My dog pees at night. Can changing meal times help her sleep?

Thank you for submitting your question regarding your dog. A dog will typically have a bowel movement 20-30 minutes after eating a meal. So I usually recommend feeding two meals per day, one in the morning and one in the evening. This will give you time to get him outside to go to the bathroom before you need to leave for work or go to bed. If he is used to free feeding, it can take a bit of time to make this transition. Put the food down for 15 minutes in the morning and let him eat. Then give him another 15 minutes to eat in the evening. Soon he will realize that he needs to eat during these time or the food will go away. I hope this information helps!

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I would change her feeding times. Feed her dinner earlier. Be sure you are limiting snacks at night and you aren't feeding more than twice a day. If that doesn't work or you are already doing that, then I would change her diet. It may take some trial and error to find the right food. I hope this helps and I wish you the best!

Hello, and thank you for your question. A 1 year old dog should be able to sleep through the night without having to pee. If not, you can try using pee pads to train him to go potty in the house. If it is a matter of Rolo wanting more exercise, you can try longer walks, less frequently, e.g. 45-60 minute walks in the morning and night. I would gradually try to phase out the 4am walk by taking him out a bit later each day, e.g. 5am on day 1, then 6am on day 2, etc. He should eventually understand that he will not be getting that early morning walk, and as suggested earlier, if he has to go potty you can try training him to use a pee pad. I hope this helps! Good luck with training Rolo!

I'm sorry you're dealing with this frustrating issue. If needing an early morning bathroom break is a change, I'd recommend starting with a vet visit to make sure she doesn't have a UTI, bladder stone, skin infection, or even organ function problem etc. Those issues all can all increasing the amount of water she's drinking, making her need to go out in the middle of the night. If there is no medical issue, then it's a house training problem, which is difficult at her age. Usually using a crate to re-house train as if she were a puppy is the most effective course of treatment to deal with this.

The circling and whining may be indicating she needs to go outside to eliminate. I recommend getting her seen by your vet to make sure there isn't some underlying medical condition that is causing her to suddenly need to relieve herself so early in the morning. If she is an older dog, she may simply be unable to hold it as long as she used to, but it's best to check her out at your vets to be safe. You might consider feeding her two meals a day, one at breakfast time and another late afternoon or evening. Make sure she goes outside right before bedtime and give her plenty of time to relieve herself. Dogs can be like people and do better when they are on a structured schedule with food.

Some dogs have their own schedules and they are pretty stubborn about it! You could try going on a long walk 30 minutes after eating, sometimes that will stimulate the bowels. But otherwise, he probably just needs some more time to adjust. Make sure when you take him out in the middle of the night, that it is "boring" for Walter. Let him out, then take him back to bed. No talking or playing or treats.

I would recommend decreasing the number of feeding for max through the day. If max is a Labrador he should be big enough to only eat twice a day. If you start feeding him twice a day it will help limit the amount of times he defecates. I would recommend the latest you feed him be 6:00pm. That way he has plenty of time to digest his food before bed. Hope that helps