Dog urinating in house after neutering

[laura301091]

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Hi, we got our JRT neutered last week and he seems to be getting back to his usual happy self. The only thing that is happening is he keeps peeing in the house, not all the time, it seems to be at 4 - 5 in the morning I hear him whine, when I go into him to bring him out he pees in his crate straight away. I know it may just be a result of the surgery as its still early days but he isn't peeing any other time and he is in the house during the day for a good 8 hours on his own when we are at work. He gets plenty of walks and I always take him out at around 11 at night just before bed. Any suggestions as to why he is doing this? I'm hoping he hasn't an infection.

 

[gypsysmum]

First thing is to get a urine sample to the vet for testing. If vet gives him the all clear then the next thing is to find out why he would do this. It is very unusual for dogs to urinate on their beds. Is his crate so big that he can move off his bed to urinate or does he cock his leg through the bars to miss his bed?

Is he worried about anything as that can make dogs pee to relieve anxiety? If so you may need help, from a behaviourist, to resolve those issues.

If he can move off his bed then try to make the crate smaller by putting a cardboard box, or similar, at one end so that he only has room for his bed left in the crate. Or you could borrow a small crate that just accommodates him with no room to move off his bed to pee.

If he is cocking his leg through the bars, then you need to line the crate inside, with plastic of some sort, so that the urine does not leave the crate.

The idea is that if he urinates he will have to sleep on it. It is against most dogs instincts to do this. Never chastise dogs that urinate, inappropriately, as this can make them worse.

Now Jack Russels can be quite difficult to house train but, if he is reliable in all other respects, then the above should work.

It is always worth while, after changes like neutering, to go back to basics with house training and reward him for peeing outside. The reward must arrive just as he pees, not when he comes to you, so you need to be there, with him, when he pees. With this extra training it is hoped that he will hold on at 4am while you get him released from his crate so that he can get the, high value, treat that is, usually, on offer for peeing in the garden.

Be very boring, when getting up at 4am. No talking to him or fussing of him (do the treat training during the day/evening but not at 4am). You don't want him to be trying to get you up, with the pretext of needing to pee, so that he can have some attention or a treat! Just out, wait for pee, back to his crate. Ignore him if he jumps up or whines for attention etc. 4am is for sleeping not playing!

You don't say how old he is but if he is old enough to be neutered he should be old enough to hold on through the night?

 

[laura301091]

Well we have an appointment with the vet tomorrow so I'll maybe be able to get a urine sample to them tomorrow. Yea his crate is an extra large one as he is in it when we are out and we wanted him to have as much room as possible. Both nights that he has whined and urinated he's been standing at the gate of his crate waiting to be let out but then as soon as he sees me he starts, so I don't even have a chance to do anything. He urinated on his blanket because he'd pulled it down to the bottom but he wasn't cocking his leg.

He's one and a half and was well house trained when we got him, this is the first this has happened so I was assuming it is related to the neutering or I'm hoping it is. He hasn't urinated at any other time during the day, he waits until I get home from work and take him for a walk. But like you say he may need a bit of house training again. I've put training pads down for him so if he does go hopefully it'll be on them.

But have the vets tomorrow so I'm hoping they'll be able to check him out to make sure everything is ok and if it is I'll know he needs trained again.