Dog owners with new babies and kids
 

Has anyone dealt with their dogs going nuts and peeing strategically with a new baby in the household? Our dog is 10 years old and has been housebroken for almost as long, diligently, but now has decided to pee in the utility room all the time right where we'll see it at the foot of the steps almost daily. His bed is closer to the back door where there is a dog door, yet he walks into the house to do this now.

He was okay with the baby til she was about 6 months old. I think it has to do with her being more active and chatty, and I talk to her more now too. But I am wondering if somehow he might be sick and this is the reason for his pee problems. Other than being old and a little bony he is energetic, eats great, obviously can go to the bathroom lol, and has the same old annoying up my ass personality all day. But I am at my wit's end. He does this almost every night. He's done it a couple times in the day but I watch him now and he hasn't done it again, just overnight.

I guess I am going to have to take him to the vet to make sure he isn't sick. I've just hoped he would stop doing this because I know they'll run a bunch of tests and a vet will always get you for at least a couple hundred bucks when they know you love your pet lol.

Then when I am sure he's not sick, I am going to pen his ass right in the back of the house by the dog door so he cannot do this anymore. I bought one of those child proof gates but he spent all day figuring out how to bypass it, chewed it up, and eventually figured out he could just climb over it. I need a better one for crazy dogs.

Is that a sign of a sick dog? Just peeing like that? I really think it has to do with the baby, but I am so fucking tired of cleaning up after him with bleach everyday. The floor is really old and messed up already in there, but we are going to replace it soon so I have to get a hold of this gross problem. He is unmanageable, this dog!

ps. I think I posted about this recently? or I was going to? I do not think I made a thread, but if I did sorry, oopsie. I forgot, do that a lot these days with an 8 month old baby. haha

My moms dog does this. He is old but still in pretty fair health overall aside from that. Frankly I think he does it for the attention and just because he can... not that he needs any more attention than he already gets. Just because he can!

That's what I think is going on! But fuck, I've given this dog a good life for 10 years and this is what I get? LOL damn.

It is a real drag. I couldn't give the dog up and nobody would want him anyway. The alternative is pretty much death, and no way I'll kill him for peeing. But I don't know what to do. I guess he is going to get barricaded by the back door soon and he's not going to like it one bit. I've tried to scold him, but he doesn't care. He knows he is being bad! He is a cranky old man dog now, and old men don't give a shit about anything!

As a dog lover myself I'm sorry to say you're going to have to give up the baby.

The dog is marking his turf, to make sure it's in a place where any threats to his position in the pecking order can pick up his scent. Obviously the dog doesn't realize that babies don't operate the same way other dogs do, but that's most likely what's going on. He's not sick, he's just letting the new arrival to the pack know that he's still got rank. But you must ensure that the dog learns that, no.... he's been demoted and the baby ranks higher. :2 cents:

LOL! I peed on the corner of the bed a little...

Not usually a good sign for an old dog. Is it a purebred? Mutt? Little dog? Purebred usually are 10-12 yrs mutts and lil dogs can be 15-18.

I would bring him and have the vet check him out.

Great point and I would go with this first and approach it as a behavioral problem as opposed to a physical problem.

You said you have a doggy door so I'm assuming the dog went out on his own when he needed to. Perhaps you could MAKE him go before bed time to empty him out plus give him a bit of attention while doing it.

If possible you could close up the utility room and see if he stops or goes somewhere else.

I thinks AMP's on the right track except for the demote the dog thing because after all you can't teach an old dog new tricks. Maybe the dog needs some reassurance and attention to let him know he is still part of the " pack ".

Yeah be careful with the dog.. Sadly one turn towards the child and its bye bye doggie time.

Yeah I am addressing it as behavioral right now, but still going to get him to the vet probably. He needs a checkup anyways.

We've made him go outside before bedtime too. We have a doggy door! But still have made him go out, sometimes he pees sometimes he doesn't.

I'm going to close him up for sure, at night. I do think Amp is correct. But in the meantime I've given him extra treats while we are eating which makes him into this crazed animal stalking me for treats all day, but still giving them to him. I have given him more attention, but he still does it.

I am also very paranoid about him turning on my baby, but so far he hasn't shown any aggression to her at all. The good thing about him is we also have a tiny female small enough to stand underneath him and he's never ever tried to hurt her physically. I had his balls snipped at about 5 months of age so he stayed very puppy like and is actually really gentle in that way. But still.

And the baby gets excited at the dogs, especially when they get excited. I let them sniff her feet and they lick her toes a little and she giggles. They all seem to enjoy each other but I don't want them in her face or too much on her. Like I said, he doesn't seem to think she is any sort of threat. It is more like he's not getting enough attention or something and is just acting out.

