Why is my older dog suddenly acting out and breaking rules?
Older dogs can suddenly begin regressing in trained behaviors, such as pooping indoors or in flower beds and climbing onto forbidden furniture. This abrupt shift leaves owners confused about how to handle the changes and worried that standard advice pushes toward extreme options like surrender.
What the numbers show
Counted from the threads quoted below. How we count
- This comes up 46.8× more often in r/dogs than across the site as a whole.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1Limiting access to spacesDid this help you?
- 2Nipping problems when they occurDid this help you?
- 3Taking the dog to the vet for a medical and pain checkDid this help you?
- 4Checking the dog's vision and hearingDid this help you?
- 5Hiring a positive reinforcement trainer or dog behavioristDid this help you?
- 6Teaching kids better boundaries and dog body languageDid this help you?
- 7Creating safe, designated spaces where the dog cannot be approached by kidsDid this help you?
- 8Waiting for a scheduled veterinarian appointmentDid this help you?
- 9Putting the dog on a diaperDid this help you?
- 10Providing a heated blanketDid this help you?
- 11monitoring existing known health issues with veterinariansDid this help you?
- 12considering potential anxiety, trauma, or hormonal/thyroid problemsDid this help you?
- 13Letting the behavior slide since it doesn't cause major issues like beggingDid this help you?
- 14Retraining the command from scratchDid this help you?
- 15taking the dog to the veterinarian for a checkup and testing (such as for a UTI)Did this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“Im kind of at a loss here. I’m surprised my dog is acting this way all of the sudden and I’m not really sure how to proceed.”source ↗
“My wife is very nervous to have him around the kids, as Am I, but a lot of the suggestions I am reading online are suggesting surrender, and that seems extreme for something that has been part of our family for as long as our youngest children”source ↗
“Over the past month or so he has regressed in behaviours and I swear is doing it spitefully”source ↗
“the past month or so he started pooping in my flower beds. Never before has he done that.”source ↗
“He's also choosing to poop in my son's room if we leave the door ajar.”source ↗
“He also is hopping up on furniture (couches, beds, etc.) which is something he has never been allowed to do.”source ↗
“I have a nine month old iggy and he is acting strange.”source ↗
“He is also shivering intermittently and just seems scared and not acting like his normal high energy self.”source ↗
“He used to love to eat and now he doesn’t really have the same energy.”source ↗
“My 4 year old female Pomeranian has been acting weird since July.”source ↗
“She's been generally more despondent, hiding in small crevices of the house, nibbling on sheets and pillows and drinking less.”source ↗
“What could be the cause of this sudden change in behaviour?”source ↗
“For the last couple of weeks, he just either doesn't go in a place at all when I tell him to, or goes there and gets up two minutes later without being released.”source ↗
“Puppy turned 1 and became a new dog overnight. Is he maturing, or should I worry?”source ↗
“My concern is his declining interest in hanging out with his people, and his energy being significantly lower than it's ever been. Would you attribute all of these changes to maturing, or be worried about the sudden changes?”source ↗