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A host of medical problems can lead your dog to eliminate indoors. I’ll mention a few examples, but many more exist. And those I do describe may have symptoms I don’t mention here. The short version is, suspect a medical problem if your dog’s behavior has changed suddenly, if she’s old, or if you’re sticking to a regular, careful housetraining schedule and your puppy is having frequent accidents anyway.

Sudden, urgent digestive upset may come on too strong for even the best-housetrained dog. Possible causes include rich or spoiled food and certain parasites. A dog with a urinary tract infection may need to go much more often than usual and may dribble small amounts of urine. If you have a spayed female dog who leaks urine in her sleep, a possible cause is estrogen incontinence, which is usually treatable with inexpensive medication. Elderly dogs who develop canine cognitive disorder, a doggy analogue of Alzheimer’s disease, may lose their housetraining as the condition progresses. Pain from arthritis, an injury, or illness can leave a dog reluctant to take a walk or make it hard for her to get into position to pee or poop. The bladder and bowels may wind up overfull and impossible to control.

Increased water intake accompanies some illnesses, diabetes among them; if you don’t happen to notice that your dog is filling up more than normal and supply extra toilet breaks to compensate, he may be unable to hold his urine until his next walk. Certain medications may make animals feel thirsty, too -- steroids are famous for this. If your dog’s indoor pees coincide with a new medication or an increased dose of an old one, it’s well worth asking your vet whether thirst or incontinence is a possible side effect. Malformations of the rectum and sphincter or of the urinary tract can make it impossible for a dog to control eliminations.

Source: Petworld.