Dog pooing in living room after owner's death

[Whatmeagain]

My mother passed away in May and since then her Border Collie has been looked after by my brother in the home the dog lived in with my mother and also by me in my home. When he's here he is fine but he's begun to poo in the middle of the living room when at my mother's home. It only happens overnight and only in the living room. My brother started shutting him out of the living room overnight and he was fine - last night he forgot and he pooed again. Has anyone any idea what might be causing it please? We wondered if he was hoping my mother who was his constant companion would come back to clean it up but that is probably just our imaginations working overtime. Does anyone have any ideas how we can stop it as well please? Thanks

1. Unusual behaviour in adult dogs should almost always trigger a vet check, especially something like sudden changes in toileting behaviour. Start there.
2. If it's not medical it could be stress-related. Stress causes dogs to behave in strange ways. Look at ways the dog's stress levels could be reduced (much will depend on the dog and the specific things that stress them, but a very predictable routine helps). Being moved between homes might not be helping. There might not be another option but, if there is, staying in a single place is likely to be less stressful.
3. It could also be the collie did this when your mother was alive and she just cleaned it up, leading to a bit of a habit. I'd clean get the carpets cleaned and then use an dog-specific-enzyme cleaner for any further accidents to reduce any residual scent (only detectable to the dog) causing further confusion. Also, shut the door. I don;t mean to sound flippant, but consistently preventing the dog from doing this will help change the habit - if it is a habit.

But vet-check first.

4 Look at what, how much and when you're feeding him. If this is inconsistent between carers then make it consistent. If you are feeding something new compared to his old diet, try him on his old diet for a while. If you are feeding late in the evening, try bringing it forward to give more time for pooing before bed.

Thank you - I’ll try the vet and carpets now

And check his food - but I think we are doing the same on that one. I did wonder about his routine being switched around as well so we might have to look at that. It’s just difficult with our shifts as we don’t want him
left for long during the day as my mother was with him constantly