ABSTRACT: In this, the second of two articles giving first aid advice to enable nursing staff to help the owner of the house-soiling dog, we consider initial advice for owners of dogs whose house-soiling activity may be associated with anxiety or fear. The welfare of such dogs is a particular concern, as any frustration or anger that owners display on returning home to a mess wilt further enhance the dog's distress and may exacerbate the problem. Although such problems will need the intervention of a behaviourist who can assist the family in modifying their pet s environment and its behaviour, first aid advice is essential in helping owners to understand what should be done immediately, why they should remain calm and why specialist help is necessary.

The previous article considered house- soiling problems that were a result of incomplete house training, but where underlying medical causes have been ruled out, house-soiling problems in a fully house-trained dog may be a sign that a pet is not coping in a home as well as its owners think.

Much of this type of house soiling occurs as a result of anxiety and the damage caused by owner response can result in a dog living for many years in a reduced state of welfare. The environmental results of such long-term house soiling – ruined flooring and furniture – can result in immense distress to the pets' families (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Owners need to understand that they should never punish a dog that has soiled in the home – it will simply make the dog anxious and possibly make the soiling problem worse

Anxiety is an anticipatory state, and the anticipation may be positive or negative in its nature. Either state can initiate a stress response that may include spontaneous urination or even defecation. In the last article, the use of video footage was mentioned – this can be useful in assisting owners to understand when soiling occurs and what else is occurring in the environment, not least, their own behaviour.

It can also be useful if nursing staff observe the video, as they may be able to spot anxiety related behaviours, such as lip licking, panting, pacing or yawning that owners may have missed. They may also be able to point out owner or visitor behaviours that initiate problems.

Early issues – excitement and submission urination

Although these conditions are generally associated with the puppy or juvenile dog, they can extend into adulthood, particularly if an enthusiastic puppy has been punished for urination on greetings, leading it to engage in appeasement type behaviours that are often referred to as submissive.

Puppies are naturally excitable during greetings, leading to bladder responses linked to raised emotions; but puppies also have a wide variety of submissive behaviours, and with little understanding of their environment and the level of threat that it contains, they offer appeasement or submission in a range of circumstances. As urination is a natural part of juvenile canine behaviour on reunification with a larger con-specific from the group, it can quickly become part of the greeting response to humans.

In both cases, it is important that owners: fail to respond in any way to the urination; reduce all possibility of excitement; and remove any potential misinterpretation of threat. If the family’s greeting response on entering the home or a room initiates urination, the family should ignore the puppy and attempt to restrict movements that might be misinterpreted – not staring at or bending over the puppy to greet it and not bending down to tickle an exposed tummy.

Many dogs like to carry a soft toy or other item in their mouth at times of emotional arousal and excitement, so having such toys available, in places that owners know are likely to initiate urination, can offer the dog an alternative to submission. A small, robust plastic or rubber toy can be smeared with a small blob of cheese spread or other favourite. This can be offered to the dog, which can then be moved into another space, away from the group, and allowed to calm down.

If problems continue the family should be referred to a behaviourist.

It’s scary out there

It may sound fanciful, but many dogs are simply too anxious when outside the home to relax sufficiently to toilet while being exercised. On their return, such individuals may then toilet in the garden; but if the owner assumes that, having been outside the home for some time, they simply don’t ‘need to go’, then these dogs are likely to toilet on re-entering the home.

These dogs need to be given sufficient time to toilet in their garden latrine both before – as exercising on a full bladder must be extremely uncomfortable – and after, their exercise. But owners should be made aware of the likely level of anxiety that such dogs experience whilst outside the home and a referral to a behaviour specialist should be arranged.

Making their mark

‘Marking’ is frequently misidentified as urination – this mainly occurs in males (other than bitches in oestrus). It occurs more frequently than urination and in smaller volumes, often in obvious or visible places.

Traditionally, it has been assumed that urine marking is the behaviour of a confident dog, effectively leaving ‘territorial graffiti’ for other dogs to read and shudder. It is time for our inner psychologist to re-examine this theory.

With the exception of the sexually entire dog leaving a sexually relevant message, since when has any truly confident individual had to boost his confidence by leaving ‘Post-it’ notes around the environment to remind him of how confident he feels?

So, perhaps the dog that urine marks in the home has some anxiety issues that it is attempting to resolve by ensuring that the home has a more familiar olfactory profile. In which case, the timing and positioning of urine marks become extremely relevant, as do other issues within the home that may have destabilised the dog’s perception of its capacity to relax (Figure 2).

Figure 2: Urine marking inside the home is likely to be associated with anxiety

Unfortunately, this type of behaviour may have been occurring in discrete areas of the home for years, so that the initiating factors may be hard to fathom; but owner response will be crucial – and any attempt to startle (rather than gently distract or punish) will have a further negative effect.

Owing to misunderstandings over its nature, neutering has been a frequently suggested treatment for marking problems, but it is unlikely to help and, through lowering testosterone levels and their effect on confidence, neutering may actually intensify the pro
blem.

Owners may need help in identifying triggers – after all, no owner likes the idea that their home environment is distressing for their pet. So a timeline of changes to the home and daily events, associated with marking activity, may be useful. Once triggers have been identified, they need to be eliminated – by changing the family’s routine or even ensuring that the pet isn’t exposed to certain events or sights. This may mean blocking views of the garden and other places.

