Dog started peeing in house!! Help!

[rachelleld05]

Hello, I have two dogs. A lab/pointer mix named Mikey and a beagle named Cooper. We have had Cooper since about October of last year. He has always been well behaved, he doesn't listen too well but I think that's just the beagle in him. I found out I was pregnant shortly after we got Cooper (he is 1 1/2, by the way). He didn't show any behavior signs but our lab sure did. He just became obsessed with me, which was understandable because we've been really close ever since we got him. Anywho, just recently Cooper has been acting up. He's started to pee in the house. At first we thought it was a bladder infection and we took him to the vet. They said he might have had a very slight bladder infection (after $200 worth of xrays and such). We gave him antibiotics for 15 days, never missed one. He seemed to get better and then about 3-4 weeks ago, he started peeing in the house again. He wakes me up in the middle of the night, whining. I get up to let him out and I step in a nice warm puddle of urine! The most frustrating part is since the weather has been warm, I leave our back door propped open so the dogs can easily go in and out. Cooper will hang out outside all day and then come inside and pee on the kitchen floor. I rarely catch him in the act. He just does it so discreetly. He doesn't lift his leg, he pees like a female so it's hard to catch him. Plus, we have wood floors so it isn't always apparent. We take them on walks sometimes twice a day, he'll come home from a walk and pee on the floor. It's really never in the same spot either. Sometimes I wonder if it's because he's overweight (he's about 40 lbs). We do not overfeed them or give them table scraps and he gets plenty of exercise. Our vet doesn't seem to deal with behavior problems and this is driving me crazy. I am about a week and half from my due date and I know that when I have a screaming child I will not be able to deal with this. I don't want to give him away as it would break our lab's heart and I never want to give up on an animal. I have thought about this being a behavior problem because he can sense the baby is coming but then wouldn't that mean it's only going to get worse? I am desperate for help. He never poops in the house and he is fixed. Oh! The other strange thing is that we've left the dogs in the house alone for up to 5 hours before when the weather was bad and he never peed in the house. It's only when we're home and he doesn't try to hide it. In fact, he has even peed a circle around me before. Once while I was ironing, he kept walking around and around me and I looked down and he had peed a circle around my legs! What is wrong with him?

[bearlasmom]

hi rachel,
your pup is feeling the stress of the new baby coming and although it does not know exactly what is going on, it senses some changes. ||It has probably felt the baby moving inside you a few times and is unsure as to what all the fuss is about. are you spending less time with the pup than you use to? its not unusual for them to act out when a new baby is coming or arrives. \try dealing with it in a calm fashion without raising your voice. the reason that it is peeing around you in a circle is that it is marking its terrritory so to speak, the pup also realizes that if he gets you angry or upset, by peeing, you will give it your full attention briefly. they do not care how they get it, as long as they do. the pup feels that it somehow has to take over the alpha spot so to speak, that it has to handle all the security, etc right now and the changes are making him feel like there is a shift in control. what he doesnt realize is how and why. dont reassure him what ever you do, dont yell at it, dont give negative behavioral reaction to the peeing. rather, keep the leash handy, if it pees in the house, walk over to him, snap on the leash, point to the area and say firmly, NO, but not in a loud voice or mean, just firmly say, NO and point to it. if you can wipe it up, and it must be hard on you right now, believe me, or someone who is with you wipe it up and take the paper towel and pup to the yard where you usually take the pup to pee, place it in the ara and say, Go pee. when it pees, or poos in the area that you want to, give it praise and a pat then take it back in. you may have to repeat this a few times. if the pup is being clingy, put it on a leash, and drape the handle loosly over the door handle while you are working in that room or one near to it. ask it to sit, and say Down and stay. keep a pop can handy with a few screws or coins in it, and if it starts whining, shake it and say no, firmly but not loudly. do not go over to it. practice the NILIF or amichen bonding technique training methods. if you have a book store near you go and purchase jan fennels the dog listener, and follow the instructions for amichen training. it works wonders. good luck with the new baby and congrats. it will work out, dont worry, your fur baby is just feeling a bit pushed out and is acting out.
patience always wins.

[satchelp]

The whining in the middle of the night makes me think that there is something else going on, rather than it being behavioural. Is he drinking more than usual? It may be worth getting another opinion from the vet with some blood work done on him to see if there is something else going on with him. I know he was checked for a bladder infection but there are other things that can cause them to have to pee more than usual.