It was in January, 2019 I came back home from college. Tired after working on my thesis the entire day I just fed my pooch and dozed off, it was an hour later I felt my bed was cold and wet which made me uncomfortable in my subconscious stage of sleep. I immediately woke up and realised that my Labrador has wet the sheets by peeing, I tried condoning it as undisciplined behavior but I realised that this was becoming a consistent behavior and was not normal anymore.
Your dog peeing on bed can mean a lot of things inter alia it can also be an indication of your dog suffering from a medical condition for which he requires immediate medical attention. It is obvious that this behavior needs to stop but it is important you rule out and rule in the following listed causes before you plan a course of action.
Reasons why your dog is Peeing on Bed:
1. Accidents –
Are you skipping taking your dog to take a dump before bedtime, or is it that you never used to take your dog for a potty break before bedtime?
One reason of consistent bed-wetting is accidents. Your dog is either not getting sufficient amount of potty breaks especially the one before his bedtime or he is consuming a lot of water.
Solution –
Your dog needs requisite opportunities especially before you put him to sleep to relieve himself of the waste so that he is not compelled to control his bladder at night. Also avoid overfilling his water container/bowl before bedtime, as he might keep consuming it and looking for a place to pee.
2. Anxiety –
Is you pup new to surroundings? Is your dog under some kind of distress? Are you keeping your dog for a lot of time to stay alone? Or did your routine schedule change recently?
Separation anxiety is a behavioral disorder which might arise in cases of change of ownership, or death of a member in the household who was near to your pooch, and mostly because you leave for work or otherwise leaving your dog alone.
Other forms of anxieties include confinement anxiety or noise anxiety especially during the monsoon season when there is enough thunder roar, rain and hail.
Solution –
After a diagnosis of anxiety in your dog, your entire motive is to calm and placate him. The basic process is Interaction, exercise, training, and socialization for your dog. Your dog needs your touch and love while acclimating himself to changed circumstances.
Do not over stress your dog while training him which can arise by applying force, scolding or punishing him etc. Let trainings be pleasant experiences.
3. Urinary Tract Infection –
Is your dog licking around the area of urinary opening? Are you observing your dog’s discomfort while he is peeing? Did you spot blood in your dog’s urine?
The root cause of UTI is the bacteria’s invasion in the urinary tract and can be pointed out by you at its nascent stage by observing some symptoms like pain during urination by your dog or blood in his urine. A urinary tract infection is often the reason your dog can be peeing the bed as it leads to frequent urination.
According to veterinary doctors UTI is commonly found in female dogs, dogs over seven years of age, or the dogs who are suffering from diabetes.
Solution – Though there are many articles prescribing a home remedy for UTI but such a condition needs immediate veterinary supervision especially if your dog is having a painful or bloody urination, because then it qualifies as a medical emergency. Such a condition is treated by rounds of antibiotics, medications or supplements, dietary changes.
You need to ensure that while the treatment is going on, your dog increases its water intake and is made to consume healthy food. So feed him with a healthy diet with wholesome foods, vegetables and balanced protein. and keep refilling his container with water. Good care includes keeping your dog and his surroundings hygienic, which will prevent UTI to develop.
4. Your dog is Delineating Territory –
What did you just say? That this is your house? Not anymore. A dog usually initiates urinating in small amounts in order to mark his territory in his adolescent years and once your dog becomes physically mature, it increases its frequency for doing so. And your bed probably falls in his territory now which will make him to urinate again on your bed to remark his territory.
The reason behind your dog marking his territorial boundary (by way of urination) is to claim territory. marking boundaries for other dogs to assert his right over the territory and warning them not to trespass is a fundamental of survival instinct of dogs. Other reason they can be because they are leaving their scent behind as a “calling card” for mating purposes.
Solution – if there is a spot in your house which your dog is regularly marking then first and foremost restrict your dog’s access to that area. If it is your bed then ensure that you wash your bedsheet with special pet urine cleaning chemicals immediately so that your dog does not return to reinstate his territory.
Other solutions also include tying a piece of cloth around his neck with few drops of his urine to induce smell to make him feel that he is in his marked territory already, but this is a temporary solution.
And the surgical solution to this problem is spaying and neutering your dog to eliminate his instinct of marking territory which is hormonally induced in him. But if you plan to choose this surgical method make sure that you do it in the initial stages of marking itself as with time your dog will practice marking as a habit and spaying might not solve the problem.
General Solutions:
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1. Potty Training your Dog –
It is your duty to housetrain your dog and to accustom him to your household routine so that both of you can sustain comfortably. Toilet training the dog needs to be accompanied with adequate number of opportunities for your dog to take a dump.
2. Crate Train your Dog –
Dogs do not like to soil their own den, so once you have successfully crate trained your dog, not only have you limited his access in your home but have also prevented him from peeing in an undisciplined manner as he won’t pee in his own den.
Successfully crate training your dog might also prevent him from marking his territory as he might consider his crate to be his area, an area that he owns.
Concluding –
Despite availability of home remedies I always suggest at least one visit to the Vet, excessive urination is a symptom of many medical conditions for example diabetes which for you as a pet owner is important to rule out.
Also during house training your dog, ensure that you are not getting hyper-active or punishing him on his failure, this behavior of yours will rather lead him to confusion/anxiety which will increase the probability of bed-wetting and accidents.
With ageing your dog’s bladder will grow and with it will increase the frequency of times your dog will want to urinate but it is important to consider that diet also plays an important role. Meals with excessive salt will make him more thirsty and thus would want him to urinate more. So keep the diet well in balance.
Source –
https://www.cuteness.com/blog/content/why-did-my-dog-start-peeing-in-my-bed