Why you gotta pee in the bed, Stevie Nicks?
July 26, 2020 8:01 AM Subscribe
Our 9 month old dog, Stevie Nicks, is pretty well potty trained but if we give her an indoor bed to lay on she instantly pees in it. This kind of sucks.
So yeah, Stevie trained early and easily and hasn’t had a legitimate accident in months (as in, a few moments of great excitement have lead to her peeing, but no “oh, I’m just chilling and can’t be bothered to go outside so I’ll let ‘er rip right here.”) We have a string of jingle bells hanging on the door which she rings to alert us she wants to go out, and this system works flawlessly. She learned the bell system in ten seconds when she was quite small.
But! We got her a nice fancy soft bed a few months ago, put it at the foot of our bed, and she instantly peed in it. Doh! Too early maybe? Cleaned the hell out of it with Nature’s Miracle and a while later tried again. Same, instant response. Maybe the smell lingered too much? So we relegated that bed, cleaned, to leaning against the wall in the garage in hopes of future deployment and said oh well.
Someone recommended a platform bed . This is like a very low cot with sturdy mesh. We got one, set it up and literally first time she sees it she climbs up on it and pees. Argh.
We clean the raised bed and put it on the back porch. She loves it, doesn’t pee in it. Hangs out on there doing dog stuff regularly. Clearly she’s rehabilitated. We bring the damn thing back inside and put it at the foot of our bed. She walks right up, climbs on and instantly OH STEVIE.
What gives? Is she doomed to never have an indoor bed? What can we do (other than not give her an indoor bed) to help her not do this?
Several notes:
1) if there’s a pillow on the floor she will lay on it as best she can, happily, without peeing.
2) we are not in the habit of peeing on OUR bed.
3) she’s a lovely giant oaf of a dog - St Bernard/Poodle, if that matters. About 90 pounds and still has a ways to go.
4) here she is
So yeah, Stevie trained early and easily and hasn’t had a legitimate accident in months (as in, a few moments of great excitement have lead to her peeing, but no “oh, I’m just chilling and can’t be bothered to go outside so I’ll let ‘er rip right here.”) We have a string of jingle bells hanging on the door which she rings to alert us she wants to go out, and this system works flawlessly. She learned the bell system in ten seconds when she was quite small.
But! We got her a nice fancy soft bed a few months ago, put it at the foot of our bed, and she instantly peed in it. Doh! Too early maybe? Cleaned the hell out of it with Nature’s Miracle and a while later tried again. Same, instant response. Maybe the smell lingered too much? So we relegated that bed, cleaned, to leaning against the wall in the garage in hopes of future deployment and said oh well.
Someone recommended a platform bed . This is like a very low cot with sturdy mesh. We got one, set it up and literally first time she sees it she climbs up on it and pees. Argh.
We clean the raised bed and put it on the back porch. She loves it, doesn’t pee in it. Hangs out on there doing dog stuff regularly. Clearly she’s rehabilitated. We bring the damn thing back inside and put it at the foot of our bed. She walks right up, climbs on and instantly OH STEVIE.
What gives? Is she doomed to never have an indoor bed? What can we do (other than not give her an indoor bed) to help her not do this?
Several notes:
1) if there’s a pillow on the floor she will lay on it as best she can, happily, without peeing.
2) we are not in the habit of peeing on OUR bed.
3) she’s a lovely giant oaf of a dog - St Bernard/Poodle, if that matters. About 90 pounds and still has a ways to go.
4) here she is
Best answer: OMG, what an adorable pup!
My pug did the same thing with his dog beds. The trainer I used told me that some dogs will do that as a way to mark that particular territory for themselves. She suggested simply washing the bed normally, so that I could not smell anything myself, but not using Nature's Miracle or anything else. I did that and he did not pee there again.
I will of course defer to animal professionals on this one, but it did the trick for me and might be worth a try.
posted by rpfields at 8:10 AM on July 26, 2020 [5 favorites]
My pug did the same thing with his dog beds. The trainer I used told me that some dogs will do that as a way to mark that particular territory for themselves. She suggested simply washing the bed normally, so that I could not smell anything myself, but not using Nature's Miracle or anything else. I did that and he did not pee there again.
I will of course defer to animal professionals on this one, but it did the trick for me and might be worth a try.
posted by rpfields at 8:10 AM on July 26, 2020 [5 favorites]
Animals will do that. I keep rats, and if I clean the cage too thoroughly, they'll pee everywhere to reestablish their scent. The trick is to leave enough of a scent after cleaning that they'll recognise it and won't try to mark it again. I'd just give it a machine wash without detergent, then check the smell. If it's still bad, put it outside in the sun for an hour or two and check again.
posted by pipeski at 8:21 AM on July 26, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by pipeski at 8:21 AM on July 26, 2020 [2 favorites]
If she will sleep on a pillow on the floor, maybe one of those dog beds that looks like a giant pillow?
Your dog is magical by the way. I want to hug her so bad!
posted by cakelite at 9:29 AM on July 26, 2020 [4 favorites]
Your dog is magical by the way. I want to hug her so bad!
posted by cakelite at 9:29 AM on July 26, 2020 [4 favorites]
Best answer: I agree a) she's the most adorable b) just wash it without enzyme cleaner and put it back. She's marking it, and clearly that's just how she lives her life. Training her out of it will be incredibly arduous, and as long as her sense of ownership doesn't expand it'll be fine, you'll just have to keep an eye out.
posted by Lyn Never at 9:37 AM on July 26, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by Lyn Never at 9:37 AM on July 26, 2020 [1 favorite]
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