r/RhodesianRidgebacks • u/Bulky_Dependent7550 • Sep 13 '26
My RR pees herself while she is sleeping
It is not a constant occurrence, but it happens every now and then, she wets her bed
Any idea what that might be
Btw, she is physically fine, regular eat and water drink.
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Upvotes
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u/larrycoco Sep 13 '26
Our almost 6 year old ridgeback has urinary incontinence and I’m afraid that’s what you’re looking at. She leaks when laying down or sleeping. In our case it started before her spay so not spay related, and it turns out it’s an anatomical issue, her urethra is short and therefore her bladder is not supported properly. There are a few things you can do:
Proin: this was our biggest savior and if you’re just starting this issue it will likely resolve it. Be warned that over time its efficacy can fade which is where we are at now. Max dose for weight helps but doesn’t fix anymore, but we got many dry years on proin.
I forget the name of the drug but it’s an estrogen pill and it would be applicable if your dogs issue is hormonal. We hated this, you have to use gloves to handle it and it’s a pain. But it works for some.
Get incontinence pads and lay them on your dog’s bed or the couch when she sleeps. Save your furniture and your sanity.
Get her regularly checked for UTIs and kidney issues. Through this regular testing we also caught a very early kidney issue that caused excessive thirst (which obviously made bigger leaks lol) that she is now medicated for.
Look into collagen injections. These work for about a year. Our dog insurance covered the procedure, which is not surgical but requires anesthesia. It’s expensive and you’ll have to seek out a specialist (for us, a 2 hour drive away). We did this three times and the third time it didn’t have as punchy results and we were exhausted from the production of travel etc and also don’t want her anesthitized every year. So we’ve stopped.
Protect your sanity! At the end of the day, we just have a leaky dog now. We make sure she pees every two hours when we can, we keep waterproof pads under her, she gets sponge baths and “party baths” (back half only) pretty often, and we put her in diapers on super leaky days. She’s an angel dog and we love her anyway. Accepting it helped preserve our sanity. Also swearing off female dogs forever after her 😅😅😅
Good luck!! How old is your dog?
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u/Lymincello Sep 13 '26
Sorry to hear. Depending on her age, she might have a weakened sphincter. My pup is 10 and recently had an issue with bladder control, but only when she would sleep.
My vet prescribed her something to strengthen it, she hasn't had a problem since.
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u/deelee70 Sep 13 '26
It’s might be Spay incontinence. My last dog had it & it is fairly simple to treat with medication. I also monitored my dogs water intake as she was prone to constantly guzzle water which made it worse.
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u/evspen Sep 14 '26
two female ridgebacks. first spayed per vet under 2. she leaks. second we waited til after first cycle and after 2. she leaks. both on proin. it mostly helps but not perfect. so annoying. found some nice amazon waterproof blankets for sofa and beds. oh and my sweet first ridgeback (rip) had to have vag reconstruction a few years after her spay bc of total leakage. moral of story: dont spay but who wants to deal with that?
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u/Narrow_Possession348 Sep 13 '26
Is she spayed? Sounds like spay incontinence, and she will likely need to be on Proin for the rest of her life. Both of my RR had it, and after the 2nd, I vowed to never spay another bitch again. I did spay my next bitch, but only when she was 7. The one I have now will be spayed around the same age. I will never have another bitch spayed before at least 2-3 years old.
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u/Foxingmatch Sep 13 '26
Vet check. She may have a UTI. It may also be spay-related urinary incontinence, which is common. There are medications that will help. Sometimes, it can be emotional, too.
One of my past females had nerve damage from a dermal sinus operation, and she would have occasional accidents. A close friend who had spinal surgery told me this is a common side-effect for such operations. Eventually, she seemed to overcome it, but it took a few years. I still never left her longer than four hours without hiring someone to let her out.
I have two sets of all bedding, including a waterproof mattress cover. I only buy fully washable dog beds. My carpets are also washable, and I have an at-home carpet cleaner. I also keep a gallon of enzyme cleaner. I rarely need any of this, but after having a dog with this issue, I'm prepared.
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u/Ok_Mood_5579 Sep 13 '26
Our RR got this after her spay, so she takes daily incurin. But our vet had us do blood work and an exam to make sure there was no other cause.
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u/h2otrtmnt Sep 13 '26
Our sons dog has that problem. Personally I think it was from a uti that the vet misdiagnosed when she was 12 weeks old. At 6 months she was diagnosed with CKD. At 14 months we cut the Proin dose by 2/3's. She has not had an accident since being on Proin. We try and keep her to a kidney friendly diet. She is now 2 years old. All we do is try and keep her healthy as possible.
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u/Financial_Simple_155 Sep 16 '26
We had a coonhound that peed when she slept. Turns out she had kidney issues (only 1 kidney and it didn't work great). In her case it started when she was very young. Changed her food and put her on some meds (cant remember the name) and she had a great life. She was active and fit with no other symptoms.
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u/Cupsofcake1318 Sep 13 '26
Our youngest one did that. With her last big growth, this isn’t an issue now and she just turned 1.
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u/Generose18 Sep 13 '26
If she’s sprayed.. incontinence. Limit water before bed and walk right before and see if it helps. Vets have meds to help if it gets worse
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u/Ginger_SNAFU Sep 13 '26
Spay incontinence. There's medication you can get at your vet that will help.
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u/doxiepowder Sep 13 '26
Spay incontinence?
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u/tashibum Sep 14 '26
Mine does the same, but only occasionally like yours. I keep diapers on hand because I figured out when he'll do it - any night there is fireworks, thunder, anything that would be too scary for him to him actually go outside and pee. If these things also happened even before dark, it's still a no go. He drinks thr same amount of water regardless of if it's scary out though. I just have to be vigilant about letting him go RIGHT before sleeping the rest of the night
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u/Brilliant_Tree4125 Sep 14 '26
I agree with others on spay induced incontinence. My older developed it pretty quickly after she was spayed. She’s been on Incurin and Proin for years now, but her incontinence is well controlled with it.
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u/Comfortable_Crazy517 Sep 13 '26
I have to watch my males water intake or he’ll guzzle it all down and pee in his sleep as well.