Dog peeing in bed

OverRated

I have 2 CKCS - one dog and one b!tch. The girl is coming up to 3 years old and was spayed after her first season. We used to have problems with her shredding her bed and hopping into the boys basket with him so we decided to buy a bigger bed for the two of them which was more hard wearing. They've been using the bed for about a year together but we've noticed that our girl has been weeing in the bed as it smells of urine. I've washed the bedding and used urine destroyer so not to encourage her to come back to pee but she keeps doing it and I'm now washing on an almost daily basis. She is very much the boss of the two dogs so I've narrowed it down to 3 options:

1) She's doing it to mark dominance
2) She's doing it when we go out or at night (separation anxiety?)
3) There's something medically causing it.

Does anyone have a similar experience? Not sure where to start to tackle this.

Fosterdog

If this is out of character then the first thing you need to do is get her to the vet for a thorough check.

Is it just a little bit as if she is marking/leaking or a full wee?

Does she also go when outside on the garden or on walks?

Has anything changed around the house? Any people moved in or out? Any new animals? How about neighbours?

Has her food changed? How is she in herself?

wannabe_credit_free

Does she wee a lot at other times, if so, she could have a urinary tract infection.
If she only wees inappropriately in her bed, then she could be dominance marking, although I don't think thats likely.

I have 3 spayed females and all share a huge bed. None of them mark the bed.
My Shih Tzu started to urinate through the night away from her bed, and vet diagnosed a urine infection. After a course of antibiotics the problem was solved. So best to take your dog to your vet to have her checked out.

OverRated

It's been going on for quite a while now but I thought it might be something she would grow out of which is now clearly not the case.

I can't tell if its a full wee or not as the blankets and bed are all dark colours and tend to absorb it all. She wees fine in the garden and on walks and goes regularly.

She's been on the same food for a long long time now (Orijen). The only major changes in the house are last September we had our kitchen done and in January we had our bathroom done which did unsettle her at the time but she seemed to perk up after a few days.

OverRated

I hadn't considered a UTI - thanks I will ask the vet to check her out.

yorkshire_terrier_owner

Trip to the vet as a matter of priority.

If nothing wrong, it is behavioural. It could be that the sleeping in the same bed is the problem - but not necessarily dominance.

Are your dogs crate trained? I crate train all my dogs (and one of my six is a cav - I started my breeding career with cavs) and they can be stubborn so and so's. If all is ok health wise I would start by separating her from he male (who I assume is neutered?) using a crate.

Then go from there.....

OverRated

Yes both crate trained although the girl took a LOT longer, and my male is neutered.

yorkshire_terrier_owner

If they are crate trained, I would get her checked by vet first.

If no problems there I would crate her at night. It may just be that a bit of retraining is needed.

It could be that she is unhappy with sharing a bed with the other dog.

One of my b!tches went through a phase of weeing in her own bed, turned out it was the bedding - kept trying different types until found one that worked. Sometimes if the bedding is very absorbent it can encourage them to urinate.

Is she otherwise reliable in her toileting habits?
How long has this problem been going on exactly?

sheramber

It could be a UTI or it could be spay incontinenece - both treatable.

Raksha

Next time she does it, wipe the new bedding with the dirty one before washing it. This will transfer some if her smell to it, the do the same every time you replace the bedding