Wetting bed in crate at night

Please can anyone advise me. My 4 month old whippet puppy sleeps in crate at night. I made error of it being too big at first and he could step out of bed and toilet in there, he would bark after he had done it, never before. So now it is just big enough for his bed, first night fine, woke him during night to wee outside, second night after only 2 hours he barked but had already wet his bed. Had let him out and had done wee before he went to bed. During day he goes to door to go out to toilet but does not bark. Everywhere I read they say they will not soil their bed| He has dry food but I do take water away during evening, maybe not soon enough, can anyone also advise timing of taking water up before bed. I do not know what age he will start cocking his leg, therefore very concerned about getting him dry at night.

As you say, it is very unusual for dogs to soil their bed. I think he is barking because he has nowhere to lay, not because he needs to go out.

Can you move his crate to near your bed so that you hear him stir? It may be that he whines to go out and you don't hear him? Once he is old enough to hold on overnight you will be able to wean him out of the bedroom and back to where you want him.

It is very dangerous to deprive a dog of water so I would not take it up too early. He just has to be old enough, and have a big enough bladder, to hold on over night. You do not say how old he is.

The basic principal of house training is that the dog must want to hold on until he gets out in the garden. This means rewarding him for doing that. I would take him out every time he needs to go and give him a high value reward for toileting there. The reward needs to be given immediately he toilets, not after he has come to you, so that there is no doubt in his mind as to why he got the reward. This should help to make him want to wake you in order to get the super treat that is only given in the garden!

It is also very important that he does not pick up on your, understandable, displeasure when he toilets inside. What can happen is that they anticipate your displeasure and avoid you when they need to toilet. This can lead to problems when trying to housetrain. Hard though it is, be as neutral as you can when you find a toilet. Clean the area with a 10% solution of biological detergent, rinse, dry, and go over with a spirit like white vinegar or surgical spirit. This lifts all the scent of the toilet away.

Leg cocking comes with sexual maturity and can vary from dog to dog. I have seen dogs that learn to cock their leg through the bars of the cage so you need to get his house training sorted before he reaches that stage.

Thank you for your reply. I did state his age. He is 4 months old and is perfectly housetrained during day. He does have lovely comfy bed in crate. I never chastise an error I have not witnessed and lavish praise on good things. I live in a bungalow and can hear him quite clearly and a very light sleeper, so would not miss a sound from him. He only barks after event during night. I have read so much online and i think every dog is different and nothing is really helping my situation.

Just an observation, you say you never chastise an error you haven't witnessed. Is it at all possible he picks up on your signals when you do observe an accident and is reluctant to tell you be needs out?

Thank you for replies. I have sorted problem thank you. Have spoken to local very experienced trainer and everything I am doing is correct. Matters improving by the day. Do find trying to get advice on this type of site difficult, as when you type something there is no light and shade like a face to face conversation and people do get the wrong end of the stick or not read question fully. I appreciate everyone means well.

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