Dog House Experts Opinions Valued

[theodorakisses]

Hi,
2 weeks ago we sadly lost one of our foster dogs. Since then the others have been a bit subdued but seemed ok.
Then, all of a sudden, yesterday, both the old veteran dog who has never, ever peed in the house before marked the sofa and chairs and kitchen units. At the exact same time, veteran cat, same level of housetraining, went up to my husband and peed on his foot, standing with his back to him, tail straight up. Both are vaccinated, neutered and have recently had their over 8s health check including baseline bloods which were all normal.

I am trying to think of anything that has changed: routine has changed, back to school. Their peer has disappeared. We live in a fairly industrial area (in ME) and there may have been a vibration or smell we couldn't detect.

So far we have tried to be normal and calm and completely ignored the peeing. I am fairly sure it must be stress and am very grateful for advice. These are two of the most stable and established animals I have ever had and have never behaved like this before and I want to make sure I do my best. Both are eating/drinking and no upset tummy or problems peeing (clearly!).

As always, thanks for your support.

I would normally say that any dog or cat that starts peeing in the house after previously being toilet-trained should see a vet, although it sounds like yours were just at the vet. They did it at the same time?! That's weird. Maybe there was some tremor or something you didn't notice that affected them. The cat sounds like he was spraying, rather than needing the bathroom.

I think animals do grieve so they could both be upset for a while over losing their house mate. I think you are doing the right thing in staying normal and calm for them. I would keep an eye on them and see how it goes.

I'm sorry for the loss of your foster dog.

With both the dog and cat doing this at the same time, as a one off incident, I'd be strongly inclined to suspect a noise or vibration (or even a smell) that is outside human range but perceptible to animals. They have much more sensitve and acute hearing ranges than us.

Thanks for the comments, it certainly has happened at the same time every day so I am trying to find out if there has been a seismic test nearby

It sounds like stress, see if they respond to a DAP collar/diffuser and try to clean all the areas they peed on very thoroughly.