Ddog has never 100% “got” housetraining - she doesn’t ever ask to go out if she needs to; she’ll just lay there panting until I notice she’s not happy, but she’s always been able to hold it for hours and hours if the mood takes her (ie it’s bad weather and she doesn’t want to get her feet wet, or we’re somewhere she can’t go off her lead, as she will not toilet on the lead ever). She has slight bladder incontinence, dating back to when she was speyed, but that’s generally when she’s asleep, and she’s been on medication for 6 years which have almost stopped this.
Recently, she’s been messing in the house overnight. Never diarrhoea and never when I’m downstairs with her (I often sleep on the sofa as my disability means I frequently can’t make the stairs). Always on either a rug or doormat (front or back door, she’s not picky), and she always without fail treads in it and walks it through the entire downstairs of the house.
I’ve tried feeding her earlier, setting an alarm for a couple of hours after I’ve gone to bed to come and let her out (she’s either already done it, or she goes out, turns round and stands at the back door until I let her in, then shits on the floor half an hour later). She’s been vet checked and she’s in fabulous health for her age - no problems at all.
She’s always been strange with her toiletting habits - we once went on holiday to a place where there was livestock, so I couldn’t let her off the lead other than in the small, paced courtyard, which wasn’t good enough to wee in so she went for 24 hours without going. She also gets into bad habits very, very quickly. I’ve always said give her an inch and she’ll take 100 miles! She’s part collie and very bright but slightly neurotic, bless her.
So I feel this new behaviour is possibly a habit she’s got into and I’m struggling to get her out of it. I’m losing the plot to be honest, as, as previously mentioned, I’m physically disabled, and having to scrub the entire downstairs pretty much every morning really isn’t working for me!
She gets plenty of exercise, access to the garden regularly, is fed twice a day, the last time being about 5 hours before bedtime, and she always gets let out very last thing. Like I say, it only ever happens when I’m not downstairs, and generally pretty soon after I go up. She doesn’t come upstairs, but there’s no doors closed so she could do if she wanted, she just chooses not to.
Any ideas please? It’s worse than having a blooming puppy!