After 6 years my male, fixed, brittany spaniel has never had an accident, even as a puppy. This past weekend we had went away, leaving him alone. He has free access to the house with a doggy door he knows how to use and has always used. He has been left alone many times before, but this time we came home to numerous piles of poop all over the house. My eldest daughter, who had trained him originally and was close with him, left for college, and he used to search the house for her for the first month she was gone, but he never had an accident then, so we felt maybe he thought we were leaving too, and he pooped out of anger, and it was a fluke thing. But after being back for a week, and my daughter is now here visiting from college, we came home from a day of shopping to find he had peed in the living room, and last night we woke up to poop in the den. We tell him bad dog, and he puts his head down and tries to suck up with a hug, and then runs away when we repeat bad dog. But we have never caught him in action. Why is he doing this all of a sudden? Does it have to do with some sort of separation anxiety? What should we do? He is part of the family, and has always been an inside, house dog. We'd like to keep it that way. Need advise please!

Has anything changed in the neighbourhood? Or outdoors? New neighbours? New dog nearby? It could be happening out of fright, possibly while you were away he was barking outside and a neighbour scared him... you'll have to start the housebreaking process all over again, take him out several times a day, after eating , sleeping etc. just like when he was an untrained pup, praise him highly when he goes. You also have to get a good cleaning product to wipe away all traces of where he's gone indoors, as long as he can smell it, to him that means it's OK to go there again.

I would say its probably because you left him ALONE for a weekend.
Funny you wrote this as it happened to me with my cat.
My cat is currently living at mums house where I was too, but 1 week ago we left to move into our new apartment and left her at mums, yest mum told me found poop everywhere and caught her in the act.
We reckon it because she misses us and this is her way of paying us back!

Cats and dogs don't have the ability to reason "I'm paying you back"... usually it's confusion that makes them turn to messing in the house.

Figure of speech!
But I was understood!

Melinda
Hey no worries! :)
Your explanation was better than mine, so there you go.

*L* thanks Kris, *whew* I'm not use to a board that doesn't trash you over something *S*

We're a friendly bunch here at AMHD :D

Could it be that he is afraid we are going to leave him and never come home, as did my daughter in college?

He could be nervous about that... yes... can you give him a kong filled treat, or a bone marrow, something to keep him occupied while you're away?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by blondecan21

could it be that he is afraid we are going to leave him and never come home, as did my daughter in college?

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With my current experience, I don't think it's that. I just left my dog for the first time ever overnight (only had him 3 1/2 months but he is a year and a half old). He has never went inside the house before except for the first day I had him - hiked his leg on a fake plant I have in the house. He had never went in the crate.

I left him with neighbors/friends who have 3 dogs who he likes to play with. They work similar hours I do, and had all the dogs in a crate. He didn't have a problem/accident there.

I go get him, bring him home in the evening. Next day, go to work (which is today!), and have him in the crate for normal time as before I went on vacation - come home to find his bed in the crate chewed up and he went to bathroom in it.

So, I would say no that he is not thinking you will never come back - I think like Melinda said its probably just straight confusion. In my case - one day he is at home, next few days he is somewhere else. Then back at home. Then no dogs with him next day.

I am washing the bed and will put him back in tomorrow which is the same routine as before.

Trouble is I am out of town this weekend and don't want the same friends who watched him before to have to deal with his confusion as I was planning to have him boarded for 2 nights, then my friends watch him for a couple nights. I'm not making a habit of being gone - just happens to be back 2 back weekends.