My dog pees his own bed

[Darren]

I have a very nice 17 week old pup and he is already toilet trained. He is an inside dog and well behaved so far.

When we go out for dinner or drinks with friends we come home to a wet bed! Dog bed that is. We have always put him out for a wee before leaving so that we can try and stop it from happening. Just tonight I took my lovely wife for a romantic dinner for only 2 1/2 hours and when we arrived home his bed was wet.

Is this a separation issue? if it is I don't know why as I would be at work in the morning for 4 hours before coming home and there never is any during that time.

Please help me understand what is happening so that I am not washing his bedding at 11pm.

Kind regards Darren

[Todd]

HI there Darren and thanks for the post.

This must be really frustrating so i will do my best to help you.
Yes the issue may be separation based but i think this isn't the base issue.

Firstly we will start with a few basics to make sure we aren't missing something.

1) Does he have access outside when you are gone? Often you can solve the problem by giving him a way outside eg a doggie door. If he can get out when he wants you may find the problem disappears.

2) Make sure you use a good deodouriser on the bed after he has made a mess. This will mask the smell so that he doesn't create a habit out of it. I prefer SOX and Odourex but find one that you think works best.

3) Has he been checked over by a vet. Often medical problems like urinary track infections and bladder incontinence that can cause the problem. Make sure you can rule these out.

If the problem is a separation issue then you will be able to notice some other things. When you leave he will get whiney and clingy. Often they will destroy problems around doorways etc and this usually happens straight after you leave.
If these are the problems then there are a few things we can do to help things.

No.1 Arrivals and departures

Keep your arrivals and departures very low key. Try leaving him alone for at least 15 minutes when you come home. Just ignore him. If your dog calms down then show it some attention.

No.2 Do not respond

It is important that you do not respond to him when he starts acting up. This is inadvertently rewarding your dog for poor behavior and will not help. If your dog starts barking or whining then ignore it, no matter how difficult that may be. Do not even make eye contact.

No.3 Attention

Only give him attention when he is lying down or relaxed and not actively seeking attention (by barking for example). Do this by calling him over and making him sit before petting, etc.

No.4 Contrast

He is probably having difficulty accepting that sometimes it is going to get all the attention and other times none (like when you are at work). You can help this problem by ignoring your dog for 6 hours a day on the weekends. You can feed your dog but that's it. The idea is that your dog will think "What's the big deal when my owners are gone, even when they are home, they still ignore me".

Please let me know how things go and ask for your help as you need it

Todd