[deweyj]

I have a 8 year old male Border Collie. His last vet visit was only a couple months ago and they say he is very healthy, so I think this must be behavioral but I don't know how to stop it. Pretty much every night while we are sleepy he pees on the floor. We let him out right before bed and right when we wake up. During the day he never messes inside, and if he has to go out between us letting him out, he lets us know. Also if he was to poop at night he will whimper to wake us to let him out. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to get him to stop? I don't want to crate him at night, because the crate is in the living room and he's in it during the day.

[MrAndrew]

You say you let him out before going to bed every night, but is he actually 'doing his business' while outside? Here are some ideas as to how to stop his urination during the nighttime:

a) About an hour (or so) before bedtime remove his water bowl, this ensure no more water gets into his system during the night; no water in = no urine out

b) Make sure he actually goes pee outside, this might require taking him for a quick walk around the block

c) If the above two fail to get results you can get some Dog Housebreaking Pads. These pads are designed to attract dogs to use them and they quickly change liquid waste into solid waste for easy disposal.

Good luck!

[deweyj]

I do both A and B, so maybe I'll try the housing breaking pads. Thank you for your reply.

[MrAndrew]

What sort of check up did your vet do on your last visit? Did it include a blood work-up? As long as it was a complete and thorough check-up you can pretty much rule out any health issues, which should be reassuring.

The only other thing that could be causing this issue would be a behavioral change. Has there been any changes in the household? Additional residents of the human or pet variety?

In my experience dogs who have a sudden change in behavior, such as is the case with your urination issues, this change is often triggered by a new addition in the environment and the need for the 'dominant' dog to try and reestablish his dominance by marking his territory.

In addition to using the Housebreaking Pads I recommend getting an enzyme cleaner to thoroughly remove any and all traces of the urine stain and odor causing molecules. A good safe cleaner is Nature's Miracle. If the scent of the urine continues to exist your dog may think it is okay for them to continue to 'mark' that particular location.

[deweyj]

The vet visit did include blood testing. There have been no changes in the household. The last change was when we moved in here a year and a half ago. He is the only pet here. There are no urine stains on the carpet, because he usually goes on the blanket that we gave him to sleep on in the corner of the closest he likes to sleep in. Last night we closed the closest door and took that blanket away and he went on a pile of towels right in front of the bed, it was the first time I actually caught him doing it. Thank you for your reply.

[PowerNubby]

A urinary tract or bladder issue could have easily sprung up after your last appointment.

Honestly, if there were no behavioral issues that you can think of, i would definitely get back to the vet.

Your dog is 8 years old, and that is later in the stages of life for a dog of that size. Vet checks every 6 months is required, and any signs of illness should be checked on instantly. With a dog of that age, you really need to be aware of any and all changes.

I do not mean to scare you, but we had a terrier who should have lived to about 15 years old that died at age 9 due to cancer. So please, get the dog checked out.

[cherylmartin]

And whatever you decide to do READ OR ASK what the side effects are BEFORE giving any medicine. My Jasmine was given ProIn and died from the results. Do a search at this web site for ProIn nd see how many dogs hve been affected by this deadly drug. Thank you and I hope all turns out well in your case.

[MrAndrew]

Any updates for us? Hope your dog issues have resolved themselves.