As in nearly all anxiety-related issues in the home, stress reducing nutraceuticals and pheromone diffusers may be useful (the diffuser should be placed close to the dog’s bed) and the dog’s perception of safety will be significantly dependent on whether the bed is actually in a safe and quiet place.

Once again, if the family continue to struggle to resolve the problem after implementing the above, they are likely to need further advice following a referral.

Isolation issues

Anxiety about – or fear of – being left alone in a home can occur for an infinite number of reasons and at any stage in a dog’s life. Videos of the dog’s behaviour when isolated should be carefully observed for anxiety related behaviours –   the most obvious being pacing and panting, although some dogs may appear completely relaxed as their responses become inhibited by anxiety. Many of these dogs will 'house soil’ in the first half hour of owner absence, and if pacing back and forth this can leave a trail of urine or faeces throughout the available area – even more distressing for owners than discrete piles or pools!

Some of these anxious dogs have developed a genuine separation anxiety associated with an unhealthy level of attachment to an owner. Such dogs may also soil the room when owners move to another part of the house, leaving the dog behind; or simply when the family go to bed at night. Other dogs may simply have failed to become competent at remaining socially isolated as puppies.

Some have experienced a negative event during owner absence – a firework display, building work, a new boiler firing up or other noisy piece of domestic equipment. Such dogs may be fearful or even phobic of these events. Elderly dogs can lose previous coping strategies, suddenly experiencing anxiety in the home, particularly when left alone.

Videos can be invaluable in helping to differentiate between the above scenarios and may even help to identify the anxiety- eliciting trigger. However, at the very least they can be an essential tool in helping owners to understand the level of their dog’s distress, helping them to reassess the dog’s motivation – which may have previously been considered to be associated with wilful misbehaviour or attempts to ‘punish’ owners for leaving them alone.

As with all anxiety-based issues, there are immediate first-aid procedures that can help to reduce the dog’s level of distress:

•   an immediate cessation of punishment;

•   a safe place to hide;

•   anxiety reducing nutraceuticals and pheromone products;

•   a reduction in exposure to intensive domestic situations; and

•   an increase in mental stimulation, particularly during owner absence.

However, these dogs are living in a state of constant distress and it is imperative that owners understand the welfare implications associated with failing to arrange a referral to a specialist who can assist in resolving the issue.

Build me a den

Many anxious dogs engage in pacing behaviour that leads to their finding a temporary resting place and quickly restarting the pacing as the resting place failed to provide the level of safety required; others are lucky enough to already have a safe place and will hide there.

The problem for many dogs is that the place where the family has placed their bed does not coincide with their concept of a safe place. A safe place needs to be quiet, enabling the dog to escape the complexity of domestic life. A dog’s bed is often placed in a position that is aesthetically acceptable to the owners – behind the back door or by the doorway from the living area to the kitchen. This is the equivalent of a human trying to sleep in the doorway of a busy bus station!

If the dog is already choosing somewhere to hide, simply move the bed to that spot –   under a raised sofa, under a table or behind a chair. Otherwise choose a quiet area where the dog can still be aware of where family members are – preferably in a corner of inside walls – with minimal stimulation from the world outside the home.

Ideally a den has sides and a roof. Try the idea by using a cardboard box over the dog’s bed, sound-proofed by a thick blanket or duvet. If it works, it can be swapped for a more expensive crate with an attractive cover, at a later date.

The dog will not look at its new den and think At last, they understand’. It’s more likely to think ‘That’s weird and scary’. So, suggest that the owner spends time sitting quietly beside the den, dropping tasty treats inside that encourage the dog to enter, later placing a chew or tasty puzzle toy inside, encouraging the dog to spend enough¬time in the den to enable it to appreciate the advantages.

Advise the use of a pheromone diffuser to mark the safety of that specific area. If the dog likes to dig items when it is agitated, owners should provide old bits of blanket that can be raked and dug – a dog feels less distressed when it feels that it is achieving. So if digging helps, let it dig.

Conclusion

House-soiling problems have serious welfare implications for dogs and families. Any anxiety or fear-based problems are complex to resolve and are likely to require the assistance of an experienced behaviourist, but until that can be arranged the practice nurse can make substantial inroads into improving canine welfare with appropriate and timely advice. 

Author

Claire Hargrave BSc MSc PGCE CCAB

Claire is a Certified Clinical Animal Behaviourist and a Member of the Association of Pet Behaviour Counsellors who has worked in veterinary practice in numerous capacities for over 30 years.

Claire runs a specialist referral practice for companion animal behaviour cases and is located in South West Wales. www.petbehaviourwales.co.uk

To cite this article use either

DOI: 10.1111/j.2045-0648 2012.00162.x or Veterinary Nursing Journal Vol 27 pp 198-200

Further reading

BOWEN. J and HEATH. S [2005] Behaviour problems in Small Animals Practical Advice for the Veterinary Team. BSAVA Manual of Canine and Feline Behavioural Medicine 1st edition BSAVA. Gloucester

• VOL 27 • May 2012 • Veterinary Nursing Journal