I ve known several Pug owners that have been surprised when their previously potty trained Pug suddenly fell off the wagon and made a huge mess in the house. There s no way that will be me! is their most common reaction.
And it s natural if one thinks there must be another cause for the mess, such as a broken pipe or a faucet left on...until the moment when the Pug is caught in the act!
It s typical, after a lot of screaming and disbelief, for the Pug to be quickly banished out of doors. But the truth is that such harsh and fast action can actually have a negative impact on a mature Pug dog. That s because most often it is a medical or psychological cause involved that requires some treatment.
Let s cover the medical reasons first, since this is the most typical cause of the problem in older Pugs. You need to carefully consider and diagnosis the problem here before you start on a treatment and/or retraining program.
Most Pug owners know that the aging process of their Pug will manifest itself in a gradual loss of hearing, followed by diminished vision. Squeezed somewhere in between, signs of arthritis might show up, decreased in appetite, more frequent naps, and other tell tale signs which may become evident. What is not widely known is that toilet training is one of the first things to go!
Since this is not widely known, it s understandable that Pug owners think that his Pug has forgotten potty training, is not as smart as previously thought, is lazy, or has turned into a sneaky little dog. The truth is that this behavior is more likely the first sign of the inevitable aging process. In fact, as your Pug gets older, the muscles of the bladder gradually lose their control, much like older human experience.
In the male, the aging process can also cause the prostate gland to enlarge, and this will produce an inflammation which will cause him to urinate often. Kidney diseases occurs in about 76 of Pugs over eight years of age. When a Pug ages, there is a gradual degeneration of kidney tissue with a weakening of the kidney function.
To combat these kidney problems, an older Pug should drink at least twice the amount of water than a younger Pug since the older Pug s kidneys will need this to stay healthy. It s no secret that increased water consumption leads to more potty breaks.
Older Pugs therefore need to go outside more often. In many cases, the mature Pug dog will try its best to make his needs known to you. But many times the owner simply isn t aware of their Pug s new requirements and misses the dog s signs. Then, the mature Pug is left with just one option, which is to go inside the house. The Pug is just as upset and embarrassed as the owner in these cases!
When this happens, negative reinforcement will only make the situation worse, especially if the Pug tried to communicate to its owner and these signs were ignored.
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