House Soiling in Adult Dogs: A Troubleshooting Guide

Chapter 1: Why Is My Dog Doing This? Understanding the Who, What, and Why

Let’s start with a breath. You’re reading this because you’ve woken up to a puddle on the kitchen floor, stepped in something soft and cold in the dark, or come home to a mess that wasn’t there when you left. Maybe it’s been happening for three days. Maybe it’s been happening for three months. Maybe you’ve stopped inviting people over, or you’ve started keeping your dog in the laundry room when you can’t watch him, and you feel like the world’s worst pet parent even though you love that furry goofball more than almost anything.

Here’s the first thing I need you to hear, and I want you to actually take it in: This is not your fault, and it is not a moral failing on your dog’s part. Adult dogs do not pee on your rug out of spite. They don’t poop in the hallway to get back at you for working late. They don’t “know better” and do it anyway just to annoy you. If your dog could talk, he would not say, “I’m doing this to punish you.” He would say, “Something isn’t right in my body, or something isn’t right in my world, and I don’t know how else to tell you.”

Your dog is not giving you a hard time. Your dog is having a hard time. And you, as the person reading this book, are about to become the detective