There’s nothing more infuriating than a dog peeing on its master’s bed, especially when this behavior comes on suddenly when your furry companion is already potty trained.
While this situation can be stressful or annoying, it should especially worry you when it arises suddenly.
Dogs are naturally clean, and this sudden behavior change has a cause, potentially causing great physical or mental distress in your doggie.
Causes of Uncleanliness in Dogs
An unclean dog has either been poorly trained in cleanliness or suffers from a physical or psychological problem leading to a behavioral disorder.
A problem with education
If you have just adopted a puppy or an adult dog – even if the latter was clean before its adoption – it is a safe bet that a focus on toilet training is in order.
A puppy can take some time to understand where he needs to relieve himself and, above all, needs to learn to hold back between each hygienic outing, which is not innate to him.
As for the newly adopted adult dog, it is necessary to consider that sudden uncleanliness can come from a disturbance in his habits, causing him significant discomfort.
In this case, the potential causes of minor accidents on the bed are multiple: the dog must resume good habits, but the master must also be attentive to his discomfort and do his best to offer his companion a mode of life and a reassuring environment.
A problem with the urinary tract
In the case of a dog who suddenly urinates on your bed for no apparent reason, it is advisable to suspect urinary tract disorders.
Cystitis can be the cause of intense pain that forces the animal to urinate anywhere in an attempt to lessen its suffering.
Stones, diabetes, kidney failure, hormonal disorders, and tumors in the reproductive or urinary system are all possible causes of uncleanliness in dogs.
Therefore, it is essential to visit your veterinarian to eliminate a pathological cause before concentrating calmly on the search for potential psychological causes.
An anxiety problem
Dogs are usually very attached to their masters, so they can suffer separation anxiety when separated from their humans, even for a short time.
If you have changed your habits (work schedules, birth of a child, separation, etc.), your dog may be alone more often than before and is having a hard time with the situation.
The arrival of a new animal in the home can also cause stress in your doggie, which should never be confused with jealousy, a feeling that does not exist in dogs and that owners tend to project onto their animals to explain certain behaviors more quickly.
A change of environment, the smell of a female in heat in the neighborhood, and the noise of work in your street disruptors are all factors that can attack your dog.
It seeks to mark its territory.
It is also necessary to distinguish between a dog that makes its needs of a dog that marks its territory because these two problems have distinct solutions.
Uncastrated males tend to generously water their environment, distinguished from real pee by the quantity of urine emitted, which is much lower in the case of urine marking.
Finally, it is possible that you do not take your puppy out often enough and that he has a terrible urge to pee in your absence.
An adult dog can hold back for 3 to 4 hours. Still, some specimens want to urinate more often than others for no particular reason or because of their lifestyle (for example, if they drink more water or eat moist food).
How to prevent your dog from urinating on your bed?
If it suddenly appears in your dog or a newly adopted adult dog, the first thing to do is make an appointment with a veterinarian.
Only in this way can you be sure that your dog does not suffer from an illness that causes anxiety or a urinary pathology that prevents him from holding himself back.
If your dog is in perfect health, question your lifestyle, even if it seemed to suit him until then: your pup may have suffered in silence from loneliness for years, for example.
Be attentive, spend time with your four-legged friend and allow him to exert himself physically and intellectually to relieve his stress.
If you don’t have the opportunity to spend more time with your dog, the best solution is to hire a pet sitter to ensure that he can get enough hygienic outings and attention in your absence.
An element is often forgotten in the education process
Educating your animal is good, but it is also imperative to think about protecting your dog against the vagaries of life.
My dog pees on my bed: mistakes not to make
First, you should never give in to the easy assumption that your dog has soiled your bed out of a spirit of revenge, jealousy, malice, or other feelings. Purely human.
While our dogs are proven to have emotions, they don’t experience complex human feelings, and poor analysis of the reasons for their behavior may prevent you from fully understanding your pup and addressing the issue.
You should also not scold your dog in the event of sudden dirtiness, and even less put his nose in his nonsense, an idea still prevalent which is unfortunately traumatic for the dog and ultimately ineffective.
Finally, do not neglect the importance of silent physical pain or psychological discomfort in a messy doggie. In the vast majority of cases, the reason for peeing on the bed is here!
There are several reasons your dog may urinate on your bed, and a vet visit will usually quickly pinpoint the problem to address the issue effectively.
Even if it’s irritating to find your bed soiled when you get home after a long day at work, don’t give in to annoyance by scolding your doggie, who wouldn’t understand your anger and would be all the more anxious.
A dog with potty training problems is almost always in mental or physical pain, and if this is not the case, all that remains is to tolerate your troubles to proceed to an educational check-up.