A bit of background...I have three chihuahuas, a Belgian Shephard/coyote mix, a Jack ****, and a Bengal cat. The chihuahua I am having an issue with, Sadie, is 7 years old. I got her in 2006 from another breeder when I lived in South Dakota. I bred her 4 times with no complications. She has now been fixed for the last year or two. She has always been very good about going outside to go to the bathroom. She did have a few accidents on two when I moved to a new house. I moved twice since I have had her and she had accidents during both moves, but within a week or two or moving all accidents had ceased. She does mark her territory outside of the house by backing up to bushes and lifting her leg, or squatting over top of fresh spots from our other dogs. When she was under 2 years old she did mark a few plastic grocery bags that were on the floor on several occasions.
Fast forward...It has been years since she has had any sort of indoor accident, but continues to mark outside. Last night the lady and I decided to have some private time so we kicked the dogs out of the room and closed the door. Sadie didn't want to leave the room, but she is always good and minds her own business so I let her stay. Later we noticed a wet spot on the carpet at the end of the bed. I assumed it was water from the hot tub since we ran straight inside without drying off because it was cold outside. Upon closer inspection I realized it was infact urine. I wasn't sure it was Sadie since she wasn't the only one in the room. So I cleaned it up and noticed two more smaller wet spots on the other side of the bed. Now I find out this morning that Sadie urinated on a bed in another room last night and the comforter is now in the washer. I haven't received all the details of that incident yet since I am the only one home and the person who saw it happen is at work.
I have not taken her to the vet yet, and really don't intend to unless I realize it is something that I can't take care of myself. I prefer to do as much of my own care as I can, and keep my babies off of man-made medications and out of surgery unless it is absolutely necessary.
My question is whether this is normal for a 7 year old chihuahua or not and what can I do about it? I know chihuahuas can live to be 15-20 in some cases so I always expected her to not have any issues like this until she was at least a teenager.
Fast forward...It has been years since she has had any sort of indoor accident, but continues to mark outside. Last night the lady and I decided to have some private time so we kicked the dogs out of the room and closed the door. Sadie didn't want to leave the room, but she is always good and minds her own business so I let her stay. Later we noticed a wet spot on the carpet at the end of the bed. I assumed it was water from the hot tub since we ran straight inside without drying off because it was cold outside. Upon closer inspection I realized it was infact urine. I wasn't sure it was Sadie since she wasn't the only one in the room. So I cleaned it up and noticed two more smaller wet spots on the other side of the bed. Now I find out this morning that Sadie urinated on a bed in another room last night and the comforter is now in the washer. I haven't received all the details of that incident yet since I am the only one home and the person who saw it happen is at work.
I have not taken her to the vet yet, and really don't intend to unless I realize it is something that I can't take care of myself. I prefer to do as much of my own care as I can, and keep my babies off of man-made medications and out of surgery unless it is absolutely necessary.
My question is whether this is normal for a 7 year old chihuahua or not and what can I do about it? I know chihuahuas can live to be 15-20 in some cases so I always expected her to not have any issues like this until she was at least a teenager.