Two accidents in a row...

[Goggle]

I'll start at the beginning...three days ago I walked down the stairs in the morning to find garbage strewn all over the floor. It seems that the cat had managed to push the garbage bag that I had put on the counter out of Domino's way onto the floor and between the two of them they ripped the bag open and had a good ol' party all night. So, I have learned from this incident and won't be leaving garbage out again. Before this I had always been able to leave bags on the floor without any incident.
When I got back from work that night I found another nice little present on my floor from Domino. Yesterday I came home and found another poop and pee. Now Domino is almost four and has only ever pooped on the floor once in the two years that we've had him so I am a little concerned that he has done it twice in a row now. He will still toilet when I take him out afterwards which is a little odd as he never toilets more than twice a day...even if we go out for more than two walks a day he will do his business on schedule during his regular times.
I am hoping you guys can give me your thoughts on whether you think the garbage and the accidents indoors are "teenage" behaiour....testing the limits as such. Or whether you think the pooping and peeing may be related to something he ate in the garbage. Also, I have never dealt with this issue before and am hoping for some suggestions as to how I can mitigate the problem. All I have done so far is walk in, see the poop, put Domino on his mat, clean it up and then release him. No scolding or anything as I do not believe in negative training.

 

[Meldor]

Oh no, it's funny that they're teaming up to get in trouble! Silly pets .
As for the accidents, I think it may be due to an upset stomach from eating something in the trash. Hopefully it will resolve by itself.

I agree with the no scolding. Unless you catch him in the act, it will not be clearly associated with the action. If you do see him in the middle of a pee or poop I would say a firm NO, and put him outside and praise when he finishes outside.

It's always more efficient to prevent so if he keeps on doing it, I would go back to crating him when unsupervised for a few days. Sort of going back to housebreaking him.

Good luck!

 

[BarbV]

I would agree that if he's never had accidents before but suddenly having accidents after getting into the garbage, then the incidents are probably related.

All you can do is 1) secure the garbage or 2) secure the pets (both cat and dog, since them seem to be accomplices!). I tried using a flip top garbage can in my kitchen for awhile, but Bacca was smart enough to figure out how to lift the lid with his nose. Now the garbage is ALWAYS under the sink. So far, he hasn't figured out how to open cupboard doors!

If once garbage is secure again, and pup continues to have accidents, then you might have to look at other reasons. But this is a good starting point.

 

[Jaynie]

I'd say the two things were related.

Several years ago, I came home from a court hearing in my divorce, and found that Neechee had found my trash bag (usually hanging on the rolling table I keep my laptop on). I had just had dental surgery, so the bag was full of awful kleenex, cotton pellets, and other by-products of having a tooth cut out. I got home to a room COVERED in shredded kleenex and cotton! Neechee was about 14 at the time, and hadn't done anything like this in many years, so I was kind of shocked. I attributed it to his reaction to my emotional turmoil and being left at home alone all day - something that, at that point in my life, was very unusual.

So it's not entirely unthinkable that there can be a day of "free-fall" house manners on the part of your Sheltie. Cats, however, are loose cannons. You feel grateful that they just allow you to feed and pet them.