Help!

[SearchJane]

Hi

My 16 month old spayed female staffy puppy/juvenile has decided that it is OK to pee in the laundry. She is housetrained but with the recent wet weather I think she didn't want to go out in the rain (and we've had some really heavy rain) to do her business and so started going in the laundry.

The dogs sleep & eat in there as well and we've managed to stop her going in the morning by putting a food bowl directly in front of the bed so that's what she smells when she gets up. However this evening she peed directly next to her food bowl, right in front of their bed.

Being the laundry the floor is tiled, however I'm looking for suggestions on how I can thoroughly clean the floor this weekend and so discourage this behaviour. Obviously I clean up the messes but I use Method brand household cleaners and I'm thinking I need something with a bit more oomph.

I don't want to put newspaper down as this may normalise the behaviour, but I'm thinking that might be easiest throughout winter.

Any suggestions welcomed!

Thanks

Jane

[Her Majesty Dogmad]

I'm very experienced at housetraining. I'd like to ask a few questions:

Are they locked in the laundry or do they have access to get outside as and when they need to go - ie is the door open or is there a doggie door?

Could your dog possibly have a urinary tract infection? This is what happened to one of my dogs, she suddenly started going inside and had an infection.

What is the problem with putting newspaper down? During wet weather I put towels down, sometimes mine have gone on them and they are all fully housetrained.

Could there be an issue of dominance between the two dogs? This can cause inappropriate urination.

Is the other dog desexed?

To clean up, just use a mixture of white vinegar and water or bicarb of soda and water. For my concrete paving, I sprinkle bicarb powder over any marks and then pour vinegar on.

I also use a Napisan and water mixture sometimes. The trick is to remove the smell of the wee for the dog - you can clean with disinfectant and think its OK but dog can still smell it. You need to use the things I've suggested first and then you can use other cleaners on top.

[Keira&Phoenix]

Very good suggestions above.

My house trained 10 month old started going inside the house (including on my bed!!) and about a week later she had started to strain and was urinating blood it turned out to be a UTI. If your looking for a UTI, you need to see if her water consumption has gone up and if she is trying to wee multiple times in a short period of time, obviously also look for blood in the urine but sometimes that can come later on.

Has she ever done this before when there has been rain? If it is out of the ordinary for her to do it then it is worth looking into getting a urine sample and taking it to your vet.

[IngeK]

Why not go for a walk before you go to bed yourself and let her do her business if you know she has trouble holding up because of the wet weather? Then in the morning, first thing you take her out and go for a walk again. No messing with newspapers, moving bowls etc. just a bit of effort from yourself included

[SearchJane]

Hi

Thanks for the replies. We have a doggy door so it's not a case of being unable to access the outside and I think I may put newspaper down - much easier to clean up!

I'll clean the laundry floor with vinegar & bicarb this weekend.

I don't think she's got an UTI - but I will keep an eye on her just in case. I work all day so it's a bit difficult to monitor their behaviour at this time of the year (when they just want to snuggle down in front of the heater after their evening walk). This morning I went down early to let them in, and before I let them into the house I encouraged Indi to go outside, which she was very reluctant to do (it was 5.30am so I can't blame her) and so I gave up. The dogs then snuggled with me and I put them in the laundry when I left so I'll be interested to see if she went outside after that.

Thanks everyone for your input.

Cheers

Jane