Peeing In Dog Bed And Couch

[Thunderpants]

Hi there, I know it's an age old topic, but after searching for hours online, I can't find anything that matches my problem exactly. Hope some one can ahead new light on this.

So I have a 1.5 yo Frenchy and she always pees in her own bed and our living room couch.

E.g the other day I left them room while she was sleeping for no more than ten minutes, she jumped on the couch and peed on two different seats and left the room when I came back.

E.g 2. Last night I gave her a new bed and by morning she's peed on it. Before this she has been peeing on her bed since I've had her, roughly every two weeks, it's painful.

I always soak where she pees with urinoff and then put her bed in the washing machine after its rested to work as per the directions.

I took her bed away for a month, I also moved where she sleeps, but she peed on the bed the day I gave it back.

I find she pees almost every time I wash her or give her a freshly washed bed. It's as though its a vengeance pee.

Every single online post says that they will grow out of it by 1yo and all the comments support that, none of them are as bad, regular and long standing as my girls issue.

Is she just angry at me for washing her and her beds? Is she marking her property STILL? I don't believe anymore that it's something she will grow out of.

Hoping for any new ideas please, I'm soooo over this.

Oh and she now sleeps on a bath matt cause its easer to wash when she pees on it.

[Kavik]

Have you had her checked at the vet for a UTI?

[kelpiecuddles]

Is she actively peeing or is she leaking? My kelpie suffered incontinence after desexing, treatment with oestregen tablets resolved it completely. She only really ever leaked on her bed, not when she was walking around.

[Guest hankodie]

fellow frenchie owner here, my frenchie girl used to do the exact same thing when she was younger. She's now 18 months and she's outgrown it for the most part but there have been one or two "incidences" in the last couple of months. I think it's purely behavioural in her case, had her checked out at the vet's for a UTI and she was fine. I think it's a form of marking maybe. I also experienced the same frustration - I would wash her bed, get it clean and put it down and she'd pee on it straight away! She also loved to pee on the couch cushions and anywhere where she liked to sleep.

I found a couple of things worked - I took her out regularly to do her business before she lied down on her bed or the couch, I also at one point restricted her to only nap/relax in her crate which for some reason she never peed in. For the most part I think she has just outgrown it though. I feel your pain, it's very frustrating! A vet check certainly wouldn't hurt but in my case it was just one of those strange behavioural things.

[persephone]

I would suggest getting her a large enough crate where she can sleep /rest.... make it smell like her , with an unwashed , unpee'd on lot of bedding .... rub treats over the wires ...place her fave toys in there ..and direct her there each time she comes in, or when she usually does the couch thing ....make this space the ONLY spot she gets treats /toys (apart from outside ) .

Do not lock her in until she goes in there happily by herself ..takes her toys/bones in there to chew ..it may take some time ...her crate is not meant to be a punishment cell - rather her own place ..where she can snore & fart & stretch out to chew things happily and without disturbance ;)

Perhaps when unsupervised she is in an area devoid of couches , too ..

NO human furniture privileges ( and they ARE an earned privilege - not a right ;) )

[hankdog]

I have a bulldog cross and went through a stage of this when I first got him as an adult with issues. It was deliberate, a few times I'd bring him in from his night time pee and he'd go into his bed or onto mine and pee, give it back to him washed and he'd repeat. Delightful!!

For us I think it was part of the settling the leadership issues that came with rehoming an unsocialised poundie. At the time I eventually threw away the bed, banished him from furniture and gave him an easily washed set of fleece blankets to sleep on. It stopped when we sorted out other things, who gets to go through doors first, being invited to share furniture, sitting to greet etc. This may not be related to your dogs situation, mine is a bit of a rough diamond but thought I'd just add in case it helps.

[Thunderpants]

Thanks everyone for your detailed feedback.

No UTI problems, the only issues have been a couple of surgerys for luxating patella (knee out of place) although that was only the last few months and it hasn't seen her habits noticeably change in any way.

She can also hold herself for up to roughly 8 hours, so there's no leaking or bladder problems there either.

I tried the crate thing too, but she peed in there five times as often and I ended up having to throw it away because the smell wouldn't wash off anymore. Had some canvas.

I think it is a behavioural thing unfortunately. I do limit her to her room now when I go out or upstairs. I just hope that we can avoid it long enough to let her grow out of it. I just have that sinking feeling that even after a year she would still pee on the couch given a chance. Real shame cause we'd love to have her in our bed but I can't trust her.

@hankdog, thanks, I train her a lot, however she definitely has a strong stubbornness that still creeps into daily activities, including running through the door first, although most doors she will wait for me first... Odd. Crazy on the leash too, even after a solid 6 week training regiment and a year of sticking to the plan. First day I give up flips back to being like I never trained her, it almost killed me. So now I just let her go on an extendable leash and she's fine, just runs around a lot

Edited August 19, 2013 by Thunderpants

[minimax]

I'd be going back to toilet training basics like she was a puppy - training to pee on command, excitement and rewards for peeing in the right place, no access to "special" areas unsupervised, even tethering if needs be.

Is she toilet trained? Does she take herself outside to pee as well as peeing in her bed/lounges etc?

I doubt she will grow out of it. Unless you help her (ie: teach her), she probably doesn't know she has to grow out of it!

Edited August 19, 2013 by minimax

[hankdog]

Jake is possibly part Frenchie and he is way more stubborn than my previous pure British bulldogs. He walks well on leash now but after many failed methods I finally cracked loose leash walking by stopping every time he pulled. Six weeks of stopping every ten steps and then we got there but we still need to check every walk first few hundred meters.

Dies she sleep in the bed after she's wee'ed in it. Could you just leave it so she gets a stinky wet bed and see if that deters her?

[Thunderpants]

She's toilet trained and has a dog door directly from her bed to outside and she uses it regularly to toilet like she was trained. The problem is that it's very random times in her bed like 4am when we're asleep, it's still wet when we come downstairs. On the couch it's like once every two months when I go to the kitchen for 2 mins. I recently took her out for every pee on the leash for 4 week because of her surgery. It made no difference. She knows where to pee and does it perfectly, she just decides randomly to pee on her bed or on the couch. How can you teach her not to do that? I just kick her off and outside when I see the pee and I see her watching me clean it with her head down. It's like she knows it's wrong but does it anyway.

[Thunderpants]

Jake is possibly part Frenchie and he is way more stubborn than my previous pure British bulldogs. He walks well on leash now but after many failed methods I finally cracked loose leash walking by stopping every time he pulled. Six weeks of stopping every ten steps and then we got there but we still need to check every walk first few hundred meters.

Dies she sleep in the bed after she's wee'ed in it. Could you just leave it so she gets a stinky wet bed and see if that deters her?

Yes I find her sleeping in her bed after its pee'd on, but I never find her on the couch after its peed on