Pet World: Age shouldn’t prevent senior from adopting older pet

Cathy M. Rosenthal, Tribune Content Agency on Dec 23, 2020

We took in a 10-year-old neutered male chihuahua/miniature pinscher three months ago. He is on enalapril for heart murmur and gabapentin for back pain. The dog is generally trained but he has urinated on furniture several times and twice on the sofa where he likes to sleep. He was recently at the vet who said he has normal kidney function and no diabetes. Can you please help us figure out the problem and what to do about it?

—Rondi, Blue Bell, PA

Dear Rondi,

If your dog has a clean bill of health and the medications that he is taking are not causing him to urinate more frequently, than he needs to be re-housetrained. Housetraining should be done for every dog entering a new home, regardless of age. Pets are stressed when they join a new family and training provides a routine that helps them settle in.

Begin as if you are training a puppy. Take him outside every time he wakes up, after he eats and after he plays. This may involve taking him out more frequently, but hopefully he will learn what you expect from him. It’s important to reward him when he does go outside. Watch him and when he relieves himself outside, use a reward word, like “Bingo” and then give him a treat. Do this consistently for two months.

Next, get an enzymatic cleaner to clean up the urine and fecal matter in the home. Enzymatic cleaners eat up the biological remains of your dog’s waste removing the ammonia odor that frequently draws a dog back to the same spot over and over again.

If after two months, you don’t see improvement, use puppy pads inside the house, which are designed to attract your dog to it and discourage accidents elsewhere in the home. But only do this as a last resort. Start with the training first. I know this can be a hassle with winter upon us, but it is the best way to change the behavior.

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(Cathy M. Rosenthal is a longtime animal advocate, author, columnist and pet expert who has more than 25 years in the animal welfare field. Send your pet questions, stories and tips to cathy@petpundit.com. Please include your name, city, and state. You can follow her @cathymrosenthal.)