# Problem with our buddy T Bone



## keren (Oct 26, 2008)

Okay so T Bone is our black labrador, he will be four years old in august and he is entire. 

We have had him a bit over a year now, his back story is that he was bought as a puppy and raised in a house in the suburbs along with a shitzu. The reason the people rehomed him (gave him to us) is that the backyard was too small for him, this hadnt been a problem until the lady had to have knee surgery and could no longer walk him daily (he was just too strong for her, and her husband is in the navy and away from home for three months at a time. 

When we met T Bone he was very hyperactive and very pup like; when we got him home to our five acres where he could run and play he settled down very quickly, and became a very chilled out relaxed dog. At the time, my hubby was unemployed and I worked, so hubby was home with T Bone all day. T Bone basically slept on the couch all day, and in the afternoon he would go crazy running round the yard for an hour or two with us. He sleeps inside of course, he rejected his doggy bed in favour of the couch (which we dont mind, as long as he doesnt hop in our bed, thats out of bounds). 

Ok so here's where things started to go pear shaped. Hubby went back to full time work probably four months ago, and the problems with T Bone have been happening since then. At first he was a little naughty chewing things, just frustrated I think, but he then seemed to settle into the new routine. I let him out in the morning (5.30am) for a wee and a quick run, then back inside, off to work. I get home at 4pm and let him out for a wee (he has never had a problem holding his bladder this long the whole time we have had him, even when hubby was home with him), and we run around and play with toys etc for an hour or two. The playing with toys usually continues all evening once we are inside. 

Over the last maybe three or four weeks, we are having problems with him urinating inside. Partly it is what I think is submission weeing - when we are cuddling him etc he involuntarily wees all over the floor and our feet. This makes me feel horrible as it is usually seen in excited puppies and abused dogs - neither of which he is. But then he also seems to just be going inside as well - he just doesnt ask to go outside. Several times he has been next to me, he has hopped up and walked a few steps away and just started weeing. I am also finding lots of wees on the carpet overnight - even though he gets let out around 11pm to go, and again when I get up at 5am or so, and he has never had a problem holding his bladder for that long before now. I'm finding the odd poo inside every now and then also, but I think thats a different story because he has a very sensitive stomach and it usually happens when we've messed up and given him something which gives him a belly ache. 

Hope you guys are following this, sorry it is so long and rambling. I'm a bit lost as to what to do. I think his problem may be separation anxiety - he just seems to have lost all of his self confidence since hubby went back to work. We also went away twice - for two weeks each time - and had a house sitter and her kelpie (who he loves) staying with him. Its difficult to know how to help him through this. I havent been reprimanding him for weeing inside - because of his submission weeing as well - I dont want him to lose any more confidence and escalate the problem. We have been playing with him more and more when we get home in the afternoon/evenings, and buying him lots of new toys etc but honestly none of it seems to be helping. We dont regularly walk him as we have so much space for him to run at home, but I'm thinking I may start driving down to the off lead dog park in the afternoons (too far to walk) so he can run and play with other dogs. The other thing I was contemplating was perhaps getting another dog to keep him company during the day?? 

If anyone has any insight on how to help our poor man, please give me your thoughts. We love our boy to death and we hate seeing him like this, we can tell he is unhappy.


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

Is he fixed? My male dog, a breeding male dog, even though he knows his is going to get spanked will still pee in the house. 
Has it been more hot lately? He might be drainking more so then his bladder get full fast.
Is he still growing? My puppy, about a year at the time was wetting her bed at night and I thought when she got fixed they might have done something to her so took her to the vet and he said, short story, basicaly she was growing but her bladder was a little slower and will come out of it, which she did.
Or maybe he just cant hold it that long any more.


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## dobe627 (Oct 16, 2007)

1st I woud return to crating, I know some people don't agree but it should stop him from using the house as his toilet. I would go ahead and try the dog park for some good excerise. When you get home make sure he goes straight out before any attention is given to him. Just walk in calmly and take him out. After he has pottied then he can have attention, this may help with the submissive peeing.


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## keren (Oct 26, 2008)

Jess, he's not fixed, though I dont think thats it. 

Regarding the crate training, look I personally dont agree with it, but regardless of that, it would be impossible for our situation anyway because my partner and I are both gone for 10 hours continuously every day - and sometimes if I get stuck at work it would be more like 12 hours so there's no way he could sit in a crate for that long. I think RSPCA would confiscate someone who kept a dog in a cage for that long daily. 

