Help! 9 month old puppy still urinating at night.

[Taylorc]

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Please help!

I have a 9 month old show cocker spaniel that wees EVERY night. I take him for a walk and let him out before bed but he still wees. He is in my utility room with my older dog and I have tried reducing the space but he still wees. When we are home he does not we in the house,he waits by the back door and cries. This tells me that he knows where to go. I think it is habit that he wees but don't know how to get him out of it.

It is starting to get me down a little now.

Shall I take him to vets?

Shall I take him to training?

Apart from the weeing and a little noisy barking, he is well behaved and excellent with my children.

Any advice is greatly welcome.

Claire x

 

[JoanneF]

You might want to get a vet visit to rule out any health issues that might be causing this. As well as that, I suggest back to basics with toilet training including setting your alarm for at least once during the night. For normal toilet training, you want him to understand toileting outdoors brings great rewards. Get him out and give huge praise and a high value reward or treat when he toilets. Don't make him come to you for the treat, so he knows that it's for toileting and not for coming to you. While he is toileting you can start to introduce a cue word like do weewee or busy busy; so in future you can tell him when it is a good time. If he has toileted indoors don't get annoyed in case he becomes anxious about toileting, you want him to tell you he needs out, not to avoid you. At night when you take him out, be really quiet and uninteresting because you want him to know it isn't playtime, but still reward the toileting before bringing him back in. Then you can add a 'settle' or 'back to bed' cue.

 

[Taylorc]

Thank you for your response. I am definitely going to go back to basics, we do reward him for toile ting outside but we wait for him to come to us so we are going to follow your suggestion and go to him. It's really frustrating because he doesn't urinate in the house during the day, it's just at night. I am also going to try and reduce the space he has at night. Will let you know how he gets on.

 

[JoanneF]

Should also have said, don't just let him out last thing before bed time, TAKE him out and make sure he toilets - several times for urine.

 

[gypsysmum2]

I agree with JoanneF above.

Don't forget the vet's first, just in case he has cystitis or something. Take a urine sample with you

Do be aware that some dogs are scared of the dark! He may like some company last thing at night. The act of toileting makes some dogs feel vulnerable so a comforting presence and a reward for the right behaviour might be all he needs.