[Dailydrool] Anxiety poop and pee

[dpmcquade at verizon.net]

Sounds as if anxiety is the problem all right. Since you're at home most of the time, I expect that this puppy has decided, as a basset can, that you should be there with her 24/7.

Look up information on canine separation anxiety on the Web. There's lots of information out there, though much of it is the same. There is a protocol for training, in which you leave the dog alone for longer and longer times until the pointed little head gets the idea that you are not leaving her. You may have to start with very, very brief times of separation. And realize that it may be your picking up your purse or jingling keys that clue Paisley in to the fact that you are leaving.

Most separation anxiety dogs do not do well in a crate, though I've known a few that actually liked it. Our Belvedere was just like your Paisley. I tried crating him once and decided that a pee-covered dog and crate was worse than a spot of pee on the floor. Thankfully, he never did as badly if I left him loose as when I crated him. But I never did get him to accept my being gone more than three or four hours. Toward the end of his life, my vet opined that he wasn't fully continent because he had bad arthritis in his back, so maybe the whole problem wasn't anxiety.

Work with Paisley, and you may find that she does better. Also, at four months old, is she really fully potty trained? Bassets can be very slow with this. My nervous foster/new adoptee is over a year old and still doesn't quite have it down pat. He's straining my persistence and consistency, but in time I think we'll get him there. Maybe it's more a matter of nerves than anything else.
 
Oh, and I highly recommend KOE, a pee cleaner that is available at www.calvetsupply.com. Cheap and extremely effective.You'll have to add water to a spray bottle with a small amount of this in it. Buy the smaller bottle of KOE, since it will last forever.
 
Bassets and potty issues can be such a challenge.
Pam, food slave to the Dashing Bassets