I've been doing some reading about separation anxiety and it fits him to a tee. Here's what I read:

"Labrador retrievers are rated as one of the most common breeds for separation anxiety. Sign can include (but are not limited to): destructive behaviour (chewing items in the house, especially items that smell like you), inappropriate elimination, anorexia, hyperattachment and escape behaviour" 

This all fits. He has been destroying my clothes, weeing inside, I'm having trouble keeping weight on him, he is inappropriately excited when I come home or wake up, and he's buggering off down the driveway like he never used to. 

Unfortunately the articles didnt have a lot in the way of helpful advice. They suggested medicating him - NOT something I want to do if I can avoid it  A lot of the corrective behaviour we already do - dont make a big fuss when you are leaving, practice leaving him for shorter time periods, 5 mins, 10 mins etc, dont make a big fuss when you come home, ignore him until he's calm and then give him attention, give him new toys and things he is allowed to chew on, increase his exercise. All of these we have been doing and it hasnt improved the situation. 

I think I am going to try the dog park in the afternoons, and see if it makes a difference. It will increase his exercise but also his socialisation. 

If that doesnt help I may try fostering a rescue dog, to see if thats something that might help him out. Some of the articles I read said it could help, some said it could make the problems worse.


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

My cocker Max suffered from bad separation anxiety...we got him as a 4 month old abused puppy and it took forever to get him to learn confidence and trust, actually...crate training him was what worked for him..he was there only at night and for a few hours through the day as I only worked part time back then...as he got older we didn't need to crate him but kept it in a secluded area that he went to when he wanted, we lost Max 2 years ago at age 17 and though I didn't enjoy having him chew up my clothes and he would piddle when excited or alone, those things became non existant as he grew older and had more confidence knowing that I would be "back".... he also had 2 cats he was buddies with so maybe T-Bone needs a buddy to help him cope through out the day?


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

I dont know what the reason of not having him out side, im guessing mayne running off? ??? And i dont know if this would be something you would want to do but they have these things, you plug it into a outlet and put a collar on him and will give him a shock if he goes outside X amount of feet. You might want to think about something,if possible to let him stay out while your gone, 10 hours is kinda long to go with out going pee.


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## Burns Branch Boers (Apr 11, 2011)

So I have some advice to give. I work for a veterinary clinic and I have been through extensive training with my own dog and worked with some others to help train their dogs. 

Your dog has 1 of two issues going on (in my opinion)

the first could be medical--the accidental urination can be related to a urinary tract infection; diabetes (the inability to control the urine; some fecal defication and losing weight all fit this) and other diseases such as cushings ect. If he were mine I would take him to a veterinarian and have them do some diagnostic testing to see if a UTI (urinary tract infection) or diabetes is the culprit. 

second, your dog needs firm guidance even when you are away from the house. I guarantee you--each and every day-day in and day out there is no way you can tire him out with physical activity enough that he will lie exhausted while you are gone from the house. He does need adequate excercise but he needs to "learn" to behave while you are gone. I agree crating them is no fun but it is necessary in alot of circumstances and your situation warrants this. My own dog (whom is beyond beloved) is 4 years old--he has had to be crated, while we are gone from the house, up until this past 6 months. Even now we do 1 day out of the crate, while we are gone to work, one day in ect. He will "fall off the wagon" if he is left to his own devices too long-lol! He dose have separation anxiety and it has taken me along time to work him down to a plane were he is "ok" with us leaving. He is a 92lb mastiff mix. I got a huge big ole crate from Petsmart and he can walk around in it-lie down ect. There are days he IS in their 8 to 10 hours. It is ok--he does fine. Lets be honest--you can't keep this dog, inside, for ever when all he does is pee on your carpets and chew up your belongings. Eventually, no matter how much you love him, you will begin to resent him for this. So the way to handle this is to have a means to control him. As far as medicating him I agree--chemical methods are not an answer. But there are many homeopathic "calming" agents for dogs that are pheromone based. I have used them with my dog and have seen success with them. They can help soothe the dogs. I like the collars that last for 30 days. Another option--if you choose not to keep him crated in the house is to set up a dog kennel with a dog house & such outside.

