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I understand now!

4K views 16 replies 13 participants last post by  Hollyg123 
#1 ·
A while back, i posted a question of y does penny only pee on my bed and pillow? She is potty trained and good at it. Well i found the answer. If any of ya'll is having potty problems this may help. In this article this portion is what i think penny is doing.

The number one reason dogs pee on your bed is the exact same reason they chew your dirty underwear and socks...it smells like you. In the wild dogs, and young dogs especially, encounter numerous different predators. When they encounter a predator, they have two choices. They can fight or they can run, and neither of these is extremely beneficial for the dog. So, to avoid running into one of their foes they try to cover their scent. In the wild (and often on farms or in the country), dogs will roll in the nastiest things, like poop or dead animals. In your house, they roll in your dirty underwear and, you guessed it, your bed. Young dogs especially have to be careful, so they try to cover the smell of their urine as well. What better spot to hide their scent than in the scent of their protector and guardian. Your bed smells like you...a lot...so your dog is hiding his scent in your bed. By peeing in your bed, and hiding the smell of his urine, your dog is making himself feel less vulnerable and less exposed.

Here is the link to the whole article. There is also another link for similar references.

http://askadogtrainer.blogspot.com/2009/12/why-does-my-dog-pee-on-my-bed.html?m=1

http://www.fancydogbeds.com/why.shtml


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#7 ·
So, does this mean that the time Bug (my poodle) did that, was he feeling especially vunerable maybe? I thought he and the cat were bickering over pillow rights or something. I hate to think he feels the need to hide his scent. :(

What can I do to help him feel more confident and secure? Poor little guy - I am really glad I didn't fuss at him, though. He always seemed comfortable and outgoing, must have missed something.

Interesting link, thank you very much for posting it!
 
#9 ·
I agree, to a point, and I did shut the door when I left from then on. I just wanted to know what triggered it so I could fix it before he found somewhere else to 'go.' I don't mind putting a band aid over the symptom, but I want to fix the underlying cause. Bug had been housetrained until that one incident. I don't guess I'll know what triggered that one particular bed wetting, but maybe I can look for signs of stress or fear so it doesn't happen again.
 
#11 ·
You know, it's funny. I thought I *knew* dogs. People ask me all the time about strange behaviors and I always had an answer for everyone, but when Bug did that, even I was stumped. I have insisted for years that dogs don't do anything out of spite, but I can see why someone could mistake that for spite. I *assumed* (and I hate that word lol) that Bug and Bubble Gum were arguing over the bed. This really does make a lot more sense. All these years and I never figured this one out.
Dogs don't understand why we leave them to go to work every day, they don't understand why we come home stressed sometimes (more now than ever). I guess it makes sense that they would show signs of feeling vunerable and perhaps even frightened at times. Who knows what may have been going on that night when I was at work - the neighbors could have been loud (again) or shooting off illegal fireworks (*sigh* again), or that tree branch could have been rubbing on the window again - god knows, it woke me up last night and startled both of us. Need to do something about that. Shoot, if it breaks through the window, I might wet the bed myself. :D

Funny, there's still so much I need to learn about my best friends.
 
#12 ·
This does explain alot!
Leila has been hiding her poopies in our clean laundry. She took one of my shirts out of the clean clothes basket (fresh from the dryer, about to be folded), got inside it, and pooped! My husband picked up the shrit to fold it and got a big steamy handfull. Even though she's potty trained.
He wasn't too happy... so this is nice, knowing why she did it. Maybe we can help her stop now!
 
#13 ·
MrsJ, isn't it neat to finally have an answer?

I removed that tree that was scaring us both, I upped his clicker training sessions (it seems to build confidence) and I try to avoid scaries. There is now a white noise machine that runs when I'm gone (and sometimes when I'm home) and I've made him a cave (covered crate, door removed, full of old clothes I don't wear anymore so he can at least bury himself in my scent). Seems to be working, I've been coming home to a nice, clean, dry bed.

Hopefully, some of these ideas may help others with their frightened dogs. Bug seems happier.
 
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