7 year old dog pooing/peeing when I leave the house..

Sandor Clegane

Hey, so I have a 7 year old dog that has suddenly started peeing/pooing in the house when we're not home, just now I went to my aunts house for about an hour, came back to a poo and pee, he was left out before we went.

Any reason for this new behavior? this only happens when nobody is home and its not as if we're all gone for hours at a time, there is always usually someone in the house with him, its very seldom we're all gone at one time, but tonight was one of those nights and it was only for an hour, not even.

The dog is house trained, he never ever has an accident when I'm home, he always lets you no when he wants to go outside to toilet.

Any reasons for this?

DBB

Two possibilities.

First, if it’s something that has only recently started happening, it's imperative to get a thorough health check done, first ruling out urinary tract infections, then broadening the search if necessary. I've known dogs to start peeing in the house due to a sore tooth, so any potential pain, discomfort or infection issues need to be ruled out. At 7, this is a really good age to get a full health check done in any case.

Second, from the way you describe it, this may very well be a separation-related problem. You say there's usually someone at home, and if he's not at all used to being left alone, then even a few minutes of solitude is likely to cause him anxiety, let alone an hour or more. The feeling of anxiety and panic causes a worried dog to lose control of their toilet training. It's possible that he may also be pacing, whining, barking, and staring at the door, waiting for your return... I'd suggest setting up a webcam or similar, to try to get some idea of how he's behaving in the minutes after he has been left home alone. That'll give you a fair idea whether he's showing other anxiety-related behaviours, and therefore give you an idea of how you're going to deal with it. You may very well need guidance from a good behaviourist.