Diapers

[Jen]

I’m Petsitting for my brother this week, and his pug who I am convinced was never actually fully housebroken to begin with, has developed incontinence. He can hold his urine, but he doesn’t seem to even notice when he’s pooping and there doesn’t seem to be any warning g that he’s about to do it. He’s just shuffling along and poop starts falling out of him.

As a result, he’s confined to the kitchen area, which is not carpeted, especially because they’re in a rental at the moment. The family does not spend a ton of time in the kitchen, though, and Puggleston is lonely. I’ve been hanging out on the patio or at the breakfast counter with him, and he is just happy to sleep at my feet.

I want to suggest diapers, so that he can at least hang out with them when they’re home. He could be diaperless and confined to the kitchen when they’re gone. But I’m not sure they’d be good for poop. Would it just squish up against him and soil his rear end, so they’d have to wash him regularly (which he is not a fan of)? It is very well formed and solid, but there’s a lot of it for so little a dog.

The other issue is stairs. There are stairs everywhere and he can’t go down them anymore. He mostly knows to stop at the top, but he’s blind, deaf, and wobbly, so one false step and tumbling down he goes. I suggested a ramp for the short flights of 2-4 steps and baby gate for the big ones. Do you think a blind, deaf, wobbly 16 yo pug could learn to find the ramps?

[emmas_mom]

Last question first - yes a blind, deaf, wobbly 16 year old pug can learn to find ramps (I had to do this for Belle for the step down from the back porch when I moved here - she picked it up pretty quickly. She wasn't blind, but I've had blind foster dogs who also used it. If he is treat motivated (and most pugs are!), put random treats along it for the first little while. Also, you may need to put a small ledge along the edge of the ramp if it doesn't have one - I find old dogs often don't have a sense of depth perception, and wobbly old dogs are prone to wandering off the side. I made my own ramp from wood and just put a 1x3 along the side.
As for the diaper issue - I think it depends how vigilent they are with noticing when the pug as had a poop in his diaper. The potential for poop-covered-bum is certainly there, and that could be a problem for the dog (squished poop hardening across the anus, blocking further bowel movements), not to mention an unpleasant experience for dog and owner.

[catherinec]

I can speak to the diaper issue, as we tried diapers with my boyfriend's boxer. If you don't catch it very quickly you do end up with a soiled bum and that stuff seems to stain no matter how much you clean them :-( Also, probably not an issued for male dogs, but she has chronic UTIs and we were wondering if that was making them worse. Plus, she became very skilled at ripping them off.