Puppy urinating herself when she sleeps

by Kandi
(Post Falls, Idaho)

HI, my 5-month-old Shima puppy (female) pees on herself whenever she sleeps. Her fur on her back end and tail is completely stained and pee-coated and we have to bathe her behind at least twice a day!

She goes potty fine outside and inside we have a mat that she goes on consistently. She has a small umbilical hernia, which makes me wonder if that has something to do with her "wetting" herself. I work from home and so am able to take her out to pee consistently, but it never fails that she piddles again on herself when she takes a nap.

Any suggestions as to what I can do to break her of this or if she will "grow out of it" as some people have told me?



Hi KandiThis is a tricky one. It doesn't sound as though she has a problem with bladder control when she's awake so I'm not sure why she pees while sleeping. It does happen in some dogs, but it's not 'normal'.

I'd definitely recommend having your pup examined by your vet to see if there is some physical reason for her lack of control while sleeping. Small umbilical hernias are pretty common, and I've never heard of one affecting a pup in this way but I would imagine it's possible that it could be related.

I'm afraid I'm not a vet so I really can't give you any professional advice, but I know that some pups do 'grow out' of this if it's due to immature bladder/nerve control. However, your pup is already 5 months old and not really a baby, so I would have expected her to have improved by now.

As I said, I'd recommend having your vet take a look at her. This shouldn't be happening and it's got to be very difficult for you and her. Hopefully your vet will have the answer.

Best of luck with her.