What's going on with my 2 year-old, Weezy?????

[Joanna and the Weez]

All of a sudden she's started peeing on the couch!! It's awful! I'm making it sound like it happens all the time, but it's actually only (only?!) happened twice in the last week. I haven't caught her doing it, but have discovered it later. I have several questions. 1) Why is she doing this???? 2) How can I get her to stop? and 3) How can I get the smell out? My husband wants us to get a new couch, but I don't want to spend all that money and then have her do it again. I've tried using the Nature's miracle and it helps to a point, but not completely. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[Julie]

How old is the dog? Have there been any changes in your normal day to day lives that would make her want attention? Let us get a little bit of backround on the doxie and we will see what we come up with.

[Julie]

It's me again. I didn't realize that you had "2-year old" in the subject line of your message

[Mickamack]

Well, my Mickey started peeing unexplicably too. With him, even though he was completely housebroken, he started peeing in the house, on the carpet, on the couch, and best yet, on our bed. Try washing a queen-sized comforter!

The first thing I did was take him to the vet. I wanted to rule out an infection. I wanted to make sure that he didn't have a kidney or bladder infection, which he didn't..thankfully.

The next step was to test for diabetes. Has Weez been drinking a lot lately? That is sometimes a symptom of diabetes. If she has been, she might not be able to control her bladder as normal. My vet told me that diabetes is pretty rare for a dog that young. He said it's more common for a dog at least 4 yrs of age.

Once tested, we found that Mickey didn't have diabetes either...again thankfully! What the vet thought might be the problem was Mickey's mental state. Mickey had been fixed about 1 month previous to the peeing incidents. My vet thought that some dogs were more "sensitive" and reacted strongly to events they felt were "traumatic", like getting fixed, I guess.

My vet wanted to give Mick some "happy pills" to help him get out of his quandry, but we didn't want to medicate him like that, so we just showed him some extra love and attention for a few weeks, and he snapped right out of it.

My suggestion is that you go see your vet. Rule out all possibilities of an infection or disease. It could be a number of things, but it could also just be a phase that she's going through.

Until then, you are going to have to keep a closer eye on her. No more on the couch, unless you're there to watch her. And I would take her out more frequently, to encourage her to empty her bladder more often.

Please, let us know how you make out.

Karen

[Wienergal]

Joanna, Mickamack gave you exactly the advice I would have given! First, keep her off the sofa for now, unless she is in your lap...and you don't mind a damp lap!

Second, head for the vet ASAP! There are so many possible causes of incontinence, and it might be just a quirky phase she is going through. You must rule out all the medical possibilities, though. Is Weezy taking any medication right now?

Finally,be sure to use a good, nontoxic, enzymatic cleaner on your sofa. You might even want to have the sofa profesionally cleaned. When I get my carpets done every year, I always have my sofa done too--it isn't very expensive. Remember that, even when YOU can't smell an odor, your doggie can, so it's important to remove all residue.

Keep us posted, will you?

[Joanna and the Weez]

Thanks, everyone! I'll get Weezy to the vet ASAP. She seems to be okay, though. In fact, we went on vacation and took her with us - from California to Florida (via airplane) and then camping the weekend we got back. She was perfect the whole time and I worried that all the changes would throw her for a loop. Now this. I think I will have the couch professionally cleaned. Good idea. I'll keep you posted!

[Penny's Aunt]

Be sure to tell the cleaners what they're dealing with, it may affect what they use.