Dogs: House Soiling - Elimination Problems

Why is my dog soiling the house?

There are numerous reasons why a dog might soil the house with urine and/or faeces. Determining the specific reason is essential for developing an effective treatment programme. Dogs that soil the home continuously or intermittently from the time they were first obtained may not have been properly house-trained. Following the steps in our house-training leaflet (Puppy - getting started) may help resolve this problem.

Dogs that have been previously house-trained, may begin to soil the home for medical reasons or behavioural reasons. Assuming medical causes can be ruled out (see below), some of the behavioural causes can be: a change in owner schedule, a change in housing or any change in the pet’s home that might lead to anxiety. For example, if you leave the dog alone for longer than usual, or significantly change the daily schedule or routine, your dog may begin to house-soil. Dogs that are experiencing an increase in anxiety provoking stimuli may begin to eliminate in the home. Please remember that if this happens the dog is not “getting back at you” or being “spiteful”, but is because she is experiencing a “loss of control” and becoming more anxious. Dogs that have separation anxiety may soil the home, and require an intensive behavioural management programme. There is a separate leaflet available on this problem.

You might need professional assistance to help you identify exactly what is going on but below is some advice that may help you identify some of the more common reasons for housesoiling. Some are relatively straightforward to manage but others may require professional intervention.

Why am I finding urine on upright objects?

Dogs may deposit urine on upright objects as a form of marking or territorial behaviour. This behaviour is a form of communication and is designed to leave a message for other dogs. It is most likely to occur on or near unfamiliar odours or marks left by other dogs. The volume of urine is usually small. The problem is much more common in intact males, but some neutered males and spayed females will also mark. Male hormone levels, other dogs entering the property, moving to a new house, novel odours e.g. when getting new furniture, or increased stress may all be potential triggers for the onset of urine marking. 

Why does my dog urinate when she meets new people or when I come home?

This behaviour may be triggered by a high level of arousal and may mean a loss of bladder control. This is only seen in very young puppies where control over the bladder is not yet fully developed. In adult dogs urination during greeting is a form of communication and is usually associated with appeasement. 

Appeasement related urination can occur when a person approaches, reaches out towards, stands over or attempts to physically punish a dog. The dog not only urinates but may show other signs of appeasement such as ears back, retraction of lips, avoidance of eye contact, and cowering. Although this problem can be seen in dogs of any age it is most commonly seen in puppies and young dogs. Owner intervention in the form of verbal reprimands or punishment, only serve to aggravate the problem by making the dog perceive the situation to be threatening and therefore they may be even more motivated to try to appease the person. This unfortunately leads to further urination and a continuation of the cycle. 

What medical problems could cause my dog to house-soil?

There are numerous medical problems that could cause or contribute to house-soiling, and these become increasingly common as your dog ages. Problems that cause:

• an increased frequency of urination such as bladder infections, bladder stones or crystals, or bladder tumours,
• a decrease in control or mobility such as neurological deterioration or arthritis,
• an increase in urine volume production such as kidney disease, liver disease, diabetes, or Cushing’s disease.
• alteration in memory and so lead to a loss of housetraining, such as cognitive dysfunction syndrome, a form of senility affecting dogs

all need to be identified and then treated.

Certain medications such as steroids (cortisone) or diseases may also cause a dog to drink more and therefore urinate more. After all what goes in must come out!

For dogs that defaecate in the house, possible causes include any condition that

• leads to more frequent defecation such as colitis,
• causes an increased volume of stool such as problems with absorption or lack of digestive enzymes,
• affects the dog’s mobility or control such as arthritis or neurological deterioration
• produces memory deficits, such as cognitive dysfunction,

There are also significant anxiety disorders which can lead to housesoiling which are likely to require professional intervention. Any dog without an obvious cause for the problem needs to be assessed by a veterinarian as a matter of priority.

How can the cause of house-soiling be determined?

