How To House Break Elderly Pugs
If you’ve ever come home and found that your mature, always-housetrained Pug has just left you a big mess to clean up, you’re not alone. “Whoa!” you might say. “I thought we were fine with this potty train older Pug thing!”
And it’s natural if one thinks there must be another cause for the mess, such as a broken pipe or a faucet left on…until the moment when the Pug is caught in the act!
The screaming and disbelief was followed by the slam of the back door as the old family pet is quickly banished out-of-doors like a nine-week old puppy that had just had an accident. Such harsh and fast action in such an instance can have serious and detrimental effects on the older Pug. Whenever a completely housebroken Pug starts urinating in the house, there is a medical or psychological cause involved.
Medical problems are the cause for the majority of problems that we’ve seen with mature Pug dogs having accidents in the house. It’s key that you get to the bottom of the problem before you can move forward with the proper plan to solve the problems, so don’t be too hasty.
It’s common knowledge among many dog owners know that the aging process of their Pug will present with poor vision and hearing. In addition, it’s typical for there to be signs of arthritis, decreased appetite, and more frequent naps or longer sleep periods. But what’s surprising to many owners is that housetraining mature Pugs is one of the most common challenges of aging Pugs!
Because this fact is not widely known and realized, it causes frustration and confusion to the Pug owner who suddenly thinks that his Pug has forgotten, is not as smart as previously thought, is lazy, or has turned into a sneak. Such behavior on the part of a perfectly housetrained Pug could simply be the first signs of the inevitable aging process. In this aging process, the muscles of the bladder gradually lose their control.
In the male, the aging process can also cause the prostate gland to enlarge, and this will produce an inflammation which will cause him to urinate often. Kidney diseases occurs in about 76% of Pugs over eight years of age. When a Pug ages, there is a gradual degeneration of kidney tissue with a weakening of the kidney function.
To combat these kidney problems, an older Pug should drink at least twice the amount of water than a younger Pug since the older Pug’s kidneys will need this to stay healthy. It’s no secret that increased water consumption leads to more potty breaks.
Unlike their younger days, mature Pug dogs will need to potty a lot more often. It’s common for the dog to make itself clear by going to the door, ringing its bell, etc. And it’s also common for owners to miss their Pug’s signs because they’re used to how things used to be. The Pug then has only one choice and ends up peeing in the home. No doubt the Pug is just as unhappy as you when things come to this.
When this happens, negative reinforcement will only make the situation worse, especially if the Pug tried to communicate to its owner and these signs were ignored.