When I barricade him in the laundry room he's going to scream and cry and throw a fit like a little puppy. But he will learn! The biggest problem I've had with this dog is teaching him he is NOT the alpha. Even Fletch has had to get a little aggressive with him when he won't listen to commands he knows, like go outside, etc. Have to tell him everything three times, or he assumes you're not going to bother enforcing and he ignores you. If I hadn't snipped him so young he would be unmanageable.

I've only watched a couple minutes of that show and am convinced his skills are all hollywood film editing. lol

I'm sure he is a great dog trainer, but you don't just convince a wild pit bull to chill out in three minutes by gazing into its eyes! :1orglaugh

Maybe you can excersise your dog more instead of giving him treats and barricading him into a corner.

Amp is right imo. the dog is marking his turf, but excersise him and he should be more content as the dog whisperer would say.

That's the problem.... by giving him more attention, you are encouraging his behavior...

I laughed! :1orglaugh

I walked into a residence on Sunday and I saw a dog shit on the floor near the reception. Be careful - dogs are very big animals. Sometimes they are not clean. In my life, I have also seen a cat that was trained to go to the toilet like a human being. However, the cat could not learn to flush.

I completely agree. Dogs and cats will often 'act out' when they don't feel well. Maybe it's jealousy, but it may be something else.

I once heard of a couple with a new baby requesting visitors that came to see their new addition to first play with the dog. No idea if that actually helped, but it seemed like a thoughtful consideration on the owners part.

I wish I could but even so he really doesn't need it imo. It is 100 degrees plus outside right now, the baby can hardly stand to be out of the air conditioning for long and my husband is gone from 4am til 7:30pm right now.

I have a pretty big house and yard he runs around in all day. It was okay for the first 3.5 years! The dog is pretty well ran out by the end of the day too, as soon as the sun goes down he is asleep like a rock, sometimes sooner. He's an old dog, really more exercise isn't exactly what he needs right now, seriously. He is an old sack of bones, and still eats a ton because he is super active.

Plus in this crazy hot weather it runs him ragged just being outside for about 15 minutes at a time. He has a great life! I don't want to contain him forever, just until he realizes he can't keep peeing inside. And just at night, when he pees.

It can be done! I don't know much on the whole kids and dogs other than my aren't around any kids. When I was growing up tho we had a toy poodle who shit in front of the fish tank EVERY morning. My mom used to joke about how he was shitting for the fish god's LOL But I know she hatted it. We had to get rid of that dog because of the whole shitting thing.

We had three dogs when our daughter was born two years ago. As of last month, we now have none. My chihuahua was peeing all over the place, even though he had been housebroken for years. He has been with my grandmother for 5 weeks or so now, and not a single accident in the house.

Aside from the one stolen from us, the other two went to family. While I do miss my dogs, I feel our quality of life has improved as a result.

Hopefully when we're out of the city and have a nice big yard, we'll have a nice big dog to run around it.

hah, I was waiting for your comment. So your dog started peeing too? damn.

We DO have a big yard, no city life here lol. The dog has all sorts of overgrown green stuff he forages through too right now in the hot summer. He loves it. He doesn't catch anything, but you can't walk outside and not see lizards and huge dragonfly things. He chases everything. He is just really stubborn and I hope he stops this peeing problem.

This is the worst place for unwanted pets too. They euthanize them within 5 days or less at the shelters. I rescued two kittens recently that were born outdoors and about to die, and it took me like 2 months to find someone to adopt them. That was another bad pet story.

Turbo Angel, I think you're on to something. The dog is just rebelling. Fucking asshole, what to do. He's going to torment me another 6-8 years at least, watch. :1orglaugh

... and let me add. We live in South Louisiana. I forget the exact square footage of our property, but it is a double sized lot. The house is 5 bedrooms and three bathrooms, pretty big house. The dog has a huge backyard and dog door, and runs the entire place all day. He is a small breed too, and there are three steps he goes up and down all day. Compared to the dogs around here, he has it made.

dog sounds jealous and mad

Marking his territory. Jealous as well. It will pass. Try introducing the baby to him more. Try holding the baby in your arms with the dogs head on your lap. Make it a normal thing. My 15 year old dog went through similar when our first baby was brought into the house. Didn't pee, but she is a girl, and she did show the jealous whining stuff quite a bit.

Yep...rebelling is exactly what I felt my little guy was doing. He'd spend two hours outside and come inside to piss all over the floor.

I put up a fight for a bit, but he just wasn't letting up. He loves my Grandma and her dog, so he's living it up over there now. And I can see him whenever I want.

