[chubby]

I need all of your help!! I don't know what to do and it is starting to affect my work concentration, and really driving me nuts!

My dog is a 10 month old female, spayed Bichon Frise, who is well on her way in her housebreaking and crate training - only had 1 accident in the past week, woot!

I have been doing heavy duty crate training with her, and she knows now to go in there on cue, and I always leave treats in there for her. A couple of days ago she even voluntarily rested in there for the whole 30 seconds. She often visits her crate to see if there are any treats in there.

HOWEVER, at night time, she growls to pee at least 1-2 times a night, and sometimes will even poo. If I don't let her out, she pees herself immediately, and then growls a bit louder to let me know she's now standing in her pee. Her crate is very small (only big enough for her to lie down in it, and she can't move from one side to the other), and it's right next to me in bed (I can put my fingers through the wires, which only sometimes calms her down). She goes bathroom at 11pm, and then we hit the bed.

Usually, she needs to pee at 2am, and maybe at 4 or 5am (she is an early riser). I get up at 8am so you can see how this really disrupts my sleep.

At 2 am, I take her out to pee, and she does immediately. Then I bring her inside without talking, and without a fuss, and place her back in the crate. She will growl and whine, and would not settle back to sleeping. This has caused me a lot of sleep deprivation. She does this 99% of the time. One time she did settle down, only to find an hour later she needs to poo, and because I ignored her growling thinking she was just faking it, she pooed in her crate.

I clean her crate very thoroughly each time with Enzymatic cleaner, and a good hot water wash, and I put my head in there to smell the floor and see if I can smell anything just to triple check, and it's good. There is no bedding in there as that makes her more likely to pee in the crate. Just the floor pan, and a blanket draped over the top to make it more cozy.

My coworker is suggesting I ignore her every time, as she is supposedly training me to open to the crate door every time she growls and is rewarded by being let out. She told me that after she realizes she will not get out of the crate just for soiling it, that she will learn to hold it in/sleep through the night. What do you all think about this? I have a feeling no one would agree with this method, But I'm so desperate I'm willing to try anything.

She gets a walk around 5:30pm EVERY single day for at least an hour, and sometimes 1.5-2 hours when I take her to the park after to play with some dogs. She does several training sessions with me in the evening to teach her crate, and all the other commands.

I just want her to sleep through the night from 12am - 8am. That is all I am asking for.

What should I do???? I am at my wit's end, and this is really killing our relationship as I'm less tired and active, and less motivated day by day...

I need help!!!!

(Please be kind, I love her very much and just want the best for both of us).

Thank you!!!

 

[Nil]

How much is she getting fed and what food is it? When is she fed? When is the last time she poops before bed?

Does she drink a lot of water before bed? If she pees at 11pm and needs to pee again at 2am, that's only three hours and she should be able to hold it longer than that by now.

Is it possible she has a UTI?

 

[doxiemommy]

I am curious about what you feed her and what time, too. Feeding schedules can affect when they need to pee/poop.
But, as for your co-worker's suggestion, I wouldn't just ignore her if she really does have to pee/poop. The reason I say this is, if she really does HAVE to go, and you ignore her and allow her to pee/poop in the crate, then she will likely start to see her crate as an acceptable place to pee and poop.

 

[trainingjunkie]

Do you do a pre-bedtime walk? I might do a 30 minute walk before bed. Might help her settle in. And if you are feeding after 5 pm, I would re-think that.

 

[chubby]

How much is she getting fed and what food is it? When is she fed? When is the last time she poops before bed?

Does she drink a lot of water before bed? If she pees at 11pm and needs to pee again at 2am, that's only three hours and she should be able to hold it longer than that by now.

Is it possible she has a UTI?

Hi Nil,

She gets fed about 4 ounces of Tollden Farm's Meat & Vegetable raw food. The rest of her diet is composed of training treats like beef liver, salmon, a little cheese, and some Acana kibble. She gets fed around 6:30pm, and she poos on our walk around 5:45pm - 6:00pm. She doesn't drink a lot of water generally, and I take it up at 8-9pm. I'm taking a urine sample to the vet to triple check, but she is not exhibiting any other signs that a UTI exists, so hopefully that's not the case!

