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Inappropriate Elimination, Dog 535

• Meeting the cat’s needs by providing • Treatment of behavioral conditions may be SUGGESTED READING
multiple, clean, large litter boxes (sweater required for the life of the pet. Relapses may Sung W, et al: Elimination behavior patterns of
boxes/canine litter boxes) and grouping cats
occur with treatment discontinuation or with
VetBooks.ir by temperament is the best way to prevent • Physical illness is may promote a behavioral domestic cats (Felis catus) with and without Diseases and Disorders
added stressors.
elimination behavior problems. Am J Vet Res
elimination problems.
67:1500–1504, 2006.
Client Education elimination problem where previously none AUTHOR & EDITOR: Karen L. Overall, VMD, MA, PhD,
existed.
• Clients should seek consultation after even DACVB
one or two accidents.

Inappropriate Elimination, Dog

BASIC INFORMATION • Rehomed street and kennel-raised dogs may • Information on volume, frequency, appear-
never have learned to inhibit elimination ance, and when the housesoiling occurs is
Definition behaviors and need to learn inhibition and critical in determining underlying cause.
• Urination or defecation in a location other appropriate substrate and location preferences
than areas acceptable to the client as adults PHYSICAL EXAM FINDINGS
• Marking: urination (or less commonly • Urinary and fecal marking and increased • Findings, including rectal palpation, should
defecation) for communication purposes urgency can be nonspecific signs associated be unremarkable in cases with a behavioral
or as part of an anxiety disorder; usually with anxiety disorders. Many dogs with chronic cause.
involves small amounts of urine deposited generalized anxiety disorder, for example, have • Abnormal physical exam findings should raise
in several places, often vertical surfaces episodic or chronic soft stools or diarrhea. Any the possibility of medical disorders causing
• Incontinence: inadvertent passage of urine dog given a diagnosis of inflammatory bowel urinary or fecal incontinence (pp. 537
or feces as a clinical manifestation of disease disease should be fully screened for behavioral and 538).
problems that may coexist.
Synonyms Etiology and Pathophysiology
Housesoiling, incomplete housebreaking, CONTAGION AND ZOONOSIS • Inappropriate elimination is a nonspecific
incomplete housetraining, soiling, toileting If the inappropriate elimination is due to sign that may be normal (e.g., incomplete
issues incomplete housetraining, other dogs in the housetraining) or abnormal and associated
household also may mark. with medical or behavioral disturbances,
Epidemiology specifically with anxiety disorders.
SPECIES, AGE, SEX GEOGRAPHY AND SEASONALITY • Any condition that triggers a fight-or-flight
• Can affect dogs of any age and either sex • Inclement weather may inhibit a dog’s response can lead to involuntary voiding
• Sexually intact dogs have increased rates of willingness to eliminate outside. Snow and that may be misinterpreted by the client as
urine marking. ice should be cleared to allow access and purposeful, malicious, or vengeful.
• Puppies first develop inhibition of elimination good traction. • Olfactory stimulation for normal elimina-
and associations with a preferred substrate • Dogs should be exposed to a variety of tion and marking behaviors is extremely
(i.e., surface onto which they eliminate) at 8.5 surfaces/substrates (e.g., grass, cement, sand, important to dogs and poorly understood
weeks of age. It is therefore ideal to housetrain stones, sawdust) that can meet with the by humans.
a dog between 7 and 9 weeks of age. seasonal and lifestyle requirements. • Meeting the individual dog’s age- and size-
• Adult dogs (particularly neutered females) specific needs is essential to understanding
may experience urinary incontinence asso- ASSOCIATED DISORDERS the root of housesoiling and addressing it.
ciated with urethral sphincter mechanism Coprophagy (p. 204) may be exhibited by
incompetence or other medical disorders. kennel-raised dogs. Dogs at risk may include DIAGNOSIS
These are not behavioral abnormalities. puppy mill–sourced dogs or those adopted after
an extended stay in shelters with limited space, Diagnostic Overview
GENETICS, BREED PREDISPOSITION labor, or other resources. Inappropriate elimination is a complaint, not
Toy-breed dogs eliminate small volumes and Clinical Presentation a diagnosis, and is not always a sign of abnor-
may not be as strictly supervised or confined mality because the pet’s voiding location may
until fully housetrained as would be larger DISEASE FORMS/SUBTYPES just be incompatible with the client’s wishes.
dogs; treatment may be more protracted or Housesoiling may involve inappropriate urina- Through careful behavioral history taking and
difficult, proportional to the length of time tion, inappropriate defecation, marking with after ruling out medical problems, diagnosis
the dog has been eliminating in unwanted urine, marking with feces, or a combination. aims to determine whether the behavior is
locations. Small bladder volume and greater Not all urinary marking is vertical. Males and normal but requires some modification to
metabolic rate also mean that smaller dogs need females can use a variety of positions to mark, better fit living in a human household or
more frequent access to appropriate elimination and leg cocking is more often associated with the elimination is a marker of an anxiety
areas. unfamiliar social stimuli than with sex-based disorder.
behaviors.
RISK FACTORS Differential Diagnosis
• Sexually intact status HISTORY, CHIEF COMPLAINT Behavioral differential diagnoses:
• Presence of intact animals, especially if in • Client finds urine or feces inside the home • Incomplete housetraining: occurs regardless
estrus (provokes urinary marking by neutered • Client may report that the dog was taken of client presence or absence. Large volume
and intact animals) out and returned to eliminate in the house. of urine is voided. Normal stool is deposited.

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