Is this Spite or what?????

My daughter and I went away this past weekend. We left Thursday afternoon and came home Sunday evening. Anyway, my husband was in charge of the dogs. I honestly thought that Spike would give him some trouble but Max, our 15 year old Golden Boy was the one.

I don't understand why he did this but...Max wouldn't go out to go to the bathroom. My husband said that he practically had to drag him out from under the table (his favorite spot) to get him to go outside. Even when Max went outside he would not pee or poop!:eek: My husband even took them both out ever 2 hours or so.
My husband left him out there for 2 hours and he still would not go. Max waited until Friday evening after they were in bed and then went into my son's room and peed.:eek: So, back outside he went because my husband was just a little angry:mad: He still wouldn't go. We used to know Max was mad at us because he would take one of our shoes and pull the laces so tight it took forever to get them loose again or he would take one of our shoes and hide it. :)

Anyway, Max peed 2 other times in the house before we got back home on Sunday and he wouldn't poop until I took him out!

Does anyone have any idea why he would do this? He hasn't even had an accident in the house since I can't remember when! I am just totally confused by this behavior:confused:

I don't know why they do it, but both my cats and Dusty my aussie-husky do that. They are destructive and go to the bathroom anywhere but where they are supposed to when I am gone. They don't "speak" to me for a few days when I get back. You can tell they are mad.

p.s. I think that next time I go away, I am going to give my husband all the feeding/potty duties for a few days before I go. Maybe it'll make me going away a little more subtle to them. I am the one that usually does everything for them. Who knows if it'll work, but it's worth a try.

Our RB Keisha was similar to that.

Once we went on vacation for a week and boarded them in a kennel. They said she wouldn't potty, eat or anything. They even took her for long walks & nothing. They were starting to think she was sick. But as soon as we got home & she got into her own yard, I swear she peed & pood at least a dozen time:eek: I don't understand how she did it.
I think it was just his way of showing how much he missed you.

Even a couple of weeks ago when I went to my parents & Mark stayed home, he said Angus wouldn't play with any of his toys at all, but one night while he was talking to me, he put the phone up to Angus & he went & got his hedgehog & started playing with it:D Guess he just had to hear mommy's voice!

Tonya,
I never thought of letting my husband take over the "duties" a couple of days in advance. We will have to try that the next time we go away! Thanks !:)

All I can say right now is thank goodness that I don't have that problem with the girls when Brian's gone! I would be so frustrated after the last 7 weeks with him gone and not knowing when he'll be back! I don't know what I would do!

I think Max just missed you guys:(
Maybe he doesn't do the shoe thing (which was NOT fun) anymore, because he's older, and that's the only way he can "get back" at you for leaving!!
I'm sure dad was a "little" angry, but I'm glad Spike was good for him:)

My parent's oldest dog, Oreo is like that. She stayed here, for what was supposed to be a week, but she was so miserable I had to takeher home and have the neighbor's let her out. She would hardly eat, and all she did was whine or bark constantly. Once I took her home, even though she was alone, she was happier. I guess after 13 years in the same house it was too weird for her to be somehwere else.

I have a problem like this with my cat Corkscrew. When I go out of town he's fine and uses his litter box, and he's not alone or anything because my roommate and I plan our trips home so that one of us is always here. But the second I walk in the door he runs to the bathroom and poops right outside the litterbox. It drives me nuts, but now I've come to expect when whenever I get back into town.

My RB shepard, Petie, used to do something similar. Every time I went on vacation he'd chew all the fur off his rear and give himself big red monkey butt! And I mean the grandaddy of all hot spots. As soon as I got back he'd stop chewing.

I think everyone is right,
Max missed you terribly and thus his habits changed.
I remember how frustrating it was when
I had to take care of my Aunts and Uncle's GSD.
Normally that dog ate like a PIG, but when they went on vacation, she refused to eat.