Dog owners - I need your help again please!

[ancee]

Do you remember I posted a thread about our puppy who we rescued and he kept exploding etc? Well, He's been house trained, and crate trained overnight (or he wrecks anything in sight) For months now, and is doing brilliantly. Suddenly he started to wet the bed. REALLY wet it, not just a dribble but, like he's emptied a gallon of water in there. We cannot figure out what's gone wrong. I've stopped giving him chews, in case they have too much salt and he's over compensating by drinking too much water. He's walked twice a day, has access to the garden whenever he wants to go out. He even scratches at the back door, so he's learned, to go out and hold it. We are baffled, the thing is, it is not fun stripping and washing his bedding daily, and disinfecting his cage. But the last week or so his bedding is soaking. Anyone got any ideas or tips, we are truly stumped. The dog whisperer's answer to any bad behaviour is usually that they don't get walked enough. It's not that. We have really started training with him, to see if we can tire his brain out. So lots of, sit, stay, her, sit paw etc. Any help really would be appreciated guys?

[Dorothy rouse]

Oh dear what a nuisance fir you, sorry I can't help, no doggy.

[Glutton4...]

What breed and how old? What kind of exercise, and how much? What are you feeding, when and how much? Does he have access to ad-lib water?

[ancee]

That's not the position I really want to be in though Dorothy! - Dog-less I mean! I have to think of something as we all love this little (big) chap, but I can't keep washing and drying his bedding everyday and bathing him! It's like a having a baby again, a very heavy baby, who I have to man handle in to the shower!

[rustylady]

Does he only wee in the crate during the night? Does he get taken outside for a wee before bedtime?

[ancee]

Approx 6 months, rotty. He eats himself to death if left to his own devices, so we feed him after his 6.30am walk, walked on the field behind our house (dried food 1 cup) then after his walk at 4.30pm again on the field (dry food 1 cup) then around 7pm 1 cup again. He has water when he needs it, in the kitchen for him to go to. On Wednesdays he has a massive walk in the country. Saturdays and Sundays he has large walks on an abandoned golf course. So he goes different places to have different sniffs and sights.

[ancee]

Yes RL, suddenly he's started to do it overnight. He's not in the crate during the day, so can go out to the garden, if he hasn't emptied on his walks. This is new, he's been dry overnight for months previously. And yes, he's in the garden before the last of us goes to bed. Usually my son about 11.30. I am up at 6.30, so he's not waiting that long really. 7 hours or so.

[Glutton4...]

Walk in the field behind the house - is this on or off the lead, how long is each walk?

What dry food is he having - budget/supermarket own, or a better brand?

Is he shut in the crate at night? Does he have water in there with him?

[ancee]

On the lead till he gets there, then off, unless he's being naughty. Half hour each time. Presently he's on Bakers, he came to us on raw food, but was so constipated he cried when he went to the loo. He's in the cage 11.30-6.30, no longer has water in there as he manages to push it over, or drinks the lot and wees. He has a drink before bed, and a wee before bed.

[Linzy]

my dog occasionally wets herself, she will be alseep then just starts weeing, then wakes up and looks most bemused that its happened. You might find your dog is just going through a phase. Perhaps gert up middle of night and let out in case he has got a full bladder.

[ancee]

Could be a phase Linzy, he's "becoming a man" and parts of him are growing, so perhaps he's marking his territory?

[WendyC]

If this a change in behaviour, as it clearly is, I'd be off to the vets to rule out infection or something similar. Not a dog owner just applying what I'd do if it was kids or cats!

[rustylady]

Doesn't sound like marking Ancee, that's usually just a little squirt and from the sound of it he's doing huge wees in the crate.

[ancee]

He's practically swimming RL, it was my husbands suggestion of marking. I don't know if dogs get water infections Wendy

[Glutton4...]

Bakers is not a good food - I know it's popular, but it's full of fillers and carbs, that are alien to a Dog's digestion. A Raw diet is the most natural, but with a bigger dog, the cost can be prohibitive. (I have two Golden Retrievers, and they're fed Arden Grange, which costs around £2 a day for the two of them, whereas a Raw diet would cost me around £6 per day. When I just had the one, he was fed mainly Raw, and getting him on dry was very difficult. Incidentally, when I can afford it, they're both going Raw.)

As long as you don't reprimand him for wetting, he may well just grow out of it. If you tell him off, he may panic, and that'll just make him worse. The dry food may well be making him drink more, then that makes him pee more. I'd let him drink before going out, then make sure he definitely has a pee before bed.

I also notice he has Breakfast, Tea and Supper. He'd be better having a lunch time meal instead of tea, and bring the night time one forward a little. It may be a case of a full tummy pushing on his bladder. Now that he's six months, you could even try cutting out a meal; maybe give him a slightly bigger breakfast, keep the tea-time feed, but make it slightly bigger, then just substitute the supper feed for a handful of gravyb0ne biscuits or a b0ni0.

Good luck with him - it's time we saw a piccy...