Ollie is treating my house like a toilet

[Amy, Cubbie & Ollie]

Hi All!  I haven’t been a very good HDA and have pretty much been MIA all summer.  Sorry about that.  I had some stuff going on in my personal life and was making some adjustments and living life and one thing led to another and my DK time drastically declined.  Hope you have all been well.

 

I’m back here today looking for some help and insightfulness that I know can always be found on DK.  Here is the background to the situation…

 

Ollie has NEVER had an accident in the house.  This is the dog that didn’t go potty for over 21 hours when I first brought him home after his adoption.  Suddenly he has started going to the bathroom in the house (pee and poop).  On September 20^th I took Ollie to the regular vet because he wasn’t eating (he is normally a piggy-doodle) and he wasn’t being very responsive.  Over the week or week and a half prior he had become more and more picky with his food and wasn’t eating as much.  Everything else seemed normal though so I wasn’t super worried since I have another very picky doodle in the house.  Well on the 20^th I couldn’t get him to eat anything.  He wouldn’t even touch his favorites (raw dog food, peanut butter, cheese).  I took him to the regular vet and they did some blood work and recommended that he spend the night at the animal emergency hospital.  When we picked him up later the next evening we were told that he had Addison’s disease and that he would need a shot once a month for the rest of his life in addition to lifelong steroids.  He has been acting mostly normal since we picked him up.  He has a larger appetite, but that is a side effect of the steroids.  He has also seemed to be a little more grumpy growly with the other dogs in the house.  He will growl if they walk too close to him when I’m prepping their meals or if he has a toy.  He has even started growling at them if they walk by while I’m sitting with him on the couch giving him snuggles.  The vet said that this could also be another side effect of the steroids.  I can deal with all that, but less than a week after he got home from the hospital he started going to the bathroom in the house.  I came home from work one day to find dog poop in the bonus room upstairs.  I typically have the upstairs closed off but that particular morning I forgot, though he did have access to the outside potty area via a doggie door so he could’ve gone out had he needed to go.  I cleaned up the poop and sprayed the carpet really well with Nature’s Miracle.  A day or two after that I let him out in the morning where he promptly peed and then came inside for his biscuit.  I went upstairs to shower (the dogs normally go back to bed while I get ready for work until it is breakfast time).  Ollie raced up the stairs before me like normal only to go and start pooping right outside the closed door to the bonus room.  Then sometime during the weekend after his hospital stay he peed on the bathmat outside my shower.  I don’t know when, but I eventually noticed a smell that got worse and worse.  Another incident occurred after I gave him a bath one night.  As I was gathering all the towels up to throw in the washer he peed in the hallway near the bonus room.  He had been outside not even an hour and a half before.  Last night I was putting laundry away and saw him trot down the hall past me away from the bonus room.  I went in there and he had peed on the carpet (in a different spot than the first pooping incident).  I cleaned it up, sprayed it with Nature’s Miracle, and then used the spot-bot with pet cleaner to make sure I had removed all traces.  This morning my bf let him out while I showered.  Ollie peed, ate his biscuit, and then came upstairs and pooped in the bonus room.  He wasn’t called in from outside so he easily could’ve pooped if he had to.  My bf was downstairs so had Ollie been near the door he would’ve been let out.  It seems more like a behavioral thing than a medical issue but I don’t understand why.  Every time he’s pooped in the house it has been firm so it isn’t an issue of diarrhea where he can’t make it outside before it’s too late. 

 

I’m at my wits end.  I don’t know what to do.  I’m going to clean the whole upstairs hall and bonus room carpet with a carpet cleaner with the pet stain/odor formula in case I missed something using the handheld unit but I don’t understand why he suddenly started to think that it was ok to do this.  Yes, I could just close the door to the room, but he has also peed and pooped right outside that room when he couldn’t get in there.  Cutting off access to that area seems like more of a band aide than identifying and fixing the underlying cause of the behavior.  He was crate trained when I adopted him but he became protective of his crate and would lunge at Cubbie if Cubbie ever got near the crate.  The fighting between them is much better so I’m very hesitant to reintroduce the crate.  He knows that he shouldn’t go in the house so other than keeping him in one place when I can’t watch him, I’m not sure what benefit the crate would provide.  Cubbie and Ollie used to like to race around the upstairs of my house in the evenings while I cleaned up the kitchen after dinner.  I’ve stopped allowing that unless I can be up there watching him.  When puppies have accidents it is normally right where they are playing or walking, but with Ollie it seems like he will specifically go into or near that room to potty which is why I tend to think it is more behavioral than simply not being able to hold it. 

 

Thoughts, opinions, suggestions, recommendations for a white good wine (I need a copping mechanism) J

[Joanna, Zoe & Bender]

So sorry you guys are going through this.  I hope Ollie adjusts soon.  I bet he is just as confused and frustrated as you are. Hugs to all of you!

[Amy, Cubbie & Ollie]

Ollie is always confused.  He isn't the brightest, but it is probably worse now.  :)

[Deborah Brown]

We had a dog with Addison's disease.  It can be diagnosed quickly if the vet is looking for it.  There are blood tests which can detect it.  What type and amount of medicine, however, varies which each dog.  My dog was on florinef and took the medication daily.  I could see it being a plus to only get a monthly shot but maybe that creates too much medicine in the system at one time?  I would go back to the vet and get a recheck to make sure this is the right dose/drug for Ollie.

We did not have any behavior issues associated with Florinef or Addison's.  Addison's is an ability to create adrenaline.  Before being diagnosed, Maggie would run a fever when she was stressed.  After diagnosis, we did our best not to put her in stressful situations and she did fine.

About the bad potty behavior, dogs tend to do their business as far away as possible so he is probably finding an out of the way spot in your house. Unfortunately, you are going to have to treat him like a pup and keep him under closer supervision.

One more thought, our Maggie eventually had a stroke which may or may not be related to the Addison's.  Ollie's behavior changes remind me of what she went through.  I think a vet check is definitely in order.

ETA:  I just saw your other post that indicates Ollie's meds are being adjusted down.  I bet this will make a big difference for all of you.

[Amy, Cubbie & Ollie]

Thanks Deborah.  We are going again this week for another check up, blood draw, and monthly shot.  I'll see what they say.

[Gail and Bailey]

Amy,  so sorry Ollie is not well.  Sending Doodle Hugs to him and the family.  Hope you get it all worked out and life returns to normal soon.

[Amy, Cubbie & Ollie]

thanks Gail

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Amy, I have no advice and I am sorry you are going through all this with Ollie. I am glad to see you back :) Also, very nice about the "new pack members".

[Amy, Cubbie & Ollie]

lol...I'll have to tell my bf that he is a pack member and remind him that I'm alpha.  The dogs accept it, he might as well learn to accept it now as well.  Save us from any future confusion.  :)

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

:-}

[Traci -Bexter & Maggie]

Sorry to hear about Ollie.  I hope you get everything figured out.  I know this has to be frustrating!

[Amy, Cubbie & Ollie]

thanks Traci

[Traci -Bexter & Maggie]

Laurie, I have been DK MIA for a while (teacher who only has time for leisure on breaks - fall break now :)  Anyway, it seems I have missed a lot.  Congratulations on your Mrs. America award!  How exciting!  What color was your bikini?