Uncharacteristic Dog Elimination Issues

[ekrause9]

We have a 7 month old blue heeler mix. He's a very well behaved dog and very smart. He was potty trained early and hasn't had any sort of accident in many many months. However, three days ago, he had an accident (pooped) on our couch (which he isn't allowed on in the first place) - he did it out of our sight and we weren't able to intercept at the time. Normally, we can trust him to be out of our sight for small periods of time. We cleaned the area thoroughly. The next day, directly after having been let out to eliminate, he came inside and peed in the same spot on the couch (again, we weren't there in time to intercept). We removed the couch cushion for cleaning and as of this morning it hasn't been replaced, and yet he still peed in the empty spot on the couch and then pooped on the rug next to the couch today. Each time he does it incredibly stealthily so that we don't even know it happened until later, even though we keep an extremely close eye on him. He'll wander away for 20 seconds or less and it's done. We don't know what triggered this or how to manage. We're getting very worried about it as it's exceedingly uncharacteristic. He got neutered about a month ago, but other than that no changes. Any idea how to manage this issue??

[Erica]

It sounds like he's feeling insecure, and maybe a bit stressed. Have there been any changes recently? New person moving into the house, a dog started barking a lot next door, construction down the street? Neutering can cause a drop in confidence, which may contribute to the higher levels of stress he's feeling.

With sudden behavior changes, medical causes are always a concern - if possible, a thorough vet check would eliminate the possibility of any sort of unexpected pain or hormone levels or something that could be throwing him off.

Assuming a clean bill of health: to help him out, work on building his confidence and security. Clicker training can build confidence - any training where you set him up to get it right and "win" the game can help. Be patient with him, and if he seems like he's asking for attention, give it to him.

Keep his access to the room with couch restricted, via leashes or baby gates, so he's only in there when you're with him.

Dogs live in a world of scent, and when stressed or insecure will often eliminate where the smell of the family is strongest - typically on couches or beds. Bravo for realizing this isn't spite! So many people feel that the dog is trying to "get back at them" for something, when nothing could be farther from the truth!

[ekrause9]

Thank you for the insight! Horror or horrors, we discovered today that it wasn't the dog and was the cat all along! Typical cat blaming it on the dog. As it turns out, the cat's litter box was blocked (we had no knowledge of this) and she was finding other means. Quite a surprise, but alls well that ends well.