I would like to say it would have passed, but the kids aren't going anywhere and he was only getting worse. Seeing that he stopped that shit immediately upon arrival at my Gram's, it's obvious he was acting out.

When I had my baby I at first thought I'd be able to "manage" it, but I quickly came to my senses and realized that it's just not worth the risk. It's a baby.

My family from Mexico was visiting to see his first days, and so I sent the dog home with them to Mexico, where he promptly kicked their old rottweilers ass and took his house.

They tried to give him away many times to friends and neighbours who wanted him, but he always bit them and was returned the same day.

He only bit me once while I tried to disengage him from a dogfight... but he was snappy no doubt. I got him when he was about 2 years old, he was found running along the highway. I think he was part of a pack of hunting dogs (he was a Viszla) and jumped off their truck.

Just couldn't trust him.

I use to train dogs. And trust me I have experienced some of what Cesar does first hand. Assuming the dog does not have a health issue - You brought in a new member of the pack in the form of your baby. You say you give the dog more treats and spend more time with him etc. Why? You are just encouraging his bad behavior.

Show the dog that you are the pack leader and that is your space that he pees on. Claim it as your own and not his. What your dog needs is discipline. Walks where you control him. Times when he comes in the house and you set the rules as to where and what he can do. Never reward the dog with a treat or attention unless he has deserved it. A new member of the family "pack" can be confusing for a dog. The dog feels that his role has changed.

Okay then more discipline. That's easy.

But I just got home from running errands and caught him peeing again. lol

The dog was fixed at 5 months old and never lifted his leg to pee, but seems to do it now occasionally. What I caught him doing is lifting his leg to pee on my husband's bike tire. Not that he exclusively pees near the bike, but I just realized he smells the foreign dirt and that definitely encourages him to pee near the bike tire. Hmm so one more thing to watch out for. Putting the bike in the garage now.

I will win this battle. I will win!

My best friend has a crazy black lab and a 6 month old baby. Recently, the dog started peeing on the floor and even on the couch.

Her husband refused to believe it because he never saw the dog doing it, but when the couch started smelling like piss, he finally had to admit it. It's disgusting and ridiculous and I have no idea what they are going to do when this baby starts walking.

All this said, I firmly believe that it's because they don't control this dog in general. The dog is rewarded with attention EVERY time it does something bad (oh, you silly dog, you aren't supposed to jump on visitors! pet pet pet snuggle) and is NEVER punished for doing something wrong.

It also only goes outside to pee/poop. They never go out and play with the dog.

Sounds like your situation isn't as severe, but probably the same basic underlying issues with the treat increase, etc.

Most of the time dogs that have been housebroken suddenly start having accidents, we assume something is wrong and start looking for a urinary tract infection. If that has been ruled out also worry about kidney or bladder stones. If the vet gives you the all clear, you should start over by running the dog thru a feeding and watering schedule allowing 2 hours to turn water into pee, and 12 hours to turn food into poop. Make sure that you make the dog go thru the dog door every time that he has access to go to the potty area. Also the only time that you can legitimate correct a dog for the accident is if you SEE it happen, after the fact corrections are ineffective except to convince the dog that you are mad...(they already know it by the way) Some dogs do have separation anxiety type responses once the dog has become accustomed to the baby, you should be walking the dog on a regular basis with the baby so that you can make the baby into a pack leader by simply putting them in the stroller out in front. Also work on building independence in the dog's brain by encouraging them to stay across the room from you, not staying so close. Don't allow them to "Velcro" themselves to you, and make sure that you are still spending some time with the dog just to hang out. Questions? Call my dog trainer (betterdog.com)


She helped me on this post.

As said above the BABY has to become a pack leader. Also, if the dog starts lifting the leg and never did that before, that is a sign of dominance. This dog thinks he is the pack leader and most likely he is...

100% correct! The dog must now be socialized to the child but must NEVER be left alone with the child, at least until the kid is a lot bigger. The dog WILL treat the child as a puppy and could quite unintentionally injur or kill the baby.

A great product to eliminate the piss odor is Knockout, which is available at your local janitorial supply. Ammonia and bleach do NOT work and will ruin your shit.

You must also be careful during socialization that the dog does not in its mind "adopt" the child as its own! This too can lead to very real issues, most of which involve blood loss and you would then have only yourself to blame!

Sally.

You got it!

Sally.

Yea, this happens. Hes letting you and the baby know hes there... like above posted... he presenting his dominance. You need to "break" that... Not saying beat his ass. but yell at him, rub his nose. and take something from him. all at once though. Just like you trained him to be housebroken before just take those steps again.

