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I have a 12 year old, German shepherd/husky mix. Life was great until last September. All of a sudden he started pooping in the truck. I'd take him for walks and not even five minutes into the drive he'd sit up and poop. Now, he doesn't even sit up. He just lies there and poops. We have stopped going for rides together. He also started pooping in the house. This behaviour has got me at wits end. I was informed that I may not be giving him enough attention but we're with each other pretty much 24/7. When I brush him, I groom one side and he poops. Charlie does have arthritis in his back and the only thing that works is Prednisone, 5 mg, every other day. I feel as if he hates me, and any attention I give him. Even his appetite has become affected. For quite a while, now, he'll eat only a bit of his meals. My vet suggested I start a journal on Charlie.

Before I begin, I need to preface this response by saying, “I am not a veterinarian.” These are suggestions to discuss with a veterinary professional.

House soiling is usually predictable. Usually dogs will choose a specific spot if they are improperly housetrained. Some dogs will run to a far away place, others might go by the door, and others will go in the spot closest to the place they are supposed to go. You are not describing that.

Some dogs will defecate in response to stress. Dogs with separation anxiety will often loose control when owners leave the home. You are not describing this either.

What you are describing sounds to me like loss of bowel control. This seems more like a medical problem rather than a behavioural problem. And there are a number of reasons to suspect this.

First, dogs for the most part do not go while lying down or while being groomed. In my mind, this is a huge red flag. But there are more items that may indicate that this is a problem your veterinarian needs to address.

Your dog is on Prednisone. This is a very powerful medication used for a wide number of problems. This medication, like most drugs has side effects. I have had enough calls from clients convinced their animal had a behaviour problem, only to find out the animal was on this drug. The most common side effect I hear about is frequent urination leading to accidents in the house. The other side effects that often get mentioned are behavioural changes.

You specifically mention Charlie's diet, and how his eating habits have changed. From some brief research, one of the listed side effects happens to be ulcers. This can affect eating patterns as you can well imagine. Diarrhea is also mentioned in some of the material I sourced.

My suggestion is to go back to your veterinarian and ask specifically about Charlie's health, and ask to get the full list of side effects of the medication. Whatever you do, do not discontinue Prednisone unless under the direction of a veterinarian. This drug cannot be stopped suddenly. But perhaps there are alternative medications, or perhaps there are some ways to minimize what may be a side effect. Going back to the basics of housetraining won't hurt, but medical would be the first route to take.

Yvette is an award winning pet writer and pet behavior columnist. She also is the author of Meeting Milo, a North American dog bite prevention program to reduce the approximately 2 million children bit by dogs annually. She is the owner of AwesomeDogs.ca and works as a behavior consultant in London, Ontario.

This column was originally featured in The Londoner
See more of Yvette... www.awesomedogs.ca
www.meetingmilo.com

Yvette has 2 dogs of her own, KIKI and KAYA. Take a look...

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