Why do dogs suddenly pee and/or poop in the house, even if they were potty trained before?

Sep 11

When it comes to dogs changing their potty habits, it is important to look at all factors involved. The most obvious ones that are relatively easy to treat and prevent, are:

- the dog has not been potty trained properly
- old age
- medical reasons
- changes in their diet
- previous incidents haven't been cleaned up properly
- or changes in their routine/schedule

Where it gets more complicated, as the cause doesn't seem as obvious to the dog owners, is if the dog's mental state is involved. With many dogs we work with, anxiety, insecurity, fear, over stimulation and/or hyper arousal are the reasons why dogs struggle to adjust to a desired potty routine.

Anxiety can lead to dogs having incidents in the house. If the dog is in a fearful or insecure state outside, they will struggle to properly eliminate themselves. Going potty puts a dog in a vulnerable state and if the dog for some reason does not feel safe enough outside, they will eliminate as soon as they are back inside the house, no matter how long you kept them outside. If the dog is overly stimulated or hyper aroused while being outside, because they haven't learned how to calm down, are not socialised and/or habituated properly, don't get enough exercise, do not get enough mental stimulation, they will not eliminate properly outside. There are just way too many things going on for them during the walk. They need to spend the time investigating, sniffing, playing, there is just no time to go potty. This can lead to accidents inside the house later on, when they can’t hold it anymore.

Where many owners struggle to understand why things change even though they have been good before, is to understand that dogs are creatures of habit and changes can offset them. Often we are not aware about it, but any change like changes in the routine, family structure, a move, health issues we might not be aware off, an incident with another dog or a family member, someone that stressed the dog at the fence while they were outside, can set off anxiety or fear that wasn't there before. Our dogs need structure and stability in order to live a happy and balanced life.

Another thing we need to look at is the difference between having accidents in the house and marking. Is your dog actually having accidents, or are they marking their territory? If they do mark, this can be due to a lack in leadership from the human side. Again, even if this is something that wasn’t causing issues before, it can develop into one due to changes in their routine, lack in follow through in terms of training and interaction, or changes in their environment. Dogs are not stagnant and go through different phases in their lives and keep adjusting to their environment and changes in their behaviour can come alongside this.

Most of the dogs that are being reported to us as having issues with peeing and/or pooping in the house, are small breed dogs. The reason far that, to be honest, is usually that we just don’t take small breeds as serious as large breeds. Simply because they are cute and physically easier to deal with than large dogs. If a large dog is displaying unwanted behaviour due to not being trained enough, physically and mentally, the issues appear a lot more severe. Obviously, if a 20 lbs dog doesn’t respect boundaries, the issues arising feel a lot less dramatic than if a 120 lbs dog doesn’t respect boundaries. A 120lbs dog that jumps up to demand attention from a human will more likely receive proper training to change the behaviour than a 20 lbs dog that does the same thing. We need to start treating small breed dogs the same way we treat large breed dogs. They require the same structure, boundaries, care, and have the same needs. Especially small breeds like Dachshunds, Terriers like Jack Russels, Yorkshire Terriers, and Beagles, even some bloodlines in Chihuahuas, were originally bred as working dogs and are highly intelligent, have intense working drive, and are designed to be switched on to working mode for hours at a time. Yet their only job usually consists of being companions. Not respecting this and not fulfilling their needs, not giving them a proper job, can very easily lead to them developing unhealthy psychological issues such as anxiety and fear, as well as being unbalanced. Which in return potentially leads to issues with their potty behaviour in the house.