Behavior - Dog suddenly urinating in the house

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Dear Your Own Vet,

Our 11 year old dog has been peeing in the house since we moved into a new house. The previous owners had three dogs who obviously had urinated in the house. Here’s the catch. He will go for 8 to 10 hours without an accident when we are gone, and he will go all night without a problem when I close him in the bathroom. he is also good at urinating when taken outside four to five times a day, and then he will come into the house and urinate a few hours later, especially in the evening.

I have tried putting “pull-ups” on him, and he does not urinate as long as they are on. There doesn’t seem to be a pattern to his urinating in the house. I don’t think it’s health related because he can go for long, long periods of time without a problem, I monitor his water intake, and take his water up around 6p.m..

Please help

I love this dog and he has been house trained for years.

: Why would a well trained dog start urinating indoors?

Hi,
Thanks for contacting us about your problem.
I agree that a dog that manages to contain himself for long hours then urinates in the house, probably has a behavioral problem.
You mentioned that the previous owner had three dogs that probably urinated in the house. This is definitely one cause of your dog urinating. A dog will return to a spot and re-do it because the smell is there. You need to find all the spots where your dog is urinating and thoroughly clean the area.
However, DO NOT use household cleaners such as floor and carpet cleaners because these are all ammonia based and we think the area is clean and smelling nice, but the dog just comes back, smells the ammonia and urinates on the area again.
I suggest that you get surgical spirits from a chemist and clean the area with this. It doesn’t mark floors or carpets and it gives a clean smell. Then get a spray bottle fill it with water and then put about three drops of citronella oil. Spray this mixture around the now cleaned area.
You didn’t mention if your dog is neutered? If he isn’t this would be another cause for him to urinate in the house. An unneutered male will mark territory, and especially if there are any smells in the house.
On a medical side, he might have cystitis, but only a vet would be able to check this out.