Possible Behavioural Issue - Dog Going To The Bathroom Inside

[♥Baxter♥]

PF - the problem is that intruders can get in - they got in through my small one (for mini schnauzers!). I don't care about them getting my stuff, but they came into my house twice and could have hurt the dogs.

The police said that dog doors are a common entry point.

Isn't there some doors that will only open with the dogs collar??(electronic thingy??)

Then they get your dog to get the collar . The police woman who attended the second robbery advised against them.

It would be easier to brake a window?

[indigirl]

Oh my god thats a lot of mess froma dog that size! You have my sympathy!

[Staranais]

I have read on DOL before that dogs can hold on for over 12 hours during the night. Not so much during the day, but due to natural bio-rythms, its easier for them overnight.

My dog can easily hang on overnight (unless she has the squirts from something she has eaten or is on antihistamines). She is too big for a doggie door and I dont intend to lock her outside overnight just so she can wee.

I cant see that the OP's situation is any different?

There are doggie doors big enough for Golden Retrievers - I know a large male squeezed through mine once.

Most dogs don't do a full 12 hours overnight. IF you toilet your dog before bed at 10.00 and get up at 7.00, that's only 9 hours.

I sleep less than that & go before I go to bed & when I wake up OT sorry .....I don't think anyone here would sleep 12 hrs in a row..

I do in the weekends sometimes! But my girl sleeps on my bed, so she wakes me up if she needs to go. :p She doesn't do it often, but will if she needs to.

[dee lee]

I have read on DOL before that dogs can hold on for over 12 hours during the night. Not so much during the day, but due to natural bio-rythms, its easier for them overnight.

My dog can easily hang on overnight (unless she has the squirts from something she has eaten or is on antihistamines). She is too big for a doggie door and I dont intend to lock her outside overnight just so she can wee.

I cant see that the OP's situation is any different?

There are doggie doors big enough for Golden Retrievers - I know a large male squeezed through mine once. :p

Most dogs don't do a full 12 hours overnight. IF you toilet your dog before bed at 10.00 and get up at 7.00, that's only 9 hours.

IF my doofus dog would bloody well GO at 10pm I'd be very happy.

Every night we play the same damn game- I give her ample opportunity and its 50-50 as to whether she goes.

If she doesn't, she still hangs on until 6am when I get up. It can be 12 hours and still she wont go in our yard, she waits the 10 minutes til we get to the park!

Yes, I do know how to toilet train on command- but she just wont go unless she wants to!

As for the dog door, any dog door she can get through a skinny junkie can too. We have lots of the opportunistic buggers round my way. ;)

Plus we have a iron grill outside the door which makes things even trickier.

[1nfinite]

Thankyou very much for your replies everyone!!

I am kinda surprised at the general reaction that 12 hours is too long, as this was never a problem in the past. Now I am worried that I have hurt her somehow That being said if this is the problem then thats a load off my shoulders, as I thought she was doing this on purpose as some type of game of dominance.

oh and the reason it took so long to clean up is I locked her up in the bathroom last time (as the floor is easier to clean, then floorboards) but she had some how stepped into the poop, trod it all over the blankets I put in there for her, and then slept in it. So aside from cleaning the bathroom I had to wash the dog and the blankets, it adds up.

[corvus]

When we both worked full-time our dogs would go 10.5 hours without toileting every day. If we got caught up it could be as long as 13 hours on occasion, although I wouldn't do that to them regularly. We never had anything to clean up and there was no particular sense of urgency from either dog to suggest they were distressed in any way. My younger dog has not had to do more than 9 hours, and that is stretching it for him. He seems to tick over at a higher rate than my other dog.

If she's had SA before, it could be anxiety related. It is often something a dog is prone to. At any rate, I'd be aiming to set a rock solid routine your dog can use to tell her you're leaving for 12 hours. In this house, before we go out we take the dogs out to toilet, then they are told to go inside and sit and they get a small chew treat to distract them as we leave. When we leave for a day they have the added cues of us getting our gear together. For a dog that is not necessarily comfortable with being left, could you give her something that will keep her busy for a while, like a Kong? SA can be pretty complicated and there can be multiple causes, making it something best handled by a vet behaviourist, but a popular treatment for mild cases is the use of a leaving routine and/or the introduction of a special treat or toy that only comes out when you're leaving them alone. Kongs are popular because they encourage a dog to enjoy time alone, but I guess there are safety concerns leaving them with Kongs unsupervised.