Urination in the house

[LUVMYROTTNBOY]

Im pet sitting for a notweiler, (GSD mix) and she has been with us for 4 days now. I know the dog, she knows me but I have never spent more than one day with her. She has some behavior issues one being urination when she gets excited (someone new comes home, she gets punished etc.) She gets along fine with my dog and everything seems to be going ok for the past 4 days.

However today she urinated in the house on carpet twice. Once in front of my husband, once in front of Me! The time she did it in front of me she walked past my dog (laying down chewing on his bone) turned around and Squatted on the floor looking right at ME. I got up and moved her (I did not yell or anything, I was to shocked to yell) and placed her outside. I have banished her to an area we can clean more easily. My question is how many days would you wait before ruling out a bladder infection?

Her owners come home next week, they have told me I could take her into the vet, but apt is most likely going to happen next week anyway. Could she be under stress from the pet sitting thing? She is 4yrs old, never been away from her home, hardly been outside of the home/yard area, Obese, her food was just changed to a "low cal" diet. She is a very sensitive dog and very needy. I also checked for any signs of inflammation or redness around her vaginal area and found nothing atypical.

Sorry this is so long.

[Judi W]

I suspect she also pisses in her own home and they conveniently didn't think to let you know.

[LUVMYROTTNBOY]

I called to check with them and they reported no incidents. She will go back home on Monday. I do kind of think this is more behavior then a UTI. She is going to have a pet sitter stay wither her in her own home until the owners come home later in the week. The pet sitter will monitor her to see if she continues to act this way. If she continues to pee inside I will urge them to take her to the vet just to check.

Thanks for your quick response, Im real glad I was able to get her back into her own home. I dont want Zeiss to get any new ideas .

[Judi W]

Mark me a skeptic! xxxxxxxxxxxxx

[Diva'sOwner]

Might be submissive urination. I don't know if dogs do that in some situations but not in others. Could be that she is being submissive to you guys. You will definitely know more once she's back at home. It's a great thing that you found a petsitter to stay with her. If the peeing is stress related, even having a petsitter at home instead of her regular people might stress her out enough to pee.

[dmoniz]

If she is 4 years old and has never been outside her home she may have never learned to generalize the no peeing inside rule. She isn't supposed to pee inside her house but other houses are ok...

[Judi W]

Yep, I'll have to vote with dmoniz. That is quite logical if they say she does not relieve herself at home and this does't sound like medical peeing to me.

[StephanieandToby]

Originally Posted by Judi W

I suspect she also pisses in her own home and they conveniently didn't think to let you know.

This happens to me quite often when I am pet-sitting a new dog. I ask if there is anything "I should know about" and the owner says, "Oh, noooo...she's just fine!!" Then the dog is lousy ,and when the owners return they say something like, "Oh...well, she nips sometimes." or, "Yeah...she'll pee in a strange place." ...............These pooches get "black-listed" and I'll only pet-sit them in their own home (or not at all), so the owners can enjoy the wet carpet under their feet when they return.
Not saying that's the case for you, but it happens more often than you'd like to think!

[Judi W]

Well, that kind of thing is why I said I am a skeptic! Same as after dog bites someone - oh, she's very friendly, she just doesn't like people who wear green socks or xxxxxxxxxxxx

[LUVMYROTTNBOY]

Thanks guys, I did not think I needed to worry about the UTI thing, she is very sweet dog, but not trained at all. I have told her owners over, and over and over, they need to socalize, train etc, but as of yet no luck. If I had time I would work with her myself, but Zeiss keeps me busy.

[Judi W]

well, it is not your job to train their dog. Yes, she is better kept in her own home. Call it a lesson learned. I will care for a neighbor's dog now and then, but by stopping in at their home, I do not take them into my own. The doggy houseguests I take into my home are usually stopping by for shows to be handed to a handler or some such, but these are dogs who travel, understand crates and how to be with different people. Not the same thing as someone's favorite pet that has no experience with the outside world. That is not even fair to the dog. I'm sure she is very glad to be home again.