Short but sweet at its 4 am and we've been up with a pooing dog and a crying baby for two hours.
We have two dogs. One is 5, and calm. The other is a 13 month old cocker spaniel, very needy bouncy etc etc. She is toilet trained, and has been out of the crate for a while.
We had a baby in July- they all get along great. Spaniel was more caring towards baby than the older dog (who just ignored him).
Recently she's been having tummy trouble- she ate a bulb which upset her tummy and she had the shits all night and for a couple of days two weeks ago. We dettoled the heck out Of the floor. But since then she's pooed by the door of her room at 1/2 am. The other dog barks to tell us.
The lovely thing is the door opens into the room, so the door goes over the poo as we go in, smooching poo under the door and into the floor. Nice.
She keeps doing it. She's walked. Goes outside... my DH says she's being naughty, but there must be a reason she's being naughty.
She used to go to work with me, and hasn't done for a couple of weeks as we've all been ill. She gets lots of cuddles at night, isn't left on her own all day. She started chewing the furniture and keeps ripping up beds. We also had building works finish this week.
Is she bored? Naughty? Reacting to the baby three months in? Im just worried we're not giving her what she needs. 
any advice gratefully received.
If you're worried about your pet's health, please speak to a vet or qualified professional.
The doghouse
13m old Spanial acting up:baby anxiety?
Hekabe · 21/10/2017 04:14
It’s not unusual for adolescent dogs to regress with their toilet training and even adult dogs can have a blip if they’ve been ill. A vet trip would be worthwhile to check for any physical issues but if she gets the all clear then I’d try getting up to let her out before she goes inside then, if she doesn’t stop needing to go out of her own accord, gradually pushing the time you take her out back until she’s sleeping through again. Not ideal, I know, but she’s not doing it on purpose to be naughty it will be sortable with a bit of time and patience. Two of mine have had different toilet issues during adolescence (one just generally regressing and going inside a lot, the other suddenly needing a night time trip outside again), in both cases it was just a phase and they’re now completely reliable/sleeping through the night unless they’re poorly.
I agree that if she’s suddenly stopped going to work with you she may be a bit bored (which could account for the furniture chewing/bed ripping) and some extra mental stimulation might help her. This doesn’t have to be massively time consuming for you if that’s an issue, not do you have to fork out for lots of fancy toys. There’s a couple of Facebook groups I’d highly recommend; Canine Enrichment and Beyond the Bowl. Both are packed with all sorts of enrichment ideas, from toys you can buy to stuff you can do with objects you’ll have at home. My dogs had a whale of a time the other day hunting through a pile of ripped up cardboard boxes (waiting to be recycled) for their breakfast ration of dry food 
She could also be stressed out, particularly if she’s generally quite sensitive. If she’s been fine with the new baby up until recently then the building work might be the more likely culprit. It could be worth trying an Adaptil diffuser or something like Zylkene (an over the counter calming medication) to see if that helps her at all.
One of mine had a penchant for chewing furniture/skirting boards when he was younger and one thing that helped with him was providing wood-like chews (called Chew Roots) whilst also preventing unsupervised access as much as possible to the inappropriate stuff he wanted to chew the most. Again, this was just a phase which passed and our furniture/woodwork is now safe!
To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.