Are there Medical Reasons for Your Dog’s Housebreaking Issues?

There are dog behaviors that naturally lend themselves to obedience training. Behaviors, such as begging at the table and pulling on walks are relatively easy to train a dog out of. For these behaviors, Sit Means Sit is happy to be your partner, and we offer dog obedience classes and individual training. Others behaviors have deeper roots and have to be resolved by using a multi-pronged approach. One such behavior is housebreaking an older dog. We’ve made a list of things to consider when dealing with an older dog who is eliminating in the house.

• Has this dog ever been fully trained? If you’ve adopted an older dog and don’t know its history, you may need to use training techniques that are usually used to train a puppy.
• Is there something medically wrong with the dog? Some dogs are prone to urinary tract infections. Other medical reasons a dog might eliminate in the house include parasites, a blockage, intestinal issues, tumors, and the list goes on.
• Dietary changes can also cause elimination problems in a dog. If you’ve changed your dog’s food, you may need to change it again or introduce it more slowly. Some dogs have infamously sensitive stomachs.
• If the dog is a spayed female, did the surgery nick a nerve and make bladder control an issue for her?
• Is you dog now considered geriatric? Older dogs often have trouble controlling their bladders.

The first thing to do is to eliminate the possibility that a medical reason is causing this behavior in your dog. When you dog has been given a clean bill of health, you can move on to treat it as a behavioral problem. Call us at 321.248.5966 for information about dog obedience classes.