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I have two dogs, a male Shepherd, 8 years old, and a female Border Collie/Kelpie mix, 4 years old - both desexed and house-trained!!!!, or so I thought!. My problem is my female, Elke, has decided on these cold, wet nights, that she doesn't want to go outside to urinate, she would rather stay on her lovely warm Snooza bed and urinate there. I have had her Vet checked, and there are no problems with her bladder control, etc. I replaced her old bed with a new one, purchased a special "Doggy Loo" for her to use inside the house if she really HAD to, but No, she wets her bed instead. She can go inside and outside at all times, night and day, at will through a doggy door. In summer - no problem with wetting at all, but since the cold weather, she is totally reluctant to leave her warm bed.

Any suggestions please??? I know it's a stupid question, but in desperation, is there some kind of repellent I can spray, that won't repel her from getting on her bed, but will discourage her from wetting it.

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is there some kind of repellent I can spray, that won't repel her from getting on her bed, but will discourage her from wetting it.

Not really :(

All I will suggest is that you spend some time re training her - like housetraining a puppy . reward her madly for toileting outside .. and use a word when she is going to/does ... so , in a while, she will associate that word with toileting ..and you can take her out last thing at night,and have her wee .

This is no quick fix, though.

May I suggest one of THESE or a canine equivalent? I used one of these recently for our incontinent poor old girl ... it worked very well .

I am sure there will be other helpful ideas for you :)

Also ,when it's cold/wet.. go outside..take your dog for a walk/play in the wet!! let her see that a bit of wet is no reason to stay indoors ;)

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Guest RANDCMOORE31

I can't help - but I can sympathise. I have a 13 year old and a 6 year old female and both will go in the hallway where we can't see them. They are toilet trained - so it is a combination of laziness and not wanting to go out in the dark and cold. It seems to be a girl thing - both my boys are perfect. I don't know why - but if anyone does I'd be happy to hear it, too. I take them out regularly during the evening and stand there and make sure they go - otherwise they'll pretend - small squat and then run back inside :confused:

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Is she desexed?

a female Border Collie/Kelpie mix, 4 years old - both desexed and house-trained!!!!,

;)

Bed wetting is not a behaviour exhibited by entire dogs anyway...

This is strange to me, because I had a dog who also hated going out in the cold and the rain (a dobe - so short coat), so he would not go outside to toilet in poor weather. But he never, ever peed in his bed. He would cry and whine if he couldn't get out of his bed, ie he really really didn't want to go in his bed. Typically he would go right next to the back door, which fortunately was on tiles (so easy to clean). Is she a normal dog in every other regard?

Everyone on this forum will likely disagree with this approach, but he only stopped doing it when I started telling him off for puddles found indoors - I think prior to that he thought that going outside was better, but there was nothing really wrong with going inside, so he needed push and pull factors if you like. And I'm not talking about beating the dog and putting its nose in it, merely expressing your disappointment and associating that with the puddles - the dogs know what the puddles are and how they got there.

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Have you checked for spey incontinence or are you sure its only the weather?

Yes, it does sound like it could be. My dog developed hormonal incontinence earlier this year, & if her hormone pills are wearing off it's the only time she ever wets her bedding.

My dog secretly weeing next to the closed back door, despite being taken outside several unsuccessful times, is another matter. :(

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If she's actually wetting the bed it doesn't sound like a purposeful act, it sounds more medical. Does she have access during the night to go outside? She may not realise that the indoor toilet you've purchased is actually for that purpose either.

If you are sure its not medical, I'd rug her up, rug yourself up, put her lead on and take her outside before you go to bed and maybe even get up again during the night to try again. Have you got a command for toileting? If so, use it. If not just be quiet and boring but let her sniff around and when she pees have a party, praise and then run inside out of the cold! Sometimes marking the spot where she last peed so you can take her back there again will help.

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Is she desexed?

a female Border Collie/Kelpie mix, 4 years old - both desexed and house-trained!!!!,

;)

Bed wetting is not a behaviour exhibited by entire dogs anyway...

I don't believe Kavik is referring to that.

Desexed bitches can end up with a condition in which they can't hold their urine very well. its common for them to wee when lying down.

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Found this - - -

Incontinence

Dogs are not usually aware that they are incontinent. It usually happens when they are lying down and get up or when they are excited. It is most frequent in females, particularly if they have been spayed and is associated with a hormonal imbalance or a displacement of the bladder. Spinal injuries that affect the nerve supply to the bladder or a urinary tract infection also cause incontinence. There can be a natural deterioration of bladder control in elderly dogs.

Treatment

Hormone treatment can be given by the vet to spayed females and male dogs with urinary infections. X rays can be taken of the bladder and if the bladder is displaced then there is surgery to correct it. Vets are able to give the dog antibiotics for infections while anabolic hormones can help control sphincter muscle tone in older dogs.

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The hormone treatments are quite simple, just a small pill once a week at the moment for my dog (though it has varied a lot during the last 6 months as we have come to terms with it).

Hormonal incontinence doesn't smell, its like water.

If the leak smells strongly, then its more likely to be a UTI and need antibiotics.

Either way a trip to the vet is necessary for treatment.

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Did anyone listen to Nova this morning - the breakfast project? They had Chris Brown from Bondi vet on and he was talking about this as a listener called in.

He talked about it either being a territorial thing or bladder control. His ideas for bladder control where to feed the dog latter, cut off water at night (he did not specify a time), and get the dog into a habit of going out to the toilet before bed.

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Does she pee small, frequent amounts? My pup did this at 9 weeks, she used to wee in her bed too. I figured it was a UTI and gave her antibiotics and the problems stopped! If you run out of ideas maybe it could be this? And before anyone freaks out about me medicating my dog... I'm a nurse (kids not animals) and I did check with my vet and he was happy for me to go ahead and told me the doses etc. :-)

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Did anyone listen to Nova this morning - the breakfast project? They had Chris Brown from Bondi vet on and he was talking about this as a listener called in.

He talked about it either being a territorial thing or bladder control. His ideas for bladder control where to feed the dog latter, cut off water at night (he did not specify a time), and get the dog into a habit of going out to the toilet before bed.

Surprised he didn't suggested taking the dog to the vet rather than giving advice about a dog sight unseen.

Only my opinion but I would not be withholding water.

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