You’re tired after a long day. You can’t wait to put on your PJs and crawl into bed. When the moment arrives, you pull back the bed sheet, lay down, and roll into a big, stinky wet spot. Your dog piddled on the sheets…again. But why?
He’s Not Mad at You. But It Could Be Something Else
Your first instinct you may have after you encounter a pee spot on the bed sheet is that the dog has it out for you. While your frustrations may color your opinion to the point where it seems like the case, the truth is dogs are not vindictive in nature. That doesn't necessarily mean that their bed wetting isn't their way of signaling something.
In some cases, a dog’s bed urination may be a sign of separation anxiety. When your pooch gets into this mindset, they may seek refuge in a spot that smells like you, because they know they can feel secure there whenever you are gone. In a way, this form of bed urination is a sign that he misses you and is bored without your presence - something that may seem a little sweet if the results weren’t so icky.
Has Your Dog Been Properly Trained?
In a lot of cases, a dog peeing on the bed is indicative of a lack of house training - or, at least, a misunderstanding on the housebreaking process on your dog’s end. It could be a matter of your dog not having a full grasp on where he could go and where he shouldn’t go. If you suspect this is the case, it may behoove you and your pup to re-trace a few basic housebreaking steps.
Peeing vs. Marking
Not all instances of urine necessarily equal pee. If you notice your dog is urinating on your bed in small amounts, and you notice similarly small sized amounts around the house, it may not be a pee problem at all. Rather, it could be a sign of your dog marking his territory.
Territory marking is most commonly associated with male dogs, although female dogs can also partake in the practice. Marking typically starts out during a dog’s adolescence, and the behavior can increase once a dog reaches physical maturity. There is a host of ways you can prevent this behavior from taking place, from practical behaviors like changing your bed sheets to more complex actions like spaying or neutering your dog.
Ask a Vet Question
Your Dog’s Pee Could Be a Warning Sign
Let’s say your dog passed his housebreaking with flying colors, you don’t see any pockets of pee around the house, and he’s completely cool with being by himself thanks to the various chewies and puzzle toys that keep him engaged while you’re gone. Yet you still come home to a bed doused in dog pee. Why?
In this case, the dog pee you see could be indicative of your dog having a medical condition. This could range from a simple urinary tract infection to something more serious such as a kidney disease. If you suspect that your dog is not functioning at 100% from a health standpoint, your best bet is to make an appointment with your dog’s veterinarian right away.
Love - The Best Way to Handle the Situation, Regardless of What the Situation Is
Coming home to a bed covered in dog urine is not just unpleasant. It can be infuriating, and your first instinct could very well be to take out such frustrations on your furry culprit. However, it is wise to take a step back and collect your thoughts and composure first.
It’s always important to remember that while your dog did something wrong in your eyes, he probably does not realize he did something wrong. From the dog’s perspective, it’s a behavioral issue and not an emotional one. Coming at the problem through your own cloud of frustrated emotions will do nothing to help your little buddy learn right from wrong.
As you go through the steps of determining why your dog keeps wetting the bed, do so from the same place of love, patience, and kindness that you typically lavish upon your pooch. Doing so will help you lead your dog to the appropriate solution in a way that ultimately strengthens the bond the both of you have for each other. And really, what more could you ask for?
Our dog is completely housebroken the only place he pays his own or bad he only peas on our bed when the door gets left open by accident we can leave him for long periods of time in the house and he won’t go anywhere else he’s almost 2 years old it started after my son visited with his dog for five weeks this summer The only other thing that we can figure out that’s going on is we do have a rodent that we haven’t been able to catch probably a mouse in our room or mice
Hi Casey
It appears your dog is marking territory, which is bad. He must not have enjoyed the other dog’s visit very much. You need to let him know that this behavior is not acceptable; Do not let him into your room until he stops and try to keep the door to your room closed.
Cheers
My puppy is 4 months old and I he has been sleeping in my bed at night for a few weeks now with no accidents. I don’t give him any water 2 hours before we lay down to go to bed (around 10-10:30). One night he peed in my bed, I discovered it the next day. The next night I left a comforter on the floor and left his crate open for him to sleep on/in. For a while he tried to get on my bed and I told him to go to bed and pointed in the direction of the comforter and he finally went to go lay down on the comforter and within minutes he was asleep. Around 2:30am I woke up to him licking himself. Then he came back to bed to try to get up. I caved and let him come up on my bed and as soon as he got up on my bed he peed so of course I put him back down on the floor. He then he proceeded to pee on the floor. While I cleaned the floor I went to check the comforter which was covered in pee. So I put him his crate. Why did he all of a sudden start peeing in my bed? And now his “new” bed (the comforter)? (P.S. he’s previously peed in his dog beds before when he was younger)
My dog is 15 years old. Over the last year we have lived in two places. The last place she peed in my bed, and later in my roommates bed. We’ve been living in a new house for the last few months, and she has peed in one of my roommates beds, the couch twice(there was another dog visiting that week too), and now my bed again. Before this she has only peed on my bed once when she was around 2 years old. I’m worried about her. I definitely wanna take her to the vet, but if it’s not a urinary tract infection could it be something else? When she doesn’t have access to our beds it doesn’t seem to be a problem.