bostonbaker

How long has this been going on?  I started working from home one day per week in January and that's when I noticed it.  She jumps on me and tries to climb on my computer until I take her out.  Usually I do take her out, so the accidents are rare, but it's really difficult to take a break every two hours, especially when she just goes a little bit on every walk.

Have you had her checked for a UTI?  No.  We took her to the vet in December for a well visit but that's it.

What do you clean the floor with? I use Woolite for pets on the carpets and Pine Sol on the wood.  I have checked the house for marks (including feeling the whole carpet for wet spots) after work and never find anything.

Thanks.

dusk42

Tether her to a piece of furniture during the day (with a dog bed, kong, etc.) so you can watch her/she can't sneak off and pee.  Give her attention every two hours instead of walking (five minutes of fetch or obedience training).  You can also give her ice cubes instead of water in case she is drinking out of boredom.  

 

While dogs can't manipulate you, you are training them and they are training you constantly.  Your dog may have figured out that when you are home, if she drinks more water, she gets to go walk more.  Then that leads to pee in the house.  

 

But I would check for a UTI too - the small amounts of pee can be a sign of that.  Also, get a blacklight to check for pee spots and use an enzymatic cleaner to clean them up.   

pepomntpat

Guinness tends to drink more water when I am home because he is more active when I am home and so then he needs to go out more when I am home. It could be as simple as that.

Never hurts to rule out a UTI, but I would be it is just that you are there.

jmillerhorskins

Yep, that sounds familiar! My dog is the same age, and we have the exact same problem. We got her when I was out of work, and when I first went back she begged to go out all the time, even during the night... She doesn't do it with DH, probably because she knows he won't cave as easily as I will.

Some people here told me to play with her more, but also when it comes down to it you may have to ignore her. It killed me to listen to her cry, but eventually she got over it and is back to sleeping through the night and we don't go out nearly as much on the weekends. She still never makes it as long when I'm home as she does when we're at work, but I think that's also because she is more active when we are there, and drinks/eats more.

It sounds like wanting attention is more the issue, but if you are concerned it doesn't hurt to find out if she has a UTI.

bostonbaker

Thanks everyone.  She doesn't eat or drink anything while she is home alone, so maybe that is part of the issue.  I will try restricting her water when I'm home and see if that helps.