Montreal Dog Blog Montreal's Online Dog Park
Related Articles
Q: My question is regarding my 1 1/2 year old American Cocker Spaniel. We had her trained to go outdoors whenever she needed to go. Recently, about two months ago, she began urinating in the house, mainly on the couch and on her bed. We got the couches cleaned professionally to rid the scent of urine, and bought her a new bed, thinking this would solve this problem. Turns out, she continues to urinate on her bed and sleep on it. We put her back in a crate to retrain her, but the same thing is going on!! She wakes up in the morning drenched in urine. My question is, is this a behavioural issue, or could this be a bladder problem? I am worried this will never stop and really need help!! I feel bad for my pup, but feel really bad for the furniture that keeps getting destroyed!
Thanks for your help,
Diana
A: Diana, there are various reasons why you may be finding urine on the couches, on her bed, and in her crate. Have you actually caught her in the act of urination in these places? She may not be doing it consciously if you are simply finding urine in the places that she frequently sleeps or rests. In fact, she may have urinary incontinence, where urine may passively leak out of her bladder when she is very relaxed or sleeping. However, we can’t make a diagnosis on history alone so you should have your vet check her out and run a urinalysis and blood tests. Other conditions such as bladder infections can mimic the symptoms of incontinence so these things must be checked for and ruled out before a diagnosis of incontinence can be made. If it is urinary incontinence then there are medications that generally do an excellent job of controlling the problem. Urinary incontinence is a fairly commonly diagnosed disorder of spayed female dogs, usually in their middle to senior years, although it does happen occasionally in younger dogs such as yours.
