Why Is Your Dog Peeing On The Carpet All Of A Sudden?

“Dog peeing on every other thing” is a very common problem among all dog owners. The reason behind this is usually something simple, but the frustration is significant. 

So, your dog started peeing on the carpet all of a sudden? Right? Why would he do that? Was he fully potty trained? Or maybe not? In this article, I will list all the possible reasons and how to overcome them. 

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Why would a dog start to pee on a carpet suddenly?

Following are the possible reasons why your dog is suddenly peeing on a carpet rather than going to the potty spot. 

1- Pee pad trained dog pees on the carpet:

This is the most common reason for a dog peeing on other soft things in the house, including the carpet. 

Dog’s vision is different than a human vision. They cannot see all the colors. Instead, their sense of smell is much stronger. They usually smell or touch the stuff to know what it is. 

If your dog is trained to use the pee pads, he might confuse it with a carpet because both surfaces are almost similar. 

The best alternative to soft puppy pads is grass puppy pads. If you can, install a porch potty system in your house to provide your dog with a permanent potty spot in the house that looks and feel different from other household stuff. 

I recommend using natural grass patches on the top of your porch potty. 

Know more about porch potty on their official site. 

If you are training your dog to use a pee pad, then read these tips to avoid accidents on other soft surfaces in the house. 

Or read the article: Why Does My Dog Pee On Soft Things?

2- The dog was not fully potty trained:

A dog’s potty training is not a linear process. They will show good progress for some days and then suddenly have a lot of accidents. Then they will improve and fall back. But the overall progress graph will go upwards until your dog is fully potty trained. 

If you recently potty trained your puppy, chances are he was not yet fully trained. Read this article to know how do you know that your puppy is now fully potty trained.

Or read how to potty train a puppy perfectly. 

3- It was just an accident:

If your dog was fully potty trained, but now suddenly he peed on the carpet, it can just be a potty accident. 

Your dog didn’t do it on purpose. 

4- The dog can smell pee there:

If your dog had an accident on the carpet or you have a baby who is not potty trained, and he peed on the carpet, your dog will smell it and recognize it as a potty spot. 

You must have a UV flashlight (ultraviolet flashlight) at home when you have a dog buddy at home. 

Turn off the room lights and turn on the UV flashlight. Check the carpet with this flashlight and see if there are urine stains. (urine stains will glow). 

(click here to get a UV flashlight from Amazon)

You must clean up the carpet with a carpet-friendly enzymatic cleaner if there are urine stains. 

Ensure to use only enzymatic cleaner as any other cleaner (especially ammonia-based cleaners) can cause the stain to become stubborn. 

I’ve listed all the good enzyme cleaners for different surfaces in this post. 

Simple solutions enzyme cleaner is great for any fabric surface, including carpets. 

(click here to get your carpet-friendly enzyme cleaner on Amazon).

5- Potty Training regression:

Dogs are known to regress. They are so forgetful. They forget their training and revert back to their old habits. 

Potty training regression is very common among dogs younger than 1-year-old and older (aged). 

This is why I always recommend the dog owners to follow up with potty training. Once your dog is fully potty trained, repeat the potty training practices after every few months, so your dog stays on track. 

If you think that your dog is regressing in potty training, read this article. You’ll get more information about regression. 

6- A Medical Condition:

Whenever your potty-trained dog starts peeing in the wrong places, always check if your dog is suffering from a medical condition just like UTI. 

Dogs are very prone to UTIs (urinary tract infections). Contact the vet immediately if your dog pees small amounts multiple times a day and seems to be in pain. 

Know more about medical conditions that cause a dog’s potty training problems. 

Final words:

The most common reason for a dog to pee on the carpet is pee pad training, especially “wrong pee pad training.” If you think this is the reason, switch to grass pads now. 

Other reasons are urine smell in the carpet or your dog’s medical condition. 

The products mentioned in this post:

1- UV flashlight (shop now)

2- Simple solution enzyme cleaner (shop now)

3- Porch potty set-up (Shop now)

Related posts:

1- Dog potty training regression

2- why does my dog pee on soft things?

3- Medical conditions hindering a dog’s potty training