Following a physical examination and detailed medical history evaluation, further tests may be required. For most cases a urinalysis and complete blood profile will also be needed, and additional tests such as radiographs and contrast studies, may be indicated based on the results. If there is any abnormality in elimination frequency or amount, stool colour or consistency or urine odour, more comprehensive laboratory tests may be necessary. Once medical problems have been ruled out, and treated it will then be necessary to methodically work through the potential behavioural causes discussed in this leaflet. Even when medical causes have been identified and treated sometimes the behaviour becomes a learnt behaviour so that behaviour modification is still needed. This will involve a detailed behavioural history.

My dog only eliminates when she is left alone, does she have separation anxiety?

There are many reasons why a dog may soil when left alone, so you should not assume that separation anxiety is the cause. There is a separate handout available on the treatment and management of separation anxiety. To differentiate the more straightforward forms of house-soiling from separation anxiety, it would be useful for you to keep a thorough record of when the elimination occurs as well as where it occurs. Treatment of separation anxiety often requires professional support, as your dog may need medication to help her cope with being alone and aid the behavioural management. It should be noted that punishment at homecoming is not only useless for correcting this problem, but serves to further add to the dog’s anxiety on future occasions.

How can house-soiling through lack of appropriate early learning be treated? 

Training techniques for routine house-soiling problems are virtually identical to those needed to housetrain a new puppy. However, the process can be a lot more time consuming in an older dog. Even if the dog is retrained to eliminate outdoors, indoor sites may continue to be used, since the odour, substrate, and learned habit may continue to attract the dog back to the location. In addition, dogs that eliminate indoors are in essence, performing a self rewarding behaviour. Remember emptying the bladder always make the dog feel better! Dogs do not perceive that the area they have used is inappropriate – it just makes them feel better when the bladder is empty. 

• The key to effective housetraining is constant supervision. 
• Prevent access to indoor elimination sites.
• If you see your dog about to eliminate you might find that if you startle your dog with a noise such as clapping your hands it might interrupt the behaviour and allow you time to take her to a more appropriate location.
• Redirect your dog to appropriate areas at times when elimination is necessary (see the handout Puppy- Getting started).
• Always reinforce the acceptable behaviour with quiet praise or food rewards when the dog eliminates in the designated area. Your dog should go for a walk after she has eliminated if this is around the normal exercise time.
• If a verbal cue, such as “get busy” or “hurry up”, is given during each act of elimination, the dog can learn to associate the word with the action and this will enable you to go on to teach your dog to eliminate on cue. 
• To help you keep your dog in sight in the home, leave a long indoor lead attached to the dog, and fasten it to your belt. This lead can also be used to interrupt any elimination or pre-elimination behaviours (such as sniffing, circling or squatting) and to direct the dog to the appropriate area without delay. 
• Whenever you are not available to supervise, your dog should be housed in either a confinement area where it usually does not eliminate (such as a crate, or pen), or in an area where elimination is allowed (such as a secure dog run outdoors). If there are long periods of time when you cannot supervise your dog you can leave her in an indoor location which you are prepared for her to eliminate, but it is important to realize that this may lead to a lengthening of the training process as you will need to ultimately break the association with an indoor location.
• Your dog should not be allowed access to indoor sites where she has previously eliminated unless you are there to supervise. Access to these areas can be denied by closing doors or putting up baby gates.
• Odours that might attract the pet back to the area can be reduced or removed with commercial odour eliminators or washing powders with enzymes. Use a sufficient amount of the odour eliminator to reach everywhere that the urine has soaked. This might require lifting carpets and cleaning the underlying boards etc. It may help to feed the dog in the cleaned area so that the dog associates this as an eating area rather than a toileting area. An alternative to commercial products is to clean the area with a warm solution of a biological washing agent followed by surgical spirit as these products will break down the protein and fat components of the deposit respectively.

"Odours that might attract the pet back to the area can be reduced or removed with commercial odour eliminators or washing powders with enzymes. Use a sufficient amount of the odour eliminator to reach everywhere that the urine has soaked."

