Adult dog started toileting indoors

Hi, am looking for advise/help with my 4 year old border collie, Molly. She has recently started toileting indoors, usually overnight but sometimes in the day. She is 'housetrained' she knows to go out and she always goes on the paper we put down for her but I don't really know why its only just started being a daily thing.

She doesn't suffer from separation aniexty or anything like that, she is left alone most of the day with my other dog but she always has been, and its only really an issue now and its generally overnight.

She has access to the garden the whole time somebody is in the house, she is last let out at 10:45pm and I get up at 5:45am and let her out then.

She does have a very sensitive stomach but its more behavioural than medical since she also wee's as well as poops She is fed natures:menu twice a day like she always has been and doesn't get any scraps or anything like that...

Why would she poop/wee so much indoors?

For example today, overnight she had pooed and peed on the paper, then between 10am and 12:30pm she had pooed and weed again! We always clean it properly and she's speyed - incase that would make any difference, I really need some ideas how to stop this, the carpet is fairly new!

how long have you owned her ?

also being 4 why do you put paper down at night still for ...just curious

Does she get to go out for a morning walk??? If not, then I suspect the poo and wee overnight is coz she didn't want to do one when you let her out at 10.45 pm., but then she would want to go again first thing in the morning wouldn't she? If she doesn't get to go out after you get up at 5.45 then I suspect this is the problem, coz she would obviously empty herself on her morning walk, thereby not wanting to go again until say mid-day?

I have had her since she was 8 weeks old, we put paper down becuase she has been doing this for a couple of weeks on and off but it we assumed it was just because she had eaten something bad?

No she doesn't get a morning walk, I go to college and my parents go to work as soon as we have got ready in the morning. You think I should get up earlier and take her? she does go outside when I get up in the morning but she never poops, sometimes pees but not always. Somebody comes home at 12:30 for 30 minutes to let them outside then leaves. She never toilets indoors in the afternoon/evening, just mornings/nights.

awww bless her, I really think you should take her out first thing in the morning, even if it's down to the bottom of the road 20 yards or so, she will definitely "go"! You'll be safe to leave her on her own until lunchtime then! She will then get into the habit of going first thing and won't do it in the house - probably!! One of my old gals started doing this, and one of my current dogs come to that, same place every morning right in front of the telly on MY new carpet too! The only way I stopped it, was to shut the door into the lounge during the day, coz I suspect once they have poo'd in a certain spot in the house, they seem to do it again in the same place! Mine would also do it in the middle of the night too, and like you, even though she had been let out last thing at night when she would always "go", she just got into the habit, and like I said, the only way we stopped it here was to shut the lounge door. Maybe that might work for you if you can shut that particular room off? You've got to break the habit somehow, and I really feel that morning 10 mins will do the trick for you. Good luck

If anything medical has completely been ruled out, and its not possible to take her out at the most likely times, its worth looking at feeding times as thats obviously a factor in terms of fairly specific timings of occurence.

She definately should not need paper down by now, that could be a cause as well as she is used to it being `ok` to go indoors still, and if she has already used the paper, she will not really understand the difference - to her its just `ok` to toiet inside so I would work on re-teaching her, [ from scratch if necessary ] to go outside obly and to let you know when she needs out, which, in conjunction with re-considering her feeding times, should be fairly straightforward but if she really needs to go and there is consistantly no one to let her out, you might have to change the carpet for a nice lino instead

I could shut her in the kitchen but its really small and the floor is ceramic tiled and I don't like the idea of her having to sleep on them, I know she's just a dog but still.

Guess I just have to drag myself out of bed even earlier

I agree- as little as a 10 minute early morning walk will get your dog to to its biz my JR will do it even when shes been in my garden and not done anything....once they smell another dogs potty believe me they will oblige

No don't shut her in the kitchen if she's used tohaving the run of the house, poor girl! Yes, try that short morning walk and see what happens, if she goes and does both, the habit will be broken for her waiting and holding it and doing it in the house - I hope!

Do you know for certain it's not medical? My last dog started to do this as he got older but it was actually the first sign that he was not well, and no it wasn't a dodgy tummy, his poo was firm, he was actually starting to become very ill, but this was the only sign initially. Sorry don't want to worry you, but it could be worth getting them vet checked.