Peeing WHILE laying down!??

Dreeza

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#1
Anyone else seen this in a dog?? My roomie's dog has recently started doing this...which is obviously extremely frustrated.

He was pretty much pottytrained, but 3x yesterday he peed while laying down on the floor...obviously we can;t tell he is about to pee. This morning he did it outside too!

what the heck is wrong with him? I dont think its UTI or anything cause he is holding it through the night...
 

Maxy24

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#4
Perhaps a vet check is in order. Of course every dog is different but I'd think most dogs would not enjoy laying in their own pee and would only pee on themselves if they couldn't quite control it. How old is he?
 
F

FluffyZooCrew

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#5
Sounds like the dog needs to be seen by a vet really soon. Healthy dogs don't pee on themselves while laying down unless something is wrong.
 

JessLough

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#6
I agree with what other people have said... vet check is definitely in order. This could be his way of telling you that something is wrong and that you need to get him checked by a vet, the urinating may have nothing to do with the problem even. Dogs can only tell you something is wrong by changing their behavior.

You said he is holding his pee overnight.. so does that mean he is only doing this while somebody is around to notice?? If so, it definitely does sound, at least to me, like he is trying to get your attention.
 

lizzybeth727

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#7
I heard of a dog doing this.... I suggested they go to the vet but I didn't see them again to hear how it went. (Sorry, not much help at all.) Keep us posted!
 

Doberluv

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#8
He's not doing it to get your attention. He may have a sphincter muscle problem where it is too flacid at times and okay other times. Or a UTI even if he does hold it during the night. I too agree with a vet visit asap.

I've seen it in spayed female dogs that are lacking in estrogen. I haven't seen it in male dogs, but they may get a hormone imbalance too for some reason which can cause the loosening of the muscles. I don't know....but yeah...a vet visit.
 

JessLough

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#9
He's not doing it to get your attention.QUOTE]

I have to say I disagree. While it can be for something else, my cousins male dog did this as a sign that something was wrong. The vet checked him over thoroughly... there was no other reason for the dog to be peeing while laying down, other than to get the attention that somethings wrong. They went to 2 vets and a specialist and they all came up with the same thing. I don't remember what it was, and I really do wish I did now.

Also, if it was a sphincter problem, I don't believe he would be holding all night and then during the day, while people are around, suddenly it starts to pick up again? I dunno.. sounds kinda weird to me :confused:
 

Doberluv

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#10
My Lab had a sphincter muscle problem and peed while lying down. But not all the time. It was intermittent.

The reason I don't believe that the dog is doing it in order to get attention is because that's too complex a thought process. No, sorrry....I don't buy it that the dog is peeing in order to get a human's attention no matter what a vet told you. Dogs bark, whine and paw at us to make us notice them. But peeing...well, to me that's just too abstract.

Stress can cause unusual peeing, nervousness. If your cousin's dog had something wrong, was uncomfortable or stressed, he was likely peeing on account of that, not as a way to get your cousin's attention. My little Chi, when he had knee surgery was in a ton of pain the following few days and pee just fell right out of him. (plus the remnants of the anesthesia probably) He was stressed and quivering, crying a little. I never thought he was trying to tell me something by peeing. He was so terribly uncomfortable that he simply couldn't control his bladder. Vet's know medicine but they don't all know behavior very well.

Anyhow, I'd always rule out something medical first before looking at the behavioral route. With something like this, behavior would be the last thing on my mind.
 

JessLough

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#11
When a dog is being house trained.. they are taught peeing inside the house is bad. Dogs aren't stupid. They know when they do something bad, you will pay attention to them. When somethings wrong with them, they don't care if it's bad attention or good, they will do things to get your attention.

Vets go through 4 years of general science courses, then another 4-6 years. They do more than that to specialize in an area/on a species. So 2 vets plus a specialist.. that's about 30+ years of formal training plus however long they had were on the job for. How many years of formal training have you had, to be saying that 3 vets are wrong and there's no way it's true?

