Hi, I would be very grateful if anybody has any ideas why my 2 year old boxer has started to mess in the house again. She has never been 100 percent clean anyway but she has started to mess at night. She has free run of the house at night and normally would just sleep on the floor next to one of our beds. Lately we have been getting up to find that she has pooed and weed on the kitchen floor. I let her out at nights and stand with her for what seems ages. She will normally wee but not always poo. How can you make them go? I feed her only once a day in the morning after her run in the field. This has always worked pretty much in the past as she would normally go then at night before bed. She even weed on my bed the other day so we are now at our wits end. It is ruining the relationship between us and her. We put her in a crate when we go out and she will even go in there. PLEASE PLEASE HELP!!!!!!

You can take a match stick and put it partway up her rear. Don't let go of it. Just put it in and wiggle it a bit and see if that won't get her going.

Weeing on your bed! I think I'd go get her checked out by a vet....she may have an infection. Otherwise, if all checks out, you can only just watch her and limit her freedom in the house I guess. If you catch her in the act, tell her "no." And take her out just like you would a pup. But first make sure there's nothing physically wrong.

Has anything changed in her life that could have psychological effects? Any big changes? Does she get lots of time with the family etc?

That's all I can think of.

Carrie

This sort of behaviour is often indicative of the dog feeling some kind of stress - has anything changed/changing at home?  Any arguments, planning a big occasion (like a wedding or holiday).........  These can all induce stress in a dog :(  Once the situation has changed, you'll often find the housetraining comes back like magic!

Thank you for your help and I think you are both dead right. I stayed away for a couple of days with my daughter so Roxy was left alone alot more than she would normally have been. Hopeful things will soon return to normal.

That could well be the reason.  Try not to tell her off (unless you actually catch her in the act), put her in the garden or out of sight while you clean up, and limit her access to areas she's inclined to soil, and keep everything as 'normal' as possible, and things should soon be back to normal ;)

if they don't go back to normal start all over for house training her as if she was a little pup. Nothing wrong with her sleeping in a kennel some of my dogs do and even when we go out.

Good luck :)