Key facts at a glance
- Dogs are clean animals who don’t use their homes as toilets without good reason.
- Uncleanliness in dogs can indicate, among other things, health problems such as a bladder infection.
- When physically healthy dogs pee in the home, it can be a sign of insecurity or excitement.
- Some dogs relieve themselves around the home when left alone and suffer from separation anxiety.
Uncleanliness can indicate diseases in dogs
In the initial period after moving in, it is not uncommon for your puppy to have mishaps from time to time and you have to wipe up a puddle or two from the floor. However, once your dog is housetrained, these problems are a thing of the past and you can usually rest assured that your home will remain clean.
If your dog suddenly starts peeing in the apartment again, you should definitely investigate the cause. Because it may well be that the uncleanliness of your four-legged friend indicates a health problem.
Your dog may have a bladder infection. Bladder infections are a particularly common cause of difficulty controlling urination in dogs. In addition to uncleanliness, your four-legged friend can also experience fatigue and fever in this case. In addition, you will probably notice a distinctive odor in the urine and maybe even blood residue in it.
Other medical conditions that can lead to uncleanliness in dogs include diabetes and kidney problems. If you notice possible symptoms of illness in your four-legged friend, we recommend that you consult a veterinarian as soon as possible. If the cause can be treated, your dog should soon no longer pee in the apartment.
Behavioral causes of uncleanliness in dogs
In addition to physical causes, uncleanliness in dogs can also be triggered by psychological problems or have a behavioral reason.
For example, younger dogs in particular may feel insecure and pee in the apartment to show their submissiveness. Unless you are overly dominant towards your growing four-legged friend, this behavior is usually manageable and will go away on its own once your dog is a little older.
Excitement is another possible trigger for uncleanliness, which also occurs primarily in younger four-legged friends. In this case, unwanted urination can be triggered by both tension and joy. If necessary, try to slow your dog down a bit, for example by making greetings as calm and relaxed as possible.
In addition to uncertainty and excitement, uncleanliness can occasionally also be a matter of marking behavior. Dogs don’t actually mark their homes. However, if the hierarchy between several dogs within the household is unclear, it can happen that your four-legged friend behaves in this way and, for example, marks the couch or doors with his urine.
Uncleanliness in dogs left alone
Aside from the physical and behavioral causes mentioned, dogs that are left alone can also become unclean. This is especially the case when the four-legged friend does not cope well with the separation from his owner and the associated stress makes it difficult for him to control his bladder.
To avoid this, it is important that you slowly get your dog used to being alone in the apartment. You should of course also consider that even a completely healthy and housebroken four-legged friend cannot suppress his urge to urinate forever. Accordingly, if you leave your dog alone for hours, it can happen that he pees in the apartment because he simply could not hold it anymore.
Sudden uncleanliness in dogs – our conclusion
As you can see, sudden uncleanliness in housetrained dogs can have numerous causes. If you suspect a health problem as the trigger, a prompt visit to the veterinarian is essential, and in the case of behavior-related causes, you must counteract the uncleanliness with the appropriate educational methods.
Irrespective of this, you should never punish your dog if it suddenly pees in the apartment. You will not change his behavior by doing so, but in case of doubt you will even reinforce it.