scratching the bed and urinating

[Abo]

Aiden normally kicks and scrapes the ground after he poops but sometimes he also does it to an area before settling down to sleep (e.g., sofa, bed, etc). He scratches his bed and turns around and scratches again. A couple of times he peed during the process but he didn't squat to pee as he normally does. Does anyone know why he is scratching his bed like he does before he gets ready to poop and why he would pee on his bed? I also think that when he pees while he scratches it is not intentional and it just comes out and he is not entirely in control of it. I can't figure out this bizarre behavior and it is getting tiring to wash his bed. Thanks!

[French Queen]

Hi - I dont know how old Aiden is but I suspect from this behavior he is reaching maturity.

Has anything changed in his routine at home or has anything happened to him ?think hard it could be something so stupid you may not realize it. If this behavior has just started he could be feeling insecure about something or worried, they like to mix their scent with a familiar scent it comforts them & he is going to make sure his property stays his.

When you wash his bed the clean smell to him is unpleasant so he covers it with his own smell, I would take his bed away & give him a piece of vet bedding/blanket to lie on so he can get his scent on it & providing he hasn't peed on it put it on top of his clean bed & see if this helps.

You could buy a waterproof bed but to be honest he needs to be taught that this is unacceptable behavior & unless you catch him in the act he wont realize he is doing wrong so be vigilant any sighs that he is about to wee tell him off & take him outside.

Dogs do like to make little nests for themselves by scratching up their beds they have to have them just right, I've seen mine be on ten minutes just to get it right.

Dogs have scent glands in their feet they will often scrape their back legs after going to the toilet to mark their territory he is telling other dogs that he was there. They start to do it when they mature, all my males do it, some bitches do it too, our Jade does it. It's not uncommon to get hit by flying grass, soil, gravel etc... if your in the firing line :lol:

French Queen & the little clowns :)

[Abo]

Thanks so much for the information about the glands in his feet and marking his bed as his. I'll get a piece of bedding for him to use to get his scent on and then put over his bed.

He is actually 3 years old. We got him when he was 15 months old from a breeder and it has been extremely difficult housetraining him since he didn't like his crate (we tried different types--hard and soft). I suspect that the crate was overused for him and that he got used to peeing and pooping in it so I set up a pen with his bed in it since he really likes it and goes to it when we are home. That seemed to work for a while and then he started peeing in it during the day and the past 2 weeks he started peeing on it during the night. I haven't caught him because I would wake up to his scratching (1 am) and he had already peed.

I'm going to think about what has changed in his routine. Last night he didn't pee in his bed during the night :) . I took away his water at 9pm (his last walk is between 10-10:30) so that hopefully will help too.

I think that there are possible separation anxiety issues so I've been working on that too (not making a big deal coming and going, stopped letting him have access to our bed through doggy stairs, etc).

[pugsnfrenchie]

It could be seperation anxiety, as you did state. I found what helped my pug was to make sure before I left I had a routine and stuck with it. I gave him a kong stuffed with no fat plain organic yogurt that had been frozen and did not talk to him before I left. When I come home, I do not talk to him or pet him until he calms down. This way leaving and coming home is not a big deal with him.

Rocky also kicks up dirt after his does #2, but doesn't scratch inside. Could it be marking in some way?

[French Queen]

Hi there - if this problem has just started in the last two weeks are you sure he hasn't as urine infection ? So did anything changed in his routine ?

If he doesnt have an infection I would go back to basics with him, start as if he was a ten week old pup. If he is weeing more during the night set your alarm to go off & take him out

If you think he has separation anxiety & he is worse at night put an article of clothing with your scent on in with him, do you have a touch lamp ?, you touch it once with your finger to increasing the lighting, I find these are good for young pups it makes them feel more secure when I turn the main light off , I put this lamp on at the lowest setting so you can just about see. You could buy a (DAP Diffuser) it's dog appeasing pheromones, it can help them to overcome fear & stress, you just plug it in any socket. I would get the DAP spray also, you can spray this directly onto his bedding. You can buy these online.

Don't withhold his water at night , you may think this will solve his problem but it really wont & he will need more water if he is on a complete dry diet.


French Queen & the little clowns :)

[Abo]

Thanks so much for the advice about separation anxiety. I do think that we have to start over again with housetraining. I've heard about the pheromone releasing products that reduce anxiety. I wasn't sure how well they work but I'll definitely try it out. Also, I didn't know that they make a spray, which would be good to spray on his bed.

Housetraining Aiden is quite a task because it seems like he doesn't mind soiling the area he sleeps in and doesn't mind being confined in a soiled area (crate, pen, etc). All of the housetraining books and posts I've read say that dog like to be clean and have their sleeping area clean but he doesn't seem to conform to this idea. Also, when I've tried wee wee pads, it turns out he likes to sleep on them instead of peeing or pooping on them.