My precious terrier can not hold her bladder overnight. She is 16+ years old (when we got her 11 years ago we were told she was five-ish but the vet thought she was at least 8-10 but we always went by the 5 yr age). We understand she is old and have no hard feelings by her little puddle in the corner in the morning. That fact is in all these years she has never 'messed' in the house and she is entitled her senior issues. The problem is when we find her in the morning she is tail tucked, shaky sitting by the puddle and won't make eye contact. We love her...go about normal stuff and she comes around after a bit of time.
I took her to the vet thinking she had a UTI or something else causing her discomfort. I just got the call that her senior exam/blood work/tests came back negative for any issues. She is just 'old'. So why does she tail tuck/shake?
We always suspected Charlie learned not to mess in the house the really hard/wrong way. She came to us filled with anxiety and not people trusting. I know some dogs have this personality for no good reason but there were too many odd signs in the beginning...cowering down when hubby took off his baseball cap...hiding when voices raised (her first football season in our house tough)....not making eye contact...tail tucking and shaking was part of daily behavior in the beginning.
Miss Charlie has not tail tucked or shaken around us since those first early months we had her. She has been peaceful, trusting and loving...good little 'terror' terrier for more than a decade. It is BREAKING my heart thinking that she has anxiety about her accidents. These issues can't be corrected and likely will become more frequent. She is not having daytime accidents...just overnight for the 7 hours we sleep.
How can ease this anxiety for her? Please someone reassure me their dog raised from puppy hood did the same thing and my little baby does not think I would punish her.
