Old dog won't stop pooping in the house

delos

I'd appreciate some advice here.

I "inherited" my mother in law's old dog after she died. He's a 12 year old mongrel and was house trained. He was fine with us for about a week but after that he started pooping in the house.

It's not that he doesn't get walked often enough and the only change in his diet is that I won't feed him scraps from the table or bits of my dinner (this used to happen all of the time). I honestly think it's some sort of psychological issue related to the death of the mother in law. Previously, if he needed to go he would scratch at the door, now he just walks into the middle of the room and goes. He will do this at least twice a day.

He was always a house dog and I think he's too old to make the transition to living outside in the back garden.

I've never had a dog before so any advice on the following would be greatly appreciated:

• How can I get the smell out of my carpets?
• What can I do to help him become house trained again?

The dog is an important link for my partner to her mother and for my children to their grandmother so I need to make this work but I'm at my wits end with this...

sawdoubters

is he doing it while you are out,hes giving you a message,when do you walk him,try morning and evening,try using dry food
can you let him out in garden during the day

DBB

The first thing you categorically need to do is get the dog to a vet to make sure this is not a medical issue.
No change in toileting habits should go unchecked by a vet.
Not only does the vet need to carry out a thorough age-appropriate health check, he/she needs to ask you a lot of questions relating to the dog's general behaviour to figure out if there's age-related cognitive dysfunction going on, quite possibly concurrentlywith another health problem... Often the case with older dogs.

mymo

Once you get his health checked you need to go back to basics, as if starting toilet training with a pup.
Bring him out frequently, after food, when he wakes, etc, and praise him for going and even give him a small treat.

As for the smell, biological washing powder is good, liquid stuff from lidl would do, dilute in warm water and wash the spot. Try to soak up as much pee as you can first.
Hope his health is ok, dogs can become very distressed by the death of an owner, and moving house won't have helped either. But you can re house train him, a lady I know house trained a 14year old dog that had never lived indoors, it took a few weeks, but he adapted and is living out his old age by the fire.

delos

Thanks again for all the advice.

Took him to the vet who told me he had a history of colitis, gave him an injection and a course of tablets and within a couple of days he was back to his old self. He's a bit deaf and stiff in the mornings (no more than you would expect for a dog of 12) and he has no more toilet issues. While he's still one of the most stupid dogs I've ever encountered, there is no sign of dementia

He's lost a bit of weight and is a lot fitter and active now - I guess the change of diet and regular longer and more frequent walks suits him.

aonb

Good to hear that the problem was a medical one that seems to have been fixed. But just wanted to add OP that the dog is in a new home, missing his owner and is probably a bit worried and will need some TLC to help him with the transition. At 12 years old, its a BIG change - give him time to come to terms with all the changes.

Hope it all continues to go well for you all.

delos

aonb wrote: »

Good to hear that the problem was a medical one that seems to have been fixed. But just wanted to add OP that the dog is in a new home, missing his owner and is probably a bit worried and will need some TLC to help him with the transition. At 12 years old, its a BIG change - give him time to come to terms with all the changes.

Hope it all continues to go well for you all.

Thanks All advice is welcome because I've never owned a dog before and I'm just sort of learning as I go along.

The thing is that he knows the house and grew up seeing us almost every day - we live about 70 meters from his "old house". Hopefully it will be a bit easier on him. He's got his old familiar walks and places where he sniffs and roots about so while he's obviously missing her (that's the second owner he's outlived) I can try and keep things a normal as possible for him.