In general, I would NEVER rule something out on a forum like this, unless its completely obviously, common knowledge, now what it wrong or normal. People may take you (in general.. not "you" personally) to heart and not go to the vet if they don't think it's very serious or anything. Until I have had formal training, I would state my mind if I don't think something is correct, but not go out and say "it is not..." Actually, even after I get the training, I probably would never say that on a forum. Because if I decided to rule something out, so the owner did not get the help the pet possibly needed, and it was what I said it wasn't, I would feel horrible. On a forum like this, you just don't know enough about the dog itself, its medical history,etc. I may be the only one who thinks like that but.. yah.
 

elegy

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#12
my little girldog primarily leaks when she's laying down after having exercised. she doesn't pee at night nor in her crate during the day. the vet tried to tell me it was behavioral, but it's not. it's a medical problem, and medication fixes it, but if i try to wean her off the meds, it comes back. i would definitely be looking at a medical problem before assuming a behavioral one.
 
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FluffyZooCrew

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#13
Annie is incontenant as well, though hers was due to an accident that damaged her muscles and nerves, not necessarily a medical condition.

But with her, she starts to leak herself whenever her bladder gets full. If she goes more than 1-2 hours without going to the bathroom, she will start to leak herself lying down. I really think she can't feel it, because she appears to not even know she's doing it. I think whenever urine starts to build up in her bladder, it just starts to push out. The vet wanted to wait 2 months after her accident to see if it stops before putting her on medication. So far it's been one month and she's still doing it, so we'll see.

But yeah, hopefully the dog is seen by a vet. And soon.
 

Romy

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#14
When a dog is being house trained.. they are taught peeing inside the house is bad. Dogs aren't stupid. They know when they do something bad, you will pay attention to them. When somethings wrong with them, they don't care if it's bad attention or good, they will do things to get your attention.

Vets go through 4 years of general science courses, then another 4-6 years. They do more than that to specialize in an area/on a species. So 2 vets plus a specialist.. that's about 30+ years of formal training plus however long they had were on the job for. How many years of formal training have you had, to be saying that 3 vets are wrong and there's no way it's true?

In general, I would NEVER rule something out on a forum like this, unless its completely obviously, common knowledge, now what it wrong or normal. People may take you (in general.. not "you" personally) to heart and not go to the vet if they don't think it's very serious or anything. Until I have had formal training, I would state my mind if I don't think something is correct, but not go out and say "it is not..." Actually, even after I get the training, I probably would never say that on a forum. Because if I decided to rule something out, so the owner did not get the help the pet possibly needed, and it was what I said it wasn't, I would feel horrible. On a forum like this, you just don't know enough about the dog itself, its medical history,etc. I may be the only one who thinks like that but.. yah.
Dober never said not to take the dog to a vet. :confused: In fact:

Anyhow, I'd always rule out something medical first before looking at the behavioral route. With something like this, behavior would be the last thing on my mind.
She has a degree in animal behavior. Plenty of vets are clueless about animal behavior, despite spending hours a day with them for years. I have seen vets walk up to terrified dogs in waiting rooms, and give them hugs encircling the neck and kiss their noses/ears. Hello? Asking for a bite in the face much?

And veterinarians are not trained in animal behavior. They aren't even trained much in animal nutrition. They are trained in the physiology of many different animals in the same amount of time it takes a human doctor to study just one, humans.

Dogs are amoral. They have no concept of right and wrong, or good and bad. If you punish them for a behavior, they will avoid that behavior in an attempt to avoid punishment. If you reward a behavior, they try to repeat that behavior in an attempt to earn the reward.
 

Dreeza

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#15
thanks everyone...she called a vet, who told her to get a urine sample to check for UTI. She is going in tomorrow.

I dont really think its an attention thing either, cause I mean, he actually gets more attention when he pees standing up in the house (cause she catches it right away & immediately brings him outside). When he does it laying down, she doesn't notice until she sees the wet spot, ya know...the behavior has def never really been reinforced with any attention
 

Dreeza

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#17
Maybe I should make school aware of this, then. Considering animal behaviour is on my schedule for every single semester. For over 100 hours each semester.
well then you must have a very special school...cause that was actually the #1 reason I chose not to go to vet school. I realized my love for animals really wasn't in the medical domain & that vets just really lacked the 'understanding of them' part.
 

smkie

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#18
Is the dog asleep when this happens? I would believe it to be a health issue over a behaviorial one. My brother's dog ureter was wrapped around her spine. A very bizarre birth defect and she did this. Victor in the beginning would hold it forever without asking to go out. If I forgot and we went to bed as soon as he went to sleep it would drip drip drip and i would wake up in a wet bed. Now i am always careful to make sure even if he isn't asking to go out to make sure he does before he retires.
 

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