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My dog PEED on my pillow!!! HELP!!!

KAI Cikuq Lloyd

My dog peed on my pillow today!
My husband and I have spend the whole day indoors cuddling on the couch with our 2 dogs. They are both a little over a year and both housebroken. We had no real problems with our Lab Mix; he picked up on the ritual pretty quick and learned the sign if he needed to go 'potty'. On the other hand, it took us a lot of work to housebreak our Husky. He never picked up on the sign for 'potty' and he never ever had any signs if he needed to go. Now, when he hit a year in April, it seemed our patience and hard work were finally paying off. He was able to hold it longer and we are down to walking them 3 to 4 times per day. Both are doing great. We were pretty happy with their progress and started to slowly grand them more excess throughout the house. Our goal is to one day be able to leave them at home without crating them or having to put them into a designated area. When we are at home during the day, both have excess anywhere in the home, but when we are gone and during the night they only have excess to their room, where both their kennels are in, a hallway and our bedroom. They have been doing amazingly well, with NO accidents at all.

Until today, when after a whole day spending time cuddling on the couch with our dogs, I walked into our bedroom in the evening, just to find that Kai ( which was obvious because of the hair we found) had peed on my pillow. We usually make our bed because I know that every now and then they climb up and sleep there, even though they are not allowed to do it when we are at home. But not today; our bed was not made.

I don't understand why he did it. He is perfectly healthy and I give them a lot of attention and I am always making sure they both get the same amount of attention.

Please tell me it's a sign of love... :-)

I love both of my dogs the same, but somehow I do consider Kai being a mama's boy and our Lab Mix, Jack is definitely a daddy's boy... :-)

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• Experienced Advisor Rosie Barclay says:

  September 07th, 2008 at 04:45 AM

  Hi

  Dog behaviour can be a complicated process and some dog breeds can be more complicated than others. Husky’s are certainly one of those breeds. They are built for running, are independent with a strong desire to hunt. Owners often can only let the dogs off in secure areas or they may run away. Because a Husky’s exercise requirement is high many owners have to cycle or run with their dogs. They are not really a breed to cuddle all day with on the sofa.

  As he matures your Husky may begin to challenge you and weeing on pillows (scenting over the top of your scent) is one way they can do this. I feel it is very important that you seek advice from a qualified, recommended dog behaviourist (ask you vet to refer you to one) who will put you on the right track when dealing with this type of breed. Don't think you have to start stomping around the house shouting and cursing at him there are much kinder ways to show strengths. Unfortunately in the dog world equality doesn't figure much so it's important that you try and understand a bit more about dog behaviour, authors such as Gwen Bailey, Raymond Coppinger, books found on the APBC website www.apbc.org come highly recommended.

  Good luck and have fun researching.

   Rosie Barclay

   

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  Good Dog? Bad Dog?

  Good Dog? Bad Dog? By Rosie Barclay. This book concentrates on changing the traditional views of how we perceive and treat our dogs using what we have learned from scientific research so far. It starts at the beginning by looking at ways of how to chose and bring up a new puppy that may reduce the likelihood of future problems. It then goes on to cover different problems that commonly occur between owners and their maturing or adult dogs by discussing real case studies. TO BUY VISIT www.rosiebarclay.com

  

• Kristina says:

  September 07th, 2008 at 09:56 AM

  Thank you for your quick reply. I understand that Husky's were built for running and we try our hardest to go on extensive walks with them and take them to doggy parks to socialize and run as often as possible. My husband also takes him running in the mornings whenever he goes. But also when they are at home, we do not contain them, they are constantly playing and chasing each other around the house. Even though I am sure he does not feel exhausted every day, the extensive cuddling, described above, also does not happen nearly as often. I just thought that maybe the peeing was his way of telling me that he is mad with me. And I really didn't see a reason for that, since they both got so much attention throughout the day. All in all, I will be taking him to the vet soon to get his booster shot and hopefully he can give us some advice. And I will make sure to look up the recommended authors. Also, could you please explain the challenging part a little more. Is he trying to challege my position in the 'pack'? If so, why would he feel that my position could be challenged? ( I am definitely the one in control, when we take our walks and I make training part of his everyday life; for example, my husband and I are always the first ones to go through a door as the dogs sit and wait until they are called in.) Or is he trying to see how far he can go and trying to push me?? Kind of like a teenager?   Thank you for your time,   Kristina  

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• Experienced Advisor Rosie Barclay says:

  September 07th, 2008 at 11:25 AM

  HI

  There are many ways that dog's might challenge us for a resource (food, mating, sleeping areas, status, toys, attention) and sometimes it is not obvious. For instance if your dog comes to you and nudges your hand and you respond by touching him back, this might be viewed by your dog as a deferent behaviour and thus you are allowing your dog to win that challenge. As I said it’s a lot more complicated than just pushing for dominance for pack leader. I am not even convinced that dogs do fight over dominance for a position within a pack I feel that they challenge over lots of different things. Some dogs really want food and will challenge many dogs within the pack for the chance to eat first. However, others may want toys instead and are not bothered about another dog taking the food away but when it comes to squeaky duck well that’s another matter. I often see clients with several dogs and they often say "well the lab is top dog as its doesn’t let the other three eat first". Then they point out that unless it’s the sofa and then the poodle is top dog, unless it's a toy and then the terrier is. Well they can't all be top dog. It all depends on what they want and how much, how strong, brave, healthy and how strong, brave and healthy the other dog is. It's a lot more complicated than just this simple hierarchy that everyone on TV goes on about.

  So this is why it so important that you have a clear understanding of dog behaviour so you can read what your dog wants and needs and whether he is challenging you or not. Sometimes we act as if are winning the challenges and other times we back down with out knowing we are doing it and it all gets a bit frustrating for the dog and they often increase the challenge. You need to make sure you are communicating with your dog as clearly as possible and this is where a really good behaviourist is worth their weight in gold.

  Best wishes

  Rosie

   

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  Good Dog? Bad Dog?

  Good Dog? Bad Dog? By Rosie Barclay. This book concentrates on changing the traditional views of how we perceive and treat our dogs using what we have learned from scientific research so far. It starts at the beginning by looking at ways of how to chose and bring up a new puppy that may reduce the likelihood of future problems. It then goes on to cover different problems that commonly occur between owners and their maturing or adult dogs by discussing real case studies. TO BUY VISIT www.rosiebarclay.com