Mystery of Night Peeing part 2
Last time we were talking about the terror in the night. The mystery pee-er. There is one thing worse than that and we’ll get to it in a moment but lets finish up with the pee-er.
The home owner had a doggie that would pee on their carpets at night. Short of getting rid of the dog we suggested several courses of action. First they need to have a family powwow and get everyone in the home on the same page when it comes to a course of action.
If everyone but one person signs off on the plan there is no plan. Some people choose to crate their dog at night. It is not cruel or mean. Dogs can love their own crates seeing them as their own dens and that’s a good thing. Some people put up gates. That works too till you forget there is one at the bottom of the stairs and almost kill yourself early one morning.
There are doggy sensors. Round disks that give off a noise on your dog’s collar and warms them to stay away. This works pretty well unless you have a terrier like we do. Logan the bad would sit in close proximity to the sensor getting shocked a little at a time building up his tolerance so he could slip past the sensor and go to his favorite peeing grounds the upstairs hall. One time we caught him climbing the stairs pressed as far against the wall as possible. He was just out of range when he hugged the wall and climbed the stairs. We cranked it up after that.
One of the most useless doggie deterrents I’ve ever experienced was the shock mat. A battery powered flat mat with electrodes in it. In theory it would shock the dog when he stepped on it trying to get up the stairs. In reality the dog, Logan the stubborn thought it was wonderfully comfortable and used to go over and sit on it then look at me as if to say, “Look at me daddy.” I would go to pick up the mat and get the shock of my life. Happened ever time till I sent it back to Amazon.
There are all kinds of remedies to keep a pet from peeing in his favorite spot. You can hire a trainer who will make you feel inadequate as a person because you can’t get the mutt to do what she can. You can go to doggy obedience school and give him the sniff of a lifetime. Or you can take the easy way out. You can shut the door. Unless they can work a doorknob they will not pee in that room again—unless you forget to shut it then you’ve invited them in to mark their favorite spots once again.
We have two doggies and a lot of ideas. If you’ve got a whizzy we’ll get busy.
They have a really cute terrier that roams the halls at night and pees in their daughter’s room. And in the spare guest room. And on the stairs, and over here and over their.
Very sweet and lovable but a peeing nightmare. What to do? What to do?
The easiest thing is to get rid of the dog then have me clean the carpets. That wasn’t an option. I suggested not operating on the hope plan. Putting our hope in God is something we all should do. However, it does not extend to hoping the dog will not pee all over creation. Sometimes we have to add to our hope some actions.
I once hadn’t seen some friends in a long time. The older gal looked at me and said I recognize your face but you’ve put on some weight. (Thanks for your brutality. I was feeling pretty good up until meeting you today.) I blurted out. Pray for me. I can lose some weight. She replied, I wonder if prayer is enough? Ouch. Okay so I’ll hit the treadmill today. Thanks. Now isn’t there a parade you need to rain on?
The homeowner had a beautiful large wool rug given to her by her family. To date the pee monster had not marked this beautiful rug. But the only thing she was doing about it was hoping the dog would respect the rug. Funny how dogs ignore things like this is a hand tied silk beauty that took three years to make and cost a fortune. Hope is not a game plan for stopping a peeing doggie.
One client called us up. They had a cat that had peed a river in the basement carpet. They had replaced the carpet but the house still reeked. I explained to them that cement is very porous and the urine was down in there and had to be gotten out before they put their third rug over things. They had put down two new carpets hoping to mask the stench and it came up out of the cement and polluted each of the floor coverings—and would stick up the next 500 they put down until they addressed the root of the problem.
I explained the process and they decided they didn’t want to go through all that. Any prospective homebuyer who walks though the front door smells the urine in the basement then turns around and walks out. There are other homes for sale that don’t stink.
Next time we’ll talk finish up about the night pee-er and what you can do about it if you have one of these types of carpet assassins in your home . Best, Jimmy.