Help Needed! My bulldog pees her bed almost every night...

[Linds1649]

Hi everyone. I'm new to this forum and looking for any help or advice you might have on the subject. My 4 year old English bulldog Lucy has been peeing her bed almost every night and I am so frustrated at this point. I have tried everything I can think of. I have bought her new beds, tried just blankets or a towel, taken her bed away completely, blocked her in one room, let her sleep in my room etc..... When I started letting her sleep in my room she went 2 weeks with only peeing once but over the past few nights she has started again. I always make sure she goes out and pees every night right before bed and I do not give her any water after 6pm. I have taken her to the vets to see if she may have a bladder infection but she is perfectly healthy thankfully. When she pees inside I bring her to her bed and scold her and put her outside, she knows she has done something wrong.
A little background info: I have had Lucy for about a year now and this problem didn't start until about 6 months ago, and seemed to start for no apparent reason. I have reached out to the family that had her before us and they did not have this problem with her (she has had 2 different owners before I got her). She immediately bonded with me after my fiancé and I brought her home, she goes everywhere with me as I am able to bring her to work with me. We do have another dog, mason an American bulldog. Mason and Lucy get along great. Other than the peeing issue Lucy is the perfect dog, she is so sweet and brings so much joy to our lives!
Any and all suggestions and advice would be greatly appreciated as I have tried everything I can think of!

 

[ddnene]

to EBN!!! I'm sorry that you are having issues w/Lucy, I'm going to tag some members that might be able to advice you...

 

[Abby&Jacks Mom]

Hi and welcome I had a bulldog who would go in his bed and pee! I took the bed away and that ended the problem. Sounds like you tried that already.i am sorry you are having such a problem but sure you will get get advice.

 

[2BullyMama]

Hello and to EBN

Removing the bedding is a good start , but I am thinking it has to do with attention, good or bad, she relates the attention she is receiving based on the behavior. Bulldogs in general do not respond well to negative attention or scolding, hard as it is, do not make a fuss about it. Clean up and move on, do not focus on her.... If not already, get her on a schedule and she. She does her business outside HIGH praise nd luvin with a treat.... She will get the picture.

Also, Bulldogs being OCD, has anything in your home or her routine changed in this period?

 

[Sharon Mitchel]

I used to have a bullie who would only pee in her crate if it had a bed or blanket in it. Removing the bedding worked. Sounds like you've already done that.

Does she come to you in the middle of the night to go out? It doesn't sound like she does.

 

[Manydogs]

Hello! I must tell you that I have one female, who is spayed, who occasionally pees in her crate during the night. She is healthy happy and never has accidents in the house and no UTI. I have yet to figure out WHY she does this, except that she is a very heavy sleeper, and I think she just pees in her sleep. I do not take her bedding away, I just use the quilted pads that have a waterproof side, made of material, as they use in some nursing homes. I have several of those pads, and just change them when needed. She is so sweet and well behaved in every way-that if that is her one bad "habit" I can live with that-because I know it is not a medical problem. If I have to work, and crate her during the day, she does not do it. My dogs are very active, and when they go to bed at night-they sleep heavy!

 

[heavyblankets]

You could try the bell training. I trained Agnes to ring a bell when she needs to go out. She will occasionally get out of bed (where she sleeps with me) in the middle of the night and ring her Bell even if I've taken her out at 10pm. Of course it's annoying to get up and let her out at 4 am or whenever that happens, but it saves me an accident in the bed.

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk

 

[cefe13]

Castor had a similar problem (although he was much younger) and I was advised here on EBN to check for draught. That took care of the problem - when we closed the windows, the bed-wetting stopped.

 

[dalmatina38]

I also suggest looking for drafts; Amber cannot be anywhere near a draft or she will pee. She gets cold during the night if she is under the air-conditioning vent or if the windows are open so check on it to be sure its not a draft. Good luck!

 

[Texas Carol]

I've rehomed two bullies, my 1st, an older male who'ed had multiple homes.
Brutus never peed the bed but did pee in his crate unless left bare of any pad,
blanket or towel, many bullies do this. Now, on my 2nd bully, Cami, also older
and will pee on anything left in crate too. She sleeps with me now and started
peeing the bed. To stop it, I had to go back to basics and strict schedules of
eating and potty breaks. Expectations made clear, let her know you disagree
with it but do not yell or scold her, bullies hate to be shamed and it backfires.
Any positive at all, praise lavishly and treats, so motivating to bullies, given. It
needs to be 'special treats' and saved for 'good potty', use only for THAT
purpose and THAT phrase (or whatever your phrase is) so she associates the
two. I'm not sure but she may be associating outside with being bad and is
resisting so I'd just ignore her after she pees but she loses the privilege of
sleeping in the bed, crate her afterwards or confine her in bathroom, etc....
she'll get it. When you take her out and she pottys, over the top happy praise
and special treat. Cami went from no signal that she was going to pee to...
going to the door and even, a sharp bark if I'm not paying attention! They are
way smarter than we know, just stick with it...she'll get it. Some do sleep thru
it...Cami would go out, come in and squat in the middle of bed and pee! In some,
I think it's marking and/or need for attention or showing displeasure~another dog,
a move, change of some kind, new job & less time w/them. After 3 or 4 months
with no accidents, just very recently, Cami peeded the bed again (I missed her
afternoon potty break) that night and it had been very cold & rainy for days. I
calmly told her, No! and put her in bathroom, she got the msg and got right on track.
Good luck and let us know.

 

[Baxter Tiberius]

Have you tried not only removing the bedding, but having her in a crate that has a divider?

The logic is that if they do pee, they pee all over themselves. This has stopped Baxter for the first time in 8 months.

Only enough room for her to lay down, stand up, and turn around. Not an inch more. See if that works.

 

[ChrisRN]

Our Mabel did that for a while, and still does occasionally. It is very important that you get the urine odor out of the area, too. We have only completely washable bedding for Mabel--stuffing and everything. We put a big garbage bag underneath the bed to eliminate the odor from getting beneath the bed. And then we keep her on a pretty strict schedule. I have wondered if she pees in her sleep too. If Lucy can smell any trace of urine she will continue to use that spot. It is frustrating, but hang in there. These dogs are very bright.