Every November we hear the same thing. The dog gets to the door, sees the weather, and reverses back into the hall. A week later there is a puddle in the kitchen at six in the morning. Owners file this under stubbornness, and sometimes that is exactly what it is. Often enough it is not.
The ones that are not tend to get missed for months. The useful question is not how to make the dog go out. It is why they stopped.
Start with what changed
A dog who has always disliked rain and is now doing more of it is behaving consistently. A dog who was fine in October and is refusing in November has changed, and changes have reasons.
Ask yourself three things. Did it start with the weather, or a week or two before it? Does the dog also hesitate at stairs, at the car, or on the hardwood? And are they emptying out properly when they do go, or producing small amounts frequently?
Those three answers separate most of the cases we see.
The reasons that are not about rain
- Sore joints. One of the most common, and the easiest to miss because dogs do not limp when the pain is spread across both hips or both knees. They just do less. Owners very often report their dog is stiffer in cold, damp weather, which is part of why this gets filed as a weather problem. Hesitating on stairs and on slippery floors is the giveaway.
- Sore feet. A split pad, a broken nail, grit worked into the webbing, or raw skin from constant wet. Wet pavement on a cracked pad genuinely hurts.
- A urinary problem. Small frequent puddles, straining, licking, or urgency that wakes the dog at night. This one needs a urine sample, not a behaviour plan. In a cat, straining is an emergency rather than a nuisance.
- Drinking much more than usual. If the bowl is emptying faster and the accidents are large, that is a different conversation and a blood test. It is one of the most important early signs we look for in middle-aged and older pets.
- Failing eyesight. Dark, wet evenings are when a dog with reduced vision first starts balking at the back step.
- Cognitive change in an older dog. Night waking, pacing, staring, and losing the habit of asking to go out. Usually in a dog over about ten.
- A genuine fright. Fireworks, a slip on wet decking, or an unpleasant encounter. Dogs generalize quickly, and the association can stick to the whole outdoors.
What makes it medical rather than behavioural
Book a visit rather than working on the behaviour if any of these are true: the accidents are indoors from a previously reliable adult, there is straining or blood, the dog is drinking or urinating more, there is stiffness on rising, there is any limp, the dog is over about eight, or the change came on suddenly.
A urine test and an examination answer most of this in a single visit. Our in-house diagnostics cover the urine and blood work that separate a urinary problem from an early organ or hormonal one, and that is worth doing before anyone starts retraining a dog who is actually unwell.
For an older dog whose world has quietly narrowed over a season, a thorough wellness check is the right starting point. Anything acute, and particularly a cat straining to urinate, goes through urgent care the same day.
Why holding it matters
A dog who will not go out is a dog holding urine for longer than they should. Dilute urine is the single thing we most want in a stone-prone dog, and a dog who is not going outside is not producing much of it. That is a reasonable concern rather than a proven harm, but it is one more argument against letting the standoff run for weeks. The other is simpler: a dog who has learned that going indoors is acceptable is much harder to un-teach than one who never started.
There is a quieter cost too. Dogs who stop going out stop getting walked, and over a wet Vancouver winter that is two or three months of lost activity. Weight goes on, joints get stiffer, and next November is worse.
Practical things that work
- Make a dry landing spot. A covered corner of the balcony or patio, or an awning over one patch of the yard. Many dogs object to rain on their back, not to being outside.
- Go with them, under an umbrella, rather than opening the door and waiting. Most dogs will go out with company when they will not go out alone.
- Short and often beats long and once. Three quick trips in bad weather are more productive than one standoff.
- A coat, for the dogs it suits. Thin-coated dogs genuinely find it easier. A thick-coated dog usually does not need one.
- Towel routine on the way back in. Dogs tolerate the rain better when the aftermath is predictable and pleasant.
- Keep the feet in good order. Trim the hair between the pads and check for splits. A sore foot is a reason, not an excuse.
- Do not tell them off for an accident. It teaches the dog to go somewhere you are not, which makes everything harder to spot.
Our hours
We are open every day from 9:00 am to 8:00 pm, including Saturdays and Sundays. On statutory holidays we are open 9:00 am to 5:00 pm.
Most of this is unhurried, and our hours cover it. The exception is a cat straining in the litter box with little or nothing coming out, which is a genuine emergency and should not wait. If that happens after we close, go straight to a 24-hour emergency hospital. The one our site refers to is VCA Canada Vancouver Animal Emergency and Referral Centre, 2303 Alberta Street, (604) 879-3737.
Common questions
My dog has started going on the mat by the door. Is that spite?
No. Dogs do not do this out of spite. A previously reliable dog going indoors is telling you something has changed, and it is worth finding out what before you call it a training problem.
Is a litter tray or indoor pad a reasonable answer?
For small dogs in apartments it can be, as a planned arrangement. As a response to a dog who suddenly stopped going out, it hides the question rather than answering it.
How do I collect a urine sample?
A clean, shallow container slid underneath mid-stream, first thing in the morning if you can. Bring it in within a couple of hours and keep it cool. If that is impossible, we can collect one here.
My older dog paces at night and will not settle. Related?
It can be. Night restlessness, losing house habits and general disorientation in an older dog often go together, and there is genuinely useful help for it. Worth a dedicated appointment.
Could it just be the shorter days?
Changing light and routine do affect dogs, and some of this is simply that November is miserable. That is a fair conclusion after the medical causes have been ruled out, not before.
Speak to the team at Cypress St. Animal Hospital
If your dog has started refusing the door or having accidents indoors, book a visit and bring a urine sample if you can manage one. We will check the things that are not about the weather first.
Published by the team at Cypress St. Animal Hospital.
This article is educational in nature and is not a replacement for hands-on assessment of your own pet by a veterinarian.
Cypress St. Animal Hospital
1889 Cornwall Ave, Vancouver, BC V6J 1C6 (Kitsilano)
Phone: (604) 734-2500
Hours: Open every day 9:00 am to 8:00 pm; statutory holidays 9:00 am to 5:00 pm