• Feeding schedules can be regulated to improve your control over the timing of elimination. After a dog eats, it will usually need to eliminate in 15-30 minutes. This is called the gastro-colic reflex. Dogs fed ad lib or by free access usually need to relieve themselves at a variety of times throughout the day whereas dogs that eat two or three scheduled meals each day void in a more predictable manner. It may therefore help to move your dog onto a scheduled meal system. Feeding a low-residue diet may also be of benefit because your dog will have less urgency to defecate and produces less stool.
• If your dog has reduced control due to her physical health, scheduling changes may need to be made, in consultation with your veterinarian. You may be able to arrange more frequent trips to the elimination area, but if not you might need to install a dog door, or provide an area that your dog can conveniently use. Alternatively a dog walker, or doggy day care may be an option as a means of providing more consistent supervision and more opportunities to eliminate appropriately.
• Depending on the cause medical intervention may be warranted, For age related cognitive dysfunction, therapeutic or dietary intervention may be an essential complement to retraining techniques, and a variety of medications and dietary supplements are available with proven beneficial effects. 
• Never punish a dog verbally or physically whilst or after she is eliminating in an inappropriate place as this is likely to increase her anxiety, and this may lead to further problems.

The dog that eliminates in her crate poses special problems and is likely to require referral so that specific treatment options can be offered.

How can appeasement related urination be treated?

For appeasement related urination, it is important that you and all visitors interact with your dog in a less threatening manner.

• It is important to establish the level of perceived threat (it may not be real to you but it is to your dog) which evokes the response and use this as a bench-mark from which to work. It may take lots of exposures during training to sort out the problem, so you will need to be patient. During greetings, you and your guests should refrain from eye contact, and verbal or physical contact and greetings should be very low key and words spoken in a low, calm tone.
• Your pet should be allowed to approach you to greet rather than the reverse- ie wait until your dog comes to you rather than you approach your dog. When greeting a very concerned or worried dog, you may initially need to completely ignore it at traditional greeting times, even to the extent of avoiding eye contact.
• You should avoid the tendency to reach over your dog to pat him/her etc as looming over your dog can often be perceived as a threatening gesture from your dog’s perspective. The tendency to elicit appeasement responses can be reduced by kneeling down, rather than standing over the dog; petting the chest instead of the head, if the dog will accept it speaking softly. and avoiding eye contact.
• Physical punishment and even the mildest verbal reprimands must be avoided. In fact, owners who attempt to punish their pet for urinating during greeting will make things worse, as this intensifies the perception of threat from your dog’s perspective and encourages appeasing behaviour.
• Counter-conditioning can be very helpful in controlling submissive urination. To do this, your dog is taught to perform a behaviour that is not compatible with urinating, such as sitting for food or retrieving a toy when she greets someone. If your dog anticipates food or ball playing at each greeting, she is less likely to eliminate as she is in a state of positive, rather than negative, expectation.
• An important aspect of treating appeasement related urination in response to the arrival of visitors is repeated presentations of the stimulus so that the dog learns the correct response. If visitors come only infrequently, the dog does not have the opportunity to learn a new behaviour. By scheduling visitors to come, visit briefly, then leave by another door and re-enter, the dog may learn to be less concerned about their arrival. Each time the person returns they are more familiar and less likely to be perceived as a threat. This allows the dog to “practice” the good behaviour and you to reinforce the appropriate response.
• The use of medication to increase bladder sphincter tone might also be considered as an adjunct to behaviour therapy, for refractory cases. Careful medical evaluation of the case is essential in such cases. Your veterinarian will be the best person to advise in these cases.

How can marking be treated?

• Castration will eliminate male marking behaviour in over 50% of dogs and reduce it in 85% of male dogs. It is also recommended for female dogs that mark during oestrus.
• Urine residue must be removed from around doors, windows or other areas where stray dogs have been marking. 
• New upright objects that are brought into the home should not be placed on the floor until your dog is familiar with them. 
• During the treatment process, you must closely supervise the pet and when she cannot be supervised, she should be confined to her crate or bedroom area, away from areas that have been previously marked. 
• Confining your dog so that she is unable to watch other dogs through windows in the home may be helpful in some cases.

If anxiety is an underlying factor in the marking behaviour, then treatment of the anxiety with desensitisation and counter-conditioning as well as medication may be helpful. Please see your veterinarian for help.