Hi. My 8 month old lab mix puppy pees in her sleep, in her kennel, and sometimes just goes on the floor. She is somewhat house trained, i.e. she goes out side when I let her out. She drinks a ton of water too, which I tend to ration to her now. Had a urine test done which looked OK. Vet is suggesting some blood work now. This is a real problem--she pees in her kennel every day. Any ideas? Tripp

I really don't see a need in doing blood work on a puppy peeing a lot. If you've already had a UA done and it came out fine then bloodwork won't solve the problem. If you have rationed your access to the water that is a good start. Make sure you are taking the dog out on a regular basis. Every few hours. When you actually see the dog starting to pee swat her on the butt and take her outside. Don't punish her later if you see pee and your not there to see it happen. When you take her out and she pees praise her exuberantly. If you can make her go in the same spot each time. Give her treats and what not. Have you had another dog in the house? Give her water a few hours before you head to bed take her out to pee and then put her up to go to sleep but don't give her any water at night. If she hasn't peed in the night take her out first thing in the morning. Basically don't give her the chance to pee in the house. I've heard of training methods where you tether the dog to your side so basically you can keep an eye on it at all times. Wrapping the leash around you. This not only helps with training it helps create a bond and a trust between the two. Just keep working on it. Find fun ways to make her think its fun to go outside and pee no matter how corny it sounds. :p

That sounds like good advice. However, she most often will pee in her sleep or in the kennel when I can't observe her doing it. I almost never catch her doing it, so there's not much chance for me to correct her. I do praise her when she goes outside. The vet said the UA didn't show signs of infection, but he mentioned something about high or low concentrations--can't remember exactly. Does this suggest anything to you?

I have never seen a case for hitting a dog, especially as punishment for what is likely a physical problem. None of my 14 eight month old puppies peed over night in their crate, and starting at 7 weeks old, 4 month old Nita did no more than dribble a little a few times. Don't remember any of dozen people showing up at my monthly meeting reporting a problem like that either.

If your vet has examined the dog and knows its history, he may be the best judge of the next step. I would give him a chance. The first thing doesn't always work. In some cases, I suggest a second opinion, but don't think it is time yet.

If your Veterinarian has suggested blood work than by all means please get it done. A urinalysis can only tell the vet so much about what is going on with your puppy. The blood work can help to add useful information to what is happening with your puppy.

I am not saying that your puppy has any of these things but, a urinalysis can not determine why polyuria (frequent urinating) occurs in animals, a blood test will show other things such as Diabetes mellitus (sugar diabetes),Cushing's Disease ,(hyperadrenocorticism), Pyometra (uterine infection),Hyperthyroidism, Diabetes insipidus, Liver failure and or Kidney failure or infections just to name a few. Again I am not saying the puppy has any of these, but I would just like to point out why you should get the blood work done.

Thanks for the input. She seems very healthy--very active, alert, eats well. It's just the peeing. It's really a difficult thing to deal with because she's such a good dog on most levels. A real head scratcher. I have another dog--2 year old German shepherd, she was difficult at times, but seems like a cake-walk to me now. Anyway, thanks for the input, I'll let you guys know what becomes of this--tripp

yes, please update use,

I know this post is dead but please if you still check this tippb let us know what you found out because our new puppy has the same simptoms and singhs.

I got an e-mail, so the post is still good. Ask your vet about Proin. It works really well. I haven't been using it lately--she sleeps in a kennel and I let her out every night before bed and try not to give her any water a few hours before bed. But, I'll probably get some more of the Proin, it definitely helps.