I hope this helps--I know you don't agree with crating and alot of people dont. I dont like putting my own dog in one but sometimes it is for the best. One thing to remember is that dogs are den animals--if you say to my dog, "go to your house" he happily trotts off and into his house he goes-he does not hate it at all. 

All of that being said I would start your journey with a veterinarian-you need to be sure he does not have a disease that is causing him to be unable to handle his urine. If it is not "pathological" then sterness and some ground rules need to be set up--just my 2 cents.


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## keren (Oct 26, 2008)

thank you all for the opinions. jess to answer your question about why we dont leave him outside whilre we are away - we used to but for a couple reasons stopped. first is that he actually doesnt like being outside unless its for his afternoon run. he is more destructive outside than inside. the main reason though is that the weather here is not really conducive to leaving a dog outside. it is either stinking hot (40'C) in summer which is why we stopped leaving him out several months ago, or it is bucketing down with rain like recently. i have given thought to leaving him outside with access to the back room of the house now i have figured out how to lock the rest of the house up. but would rather do this if he had a buddy. as far as the crate training im sorry but you arent going to change my.mind on that one. if we were only out for a few hours i would not hesitate to try it but my personal opinion is that ten to twelve hours is not acceptable to have a dog crated on a daily basis. besides which, he would be deprived of even.more exercise this way which seems to be a step backwards.


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## keren (Oct 26, 2008)

look just to be clear - this is.not some destructive maniac of an untrained puppy. he was well trained when we git him and we have continued that. he does get training, guidance and leadership on a daily basis. he does not spend all day chewing things and weeing on the carpet when we are not home. have had him chew four items of clothing chewed in as many months. mainly the weeing is at night time or while we are at home. we have ruled out utis and diabetes as these were the first things i thought of before my vet nurse friend mentioned separation anxiety. i do believe he is loney and missing.my hubby who is now working full time. liz - we do have two cats but they are outside. i am considering a trial of a second dog who is nearby and needs a new home.


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## dobe627 (Oct 16, 2007)

I would without a doubt have him nuetered. And with over 20 years being in the dog business in several aspects, I don't think right now a 2nd dog is your answer. Especially another male. If this is an insecurity issue another dog will sense that and then dominate over your dog thus reinforcing his insecurity.


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## keren (Oct 26, 2008)

i will be having him fixed probably in august or so when i get my tax return - there just isnt the money to have it done now and even more so because he doesnt really.display amy problematic intact male behaviours. 

the good news is we found a great dog park. fully fenced with agility equipment. theres a regular crowd of about twelve.lovely.well mannered dogs who are there the same time we are and a few extras normally rock up. it has been fantastic for t bone, he has been so much better behaved both out ad about and at home, much calmer.


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## dobe627 (Oct 16, 2007)

Agility can be a great confidence booster, I train and show in it and love it. Even if your just doing it for fun it will really help. Good luck with it.


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## keren (Oct 26, 2008)

i would love to try the agility equipment and definitely do so if i ever dgo down there amd there arent any or many other dogs. as it is the two times i have been there there have been way too many dogs for him to even think about it with me. we went for a walk around our area yesterday because i was too exhausted after work to drive to the dog park (first day back after being sick) but we might go this afternoon gain, and weather permitting we may go tohe beach on the weekend. we are definitely seeing an improvement in him already


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## pitchik (Dec 2, 2011)

Return to crateing him during the day. And have him altered.


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## keren (Oct 26, 2008)

Well I thought I would update everyone to let you know T Bone is doing better; he has put on some weight, stopped eliminating inside the house, and is generally being pretty well behaved. Not sure why in all honesty, he is having some walks every now and then but not as much as I probably should. But he is a much happier dog lately. He has suddenly got very interested in toys, which is quite funny.

pitchik: thank you for the input but I have already explained why I do not wish to 'crate' him. Besides which the inappropriate elimination was mainly overnight anyway.


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

Keren...it's great to hear that T-Bone is doing much better! I hope he stays on the right track


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## lissablack (Nov 30, 2009)

I think getting him another dog and getting him neutered will go a long way to taking care of him. Even outside a crate 12 hours is a long time for a dog to be alone.


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## lissablack (Nov 30, 2009)

Of course together the may get in a great deal more trouble, but will be having fun.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

I too... am glad T bone is better.... :hug: :hi5:


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