Accidents while sleeping and during the night

by Holly
(Atlanta, Ga)

Willy, the Giant Schnoodle

Hi, I have watched the dog training shows with the english lady, I have worked as a vet tech and know/understand puppy training methods. We have tried obedience school, crate training, tether training, while our giant schnoodle is quick to learn tricks he just will not break some bad habits. He is just over one year old now.

Problem #1: Our pet apparently has bad dreams, every night he lays on the floor or in his bed (or sometimes sneaks into ours) and starts whimpering. It happens EVERY night and each night I wake him up and pet him..but sometimes we miss his whimpering and noises and he wets his bed in his sleep...just like a little kid. I usually take care of this and never punish him for it because I am fairly certain he is unaware of doing it, but this happened in our bed one night while my husband and I were sleeping..and the hubby is reaching the end of his rope.

Problem #2: Our pet will be outside for hours and hours (and he does have a beeping collar for when he barks which has mostly been keeping him on task now!), I will watch him potty outside and I will play with him outside. Before we go to bed, he goes outside again. When he comes in he goes straight to his bed, some times he wanders to the floor or our bed..but usually he just stays in his bed. Within 2 or 3 hours of having last gone outside he will stand up and pee in his bed, floor near by, or on a pillow that falls off the bed.

Our pet is neutered and has been tested for urinary infections. As I said, my hubby and I are near our wits ends and have no clue if all of this is just bad dreams and sleep walking (peeing) or what? He did this same stuff in his crate when we were crate training and I thought most dogs would not do this where they slept.

We would greatly appreciate suggestions because we do love him very much.





Hi Holly
Willy looks adorable, just look at that expression!

Whimpering, shaking and involuntary movements or sounds when asleep are pretty common in dogs and puppies, but urinating while asleep isn't. That shouldn't happen and although I'm not a vet, I would imagine that there has to be a physical component to this.

A 1 year old dog should have pretty good bladder control, awake or asleep. I know that you've had him tested for UTI's which would have been my first suggestion, but I would recommend that you take him back to your vet for further evaluation. There must be something that is causing this behavior, and the sooner it's diagnosed and treated the better for all of you.

As for the peeing at night, I would suggest that you try picking up his water dish by 6pm and making sure that he's had plenty of opportunities to empty his bladder before going to bed. This may help. I would also suggest taking him outside as soon as he wakes up so that he can pee outdoors. He should be able to 'hold it' if you catch him right away.

I can imagine how frustrating and difficult this must be for you, but I'm fairly certain that if you find the physical cause of this that it can be corrected.

Meantime, to protect your bed, carpets, cushions and your husbands' frayed nerves, how about using 'belly bands' or 'doggie diapers' on Willy at night? If you put them on him right before he goes to bed, he may not bother trying to remove them. If he sleeps with/near you then you can tell him "NO" if he does try to take them off. It may alleviate some of the stress of this situation.

I wish you and Willy the best of luck and hope that you can get to the bottom of this problem soon.