 

[chubby]

Do you do a pre-bedtime walk? I might do a 30 minute walk before bed. Might help her settle in. And if you are feeding after 5 pm, I would re-think that.

Hi Training Junkie, She doesn't get a pre-bedtime walk, but rather a long walk after work, but maybe I can switch it up, and she gets 2 walks instead of one longer one? I just don't feel safe walking in my neighbourhood that late at night by myself (I'm a very small young looking woman who's not that fast, nor that strong lol). Should the pre-bedtime walk be right before bedtime? Or can it be an hour before bedtime?

I will also take your suggestion of feeding her at 5:20, I can't at 5 because I'm still on the transit at that time.

Any other suggestions?

 

[spotted nikes]

Does she hold it all day? If so, then I would say it's not a UTI, and she just wants out. I'd walk her (even in the backyard), just to encourage her to pee, right before bed. Females often can pee several times in a few minutes, so make sure she is empty.Personally, I would put her in bed with me, and I bet she'd sleep all night. Then you can get some sleep too. But I like having my dogs sleep with me.

 

[Hambonez]

Our setup since day 1 (8 wks old) has been crate with bed in pen with weewee pad. Hamilton has never gone in his crate, he's always just walked out and used the pad when he needed to go. Now at 15 weeks he just holds it overnight and we actually just took away the pads because he were only changing them because he was tearing them apart. I tried the getting up to take him out at night thing, but it just got him riled up and then neither of us would go back to sleep. It was really better for all parties involved to just let him use his pads overnight. He also is downstairs now, and we sleep upstairs which works better for him. He cried a LOT when he was upstairs, I think because it was a room he wasn't familiar with. Now he sleeps in the room we have gated off for him during the day, and he's much happier.

 

[hanksimon]

Keep doing the after work long walk. But, just before bed time, take her out just like you do for 15 min. If it's the backyard, then after she poops, you might let her run around for 5 - 10 min. BTW, under most circumstances, when a dog has to pee, she will pee in roughly 30 seconds after getting outside.

I believe that the 11:45pm pee just before bedtime may help to eliminate the 2 am pee... let us know.

 

[chubby]

Hi everyone, so today we had 2 walks, a long one from 10-11pm. She held her per from 5:30 to 11 so I'm super proud of her, but she decided to pee at the end of our walk which was weird cuz we always pee before we start our walk- in any case, when we came home she was sleepy and wanted quiet time but I woke her up to pee again at 12am but she didn't want to go.. I wanted to have her sleep in my bed to see if that would work but at 12:30 she peed in it, so only 1.5 hours since her last pee, so I don't think she's emptying her bladder fully, and when I give we extra opportunity to empty she isn't, which is why she peed in my bed? Is there any way to get a dog to fully empty (she's female and spayed)- she usually responds very well to cue word "go potty" but not so soon after she already went... So as I'm washing my sheets I confined her to the kitchen so she is quiet there now, but I have this huge nagging feeling I'll have to clean up pee tmr mornig as she often doesnt go on the pee pads, and many ppl told me to stop laying them down even at night as it sends her mixed signals about being allowed to go indoors. she's making great progress but I'm just at the point where Im so tired of cleaning pee and poo for the past 8 months and was hoping to find a solution ...

Does anyone have more ideas I can try? I'm goin to keep exercising her before bed but how do I get her to fully empty bladder each time? Why Is she saving her pee??

Thank u!!!

 

[chubby]

Does she hold it all day? If so, then I would say it's not a UTI, and she just wants out. I'd walk her (even in the backyard), just to encourage her to pee, right before bed. Females often can pee several times in a few minutes, so make sure she is empty.Personally, I would put her in bed with me, and I bet she'd sleep all night. Then you can get some sleep too. But I like having my dogs sleep with me.

She holds it from 8am to 12pm then I'm home at lunch and she pees again at 5:30, that's why I don't think it's An UTI but maybe a PH imbalance or smt that makes her nighttime bladder more active?? I know some people need to pee in the middle of the night too, but at 10 months I don't know any other dog who has this issue

 

[spotted nikes]

Maybe spay incontinence? There are meds for that .

 

[doxiemommy]

One of my dogs, Abby, has to pee in the middle of the night, but only occasionally. And she's just over 2. She has always been that way. She is usually very good at holding it, but, if she's tired, she's less likely to empty her bladder right before bed.