My 13-year-old Lab is pooping in bed at night. What can I do?

I wouldn't say this is normal behavior, but it is common for senior dogs to develop fecal incontinence especially when sleeping. Most of the time there is not much to do although sometimes people try a diet change or probiotics. Some neurologic problems could also cause incontinence so if Millie has been having trouble walking or leaking urine I would recommend seeing your vet.

This can be a sign of nerve damage, dementia or pain. If he is too painful to get up. And posture and go, he will just go on himself. If there is arthritis in the spine that is affecting the nerves he may not be able control it. Your vet can do an exam to see what the cause and what treatment options you have going forward

This can be due to a neurological problem or aging changes. He also may be painful and not wanting to stand and hold the pooping position when outside. I recommend a veterinary exam to see if he’s painful or if there is a neurological problem. They may try him on pain medication. Acupuncture can also improve fecal incontinence sometimes. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you care for Potter.

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.

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Sadie. Older dogs can develop a senile like disorder known as canine cognitive dysfunction. It is somewhat similar to Alzheimer's disease in people. The dogs will forget their house training. They tend to mix up their days and nights, pace, pant and some will get stuck in corners or under furniture. It is worth having her evaluated by her veterinarian to determine if this is the case or if something else is causing her inappropriate elimination. I hope this information helps!

The most likely fluid in a spayed female dog would be urine. When a dog dribbles urine or leaves spots of urine on the bedding I often think about urinary tract infections. Older dogs can also develop urinary sphyncter incompetence (or a weak sphyncter), making it difficult for them to hold their bladder overnight. There are also less common causes, for instance bladder stones or endocrine diseases. Your veterinarian will likely offer to run a urinalysis, a urine culture, and maybe some bloodwork on Sassy to determine what might be causing the urine leaking. There are antibiotics we use for urinary tract infections and if it appears to be loss of bladder control there are medications to help with that as well. A visit to the vet should help you sort out the cause and hopefully get Sassy acting more like herself. I hope this was helpful!

Since it sounds like this is a recent behavior change, the first step would be to have Stain examined by a vet to see if there may be a medical reason that he is pooping in strange places - there are many illnesses that can cause dogs to suddenly begin having house-training accidents, so your vet may recommend doing a fecal exam and possibly some blood work to check for any problems. If everything comes back normal, then this behavior may be a result of stress or anxiety, or some recent change in his routine. In that case, I would recommend going back to basics with house-training for the next few weeks to help get things back on track - take him out frequently, and go for long walks if needed so that he has plenty of opportunity to poop outside. When he does, reward with a treat. In the house, supervise closely to prevent accidents and use a crate if needed to confine him at night or when you aren't able to watch him. Once he has gone a few weeks without any accidents, you can gradually transition back to his normal routine.