Hi:

I have an 11 year old black dog. (mutt) about 30lbs if I had to guess. She's my old pal of many years, but here latley she seems to have some trouble holding her water.

She races to go out about every other hour now. So the solution is simple right? Take her out ever other hour! Well, its more complicated then that. My dog is housebroken very well, the trouble is, while we sleep, she has been peeing in front of the fridge a lot.

I think its because we never trained her how to wake us up in the event she just has to go! This was never an issue before. So now she has this spot marked in the kitchen, when she has to go, she just goes. The floor is slightly slanted there, and it runs under the fridge, where the heat from the compressor and fan spread the aroma all over the house.

My question is, what can I do to break my old dog from this? I accept the fact that she is getting old and her bladder is probobly getting weak, but are there any remedies I can try, that can help her?

She's due for her vaccinations in January, and Im going to ask the vet then about this, Im just looking for a little advice in the mean time.

Also, she has a lump about half the size of a golf ball that I noticed a while back under her arm pit. Its not growing very aggressivly, and it doesn't seem to bother her, Im going to have the vet look at that as well next month. Any ideas on what this is? And if its going to be a problem, how much will it cost to fix?

For a fairly small dog, 30 pounds, 11 isn't that old. It could be an easily cured bladder infection. Perhaps take her in a little early for her vaccinations.

Lumps that aren't growing may not be much of a problem. I have had had a couple removed from my now 13 old Lab, Aster. It seemed as soon as I had one removed, another popped up. Each one was about $200. I have kind of given up on removing. Each dog is different. Listen to what your vet says about your dog.