Sleep-peeing?

December 14, 2009 9:57 PM

do dogs pee in their sleep?

every once in awhile, my dog will pee in his sleep. the amount of pee isn't a lot—definitely a lot less than if he was outside. is this normal? should i be concerned? he's 4.5 yrs old, been house-trained since he was a baby (in fact, he rings some jingle bells hanging on the back door when he needs to go out to go to go potty), so i'm a little puzzled. i've started noticing this in the past maybe year or so.

posted by violetk to Pets & Animals (8 answers total)

This is not normal, no. Could be a UTI. I'd take him to the vet.
posted by rhapsodie at 10:15 PM on December 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

I would have him checked out, just in case. I have seen sleep incontinence, but never in a young healthy dog with a normal bladder and no disease or deformity.
posted by Lyn Never at 11:12 PM on December 14, 2009

I have an old dog who takes meds for this. I'd definitely have it checked out.
posted by wheat at 3:29 AM on December 15, 2009

Our 8 yo (OMG 8?) Brittany had this problem since she was a puppy. With the vets blessing, we lived with it for awhile; taking precautions to pick up the water dish well before bed and to wake her from naps to go outside. By age 7, she started 'leaking' on a much more regular basis, even when she was wide awake. The vet put her on Proin, and she has had no problems since.

The vet explained that it was likely due to being spayed. The hormones that control the sphincter muscle where just too low. Proin tightens sphincters and has been our miracle pill. It is made up of one half of the diet drug Phen-Phen, but doesn't have the same negative side effects in dogs. Our vet warned that she might be a little more active, but we haven't noticed a change, other than having a dry bed in the mornings.
posted by wg at 6:07 AM on December 15, 2009

Check closely to see if his water drinking habits have changed. The vet will probably need to know this for a good diagnosis, or to rule out problems like diabetes.
posted by kuujjuarapik at 7:24 AM on December 15, 2009

My dog did this once. I was alarmed. The vet told me to keep an eye out and see if it was a pattern, but that just once was no real cause for alarm. He hasn't done it since, so I don't precisely know what was up.

It was a lot of pee, too. He was soaked. Maybe he just drank a lot and didn't go out...
posted by kaseijin at 8:34 AM on December 15, 2009

dogs bark in their sleep and run in their sleep, is it really a surprise if they pee in their sleep once in a while while dreaming it? it might be something wrong physically, but it might not; this happens to people too!
posted by lia at 2:49 PM on December 15, 2009

Yep, we've been dealing with this. Our female dog had sleep incontinence and first we tried the Proin, which didn't work at all. We now have her on Diethylstilbestrol (aka DES), an estrogen-based medication, and it works great. Ask your vet - it isn't normal but it's probably easily cured. Here's more info.
posted by TochterAusElysium at 5:22 PM on December 20, 2009