Health
Her bed is wet in the morning and she does not seem to know. Incontinence has causes that can be found, and the commonest responds very well to treatment.
Caution. Straining with nothing coming out, blood in the urine, leaking together with weakness in the back legs, or heavy thirst with a flat dog: see your own vet the same day. Do not cut back her water.
Do not look for the answer in a Facebook group, on TikTok or on a forum. Look for someone trained for this: your dog's own veterinarian, the only person who can examine, investigate and treat them.
Use this page to know what to observe, what to note and what to ask at the appointment, not to treat at home. If you still have doubts after a consultation, ask another vet or a specialist (dermatologist, internist) for a second opinion, not a group. And if you do not have a regular vet yet, find one now, while your dog is healthy: how to choose a veterinary clinic.
In the morning her bed is wet. She gets up happily, with none of the guilty look of a dog who has had an accident indoors, and the fur on her back legs is damp. She does not seem to have noticed. It has happened a few times this month, always after she has been asleep, and yesterday it was on the sofa. She was spayed three years ago and has never had a problem. What you are seeing is urinary incontinence: the dog leaks urine without realising it, which is a completely different thing from a dog who "isn't house-trained". In most cases the cause can be found, and the common ones respond very well to treatment. Below is what to note and what not to do at home before you see the vet.
Incontinence is rarely an emergency, but it does need an appointment within the next few days. A few situations cannot wait:
First, settle one question: does the dog know she is weeing, or is it escaping?
With incontinence, the urine leaks without her meaning it to. She does not squat or look for a spot. The wet patch is where she slept or lay down, or urine dribbles as she walks. The fur on the back legs and around the vulva or penis is damp, sometimes red or smelly.
Weeing indoors on purpose looks different. The dog stops, squats or cocks a leg, usually in the same places. The cause there can be training (a puppy, a newly adopted dog), marking, fear, over-excitement when greeting people, or an illness that makes the dog need to go often and urgently. We have separate pages on those.
If it looks like incontinence, keep a short diary for a week, on paper or on your phone. A vet gets more out of seven days of notes than from any account given from memory in the consulting room.
When the patches appear. After sleep, during sleep, on walks, when coughing or barking, when excited.
How big they are. A few drops or a whole puddle.
How much she drinks. Measure it. Put a known amount in the bowl in the morning and see what is left in the evening. A healthy dog drinks roughly 50 millilitres per kilo per day. Well above that is something the vet needs to know.
How she wees outside. A normal stream or dribbles, often or rarely, straining or not. A photo or a few seconds of video helps.
Her history. Age, whether and when she was spayed, how long the patches have been appearing, any past urine infections, any medication she is on now.
| Cause | Usually affects | What you see |
|---|---|---|
| Weakening of the muscle that keeps the bladder closed | Spayed bitches, especially large ones, months or years after the operation | Wet patches after sleep, otherwise a healthy dog |
| Urine infection | Mostly bitches, at any age | Going often, small amounts, urgently, sometimes with blood; dribbling |
| Bladder stones | Any dog; some breeds more often | Blood in the urine, straining, dribbling; in males, risk of blockage |
| Heavy thirst from other illness (diabetes, kidneys, glands) | Adults and older dogs | Drinks a lot, wees a lot, "can't hold it" overnight |
| Ureters in the wrong place from birth | Puppies, mostly females | Dribbling since you got her, always damp |
| Spine or nerve problems | Any dog, after a fall, or long-backed breeds | Weak back end, losing both urine and faeces |
| Prostate | Older entire males | Straining to wee, dribbling, sometimes blood |
| Ageing brain | Old dogs | Forgets where the door is, disoriented, other changes in behaviour |
Eight causes for the same patch on the blanket. That is why no decent vet hands out a treatment "for incontinence" before running tests.
The work-up usually follows the steps below and sometimes takes two visits, because some results come back after a few days.
Ask how you will know the treatment is working and when to come back for a check. Many bitches with incontinence after spaying need an adjustment in the first few weeks.
Machine-washable beds with a waterproof cover underneath and a thick blanket on top. Keep two, so one is always clean. Put washable pads on the sofa and her favourite spots. For bitches there are special pants with an absorbent pad, for males belly bands; do not leave them on all day, because they irritate the skin, but at night or when visiting they get you out of trouble. A short trip outside just before bed, and the first one in the morning the moment she wakes. For most bitches with incontinence after spaying, the first weeks of treatment change what mornings look like completely.
What dog owners search for most often on the internet about this problem, with the short answer. The answers are a guide only: the decision belongs to your dog's own vet, after an examination.
Most often, in spayed bitches, the muscle that keeps the bladder shut weakens over time and gives way when the body is relaxed in sleep. Other causes include a urine infection, bladder stones, an illness that makes her drink a lot, a spinal problem or, in puppies, ureters in the wrong place from birth. A urine test is the first step to finding out which.
Yes, in most of them. There is medication that tightens the bladder closure and works well for the majority of bitches, usually long term, with the dose adjusted by the vet according to her response. Where that is not enough, referral clinics offer surgery or injections around the urethra. First of all, the vet rules out infection and the other causes.
With incontinence the dog does not know she is leaking: the patch is where she slept, or it dribbles as she walks, and the fur round the genitals is damp. When a dog wees indoors on purpose, she stops, squats or cocks a leg, usually in the same places. The first needs the vet; the second is usually a training job, once the vet has ruled out illness.
No. A dog who drinks a lot usually has a reason, from an infection to kidney disease or diabetes, and cutting water can dehydrate her and hide the very sign the vet needs to see. Measure how much she drinks in a day and tell the vet; more than about 100 millilitres per kilo per day is too much.
Wash the area with lukewarm water, dry it well and clip the fur short around it so it stops holding moisture. Change the bedding often and use waterproof covers. Ask your vet which barrier cream to use. If the skin is red, weeping or smells bad, it may be infected and needs to be seen.
The information on this page is educational and does not replace an examination. For full details and a diagnosis, consult your dog's own veterinarian.
They often come together: the same causes, plans that complement each other.
He asks to go out every hour, squats and passes a little, sometimes pink. Cystitis is the obvious guess, but stones and the prostate look the same at first.
You take him out, he stands in the grass for ten minutes, you come in and he goes on the rug. House-training takes set times and a real fuss when he gets it right.
The bowl filled three times a day, requests to go out at two in the morning, a puddle in the hall. Sometimes it is just summer. Sometimes it is the first sign of illness.
The neighbour says before her first season, the breeder says in a year. The right timing depends on the dog, and recovery has clear rules worth knowing in advance.
We work with your dog's behaviour, not its health. For any sign described here, book an appointment with your own vet; the related services page explains how to choose a clinic.