Now don't get mad at me but the OP doesn't need to "take" anything from the dog. The OP needs to add the infant to the pack and make the dog aware of it, such that the animal does not feel displaced. Limits must be set as well and it must be made clear to the animal that the baby is "MINE!", 'cause if it ain't "MINE!", it is the dog's!

LOL!

Just the way the dogs think!

When the dog realizes that the baby is part of the pack but nevertheless "MINE!", the baby becomes HIS by default, then don't even try to fuck with the baby. The dog will die in defense of the human pup.

Of course, if the OP is not the PACK LEADER, all of this means nothing. My big dog weighs in at around 140 lbs and can lick me in the face when he stands up and that's quite a feat because I am over six feet tall. He is a big pussy, mostly wanting his belly rubbed but he scares the shit out of most people who see him. His half-sister is the indoor dog but she is little, only about 65 lbs.

I have nieces and nephews who when they visit the big dog, he grovels but he's just so damn big that he is only allowed kisses through the fence and treats tossed to him by the littl'uns. He must still respond to a command like, "Sit!". which commands are delivered by the children as they too must be pack leaders as they are humans.

Five-year-old pack leaders are a real sight because they then grow up that way.

How you treat your animals is a very good measure of how you treat your kids.

Sally.

Our cat of sixteen years died last week. It was odd. The past month she had a huge weight loss, and pretty much stayed in our closet coming out only to eat and crap. One afternoon she came out into the hall, we pet her a bit, and then later we found her dead - in my kid's room.

Six months ago our dog pissed in the house, in our kid's room. Since then ever time we leave the house we've been locking the door outside. Dog still sleeps inside with no issues. Just this past week we've started leaving her inside for a bit when we leave the house.

:1orglaugh

My dog tried doing the same thing when my brother's dog was here for a week. Just marking territory.

The pair of them also seemed to go outside and compete as to who could piss on more of the garden :upsidedow

Need to keep the dog knowing it's place now though - give it more attention and it will play up to it. It's got to learn the baby ranks higher than it.

Let the baby kick the dog's ass...

man this dog is an asshole, I am going to start holding the baby when I scold him I think. argh

Finally someone suggested something other than "more discipline." I'd definitely look for a UTI or medical reason first. With a 6 month old baby I doubt it's behavioral. I bet you would have had problems before now. I bet it burns when Fido pees, that's it.

Can you explain the turds he's been dropping on occasion too? Right at the foot of the stairs. :1orglaugh

I believe that your dog is either not feeling well or is in need of your attention. A 20 min walk a day or every other day would prob take care of the attention thing. Hope you get it worked out.

It does no good to yell at a dog. Trust me. Yelling at a dog can just lead to other more serious issues.

You betcha! Sally Rand awards your post FIVE out of five stars!

Sally.

Doe he pee in the utility room because he can smell baby pee in there, if there's clothes waiting to be washed etc.


My female dog dug 12 holes in the garden and used to steal stuff around the house and put them in the holes after I had my kid, the vet said she thought she was pregnant.

I read and hear stories in the media every year about the family pet mauling/killing their child. The parents involved state that they just don't understand it...the dog was always so gentle with the child. Maybe the dog has a tooth ache...or stomach ache...etc...or maybe the child did something to hurt the dog...or maybe they are just having a bad hair day/off day. This happens when the dog is bigger and stronger than the child...thus I conclude that people should not have a dog that is bigger and stronger than their child.

It is not breed specific either...although it is fact that some breeds...can and do more damage...when they attack.

Even a tiny dog can give a nasty bite so it's not just about having a big strong dog.

Small children will always push their luck with pulling a dogs tail to see how it reacts or something else silly and it doesn't matter how docile the dog is you can only push any animal so far before it eventually has a go back.

Simple answer... you lost your role as alpha... and in the confusion of the new mess, the dog has assumed that this new entity is making a show for it.

My 2 cents... anytime... ever... in any situation when you lose control of your dog... realize, and be ok with the fact that it is 100% your fault, deal with it, and move on.

New baby in the house means most of the pups old attention, whether it be behavior modification, or just hanging out, now has transferred to the baby. If you wish for the dog to remain well behaved... give the dog the attention it deserves, or be prepared for far worse than a few piss stains in the corner.

I have a dog who has acted aggressive towards other people's children and keep him on a leash around them and seperated from them. I've been told that aggressive dogd can sense weakness in children and the elderly and realize they can dominate them. As Caesar says, with pack animals it's all about domination. I wouldn't leave a 2 lb dog alonearound a child for even 2 seconds.