Hi all, new to the forums (and lab puppies - he's our first male puppy, I have had experience with female puppies, a German Shepard, and both I and my other half were brought up with rescue dogs) but we are after some advice/help. Our 5 month old boy (Colin - him in the profile picture) has started waking up in the middle of the night, between 2 and 5 and barking, not constant just a few loud enough to alert us he's up, when we come downstairs to investigate there is often a small puddle of wee, but this stuff STINKS! He'll go back to sleep straight away, so no worries there, but the smell really is atrocious. His normal wees don't smell like this, so is this scent marking? I have noticed he is often showing his "manliness" at these overnight times. And if it is, is there anything we can do to prevent it (a full nights sleep would be really nice lol)? As a little background: He isn't crated, but has run of the kitchen, he never got on with the crate and was very ill in his first few weeks with us after eating a pair of socks, so wasn't really fair to shut him away; he was dry over night up until about a week or so back; nothing else has changed in his routine; we always make sure he has had a toilet before bed etc. As a side note to this, does anyone have any tips on getting the rid of the smell of dog wee? To be quite honest the downstairs stinks at the moment
It's unlikely to be scent marking, but when boys start to go through puberty and raise their legs to wee, they sometimes need to revisit toilet training. I would also go get a vet check to rule out a UTI - the strong smell could be indicative of that. As for getting rid of the smell, using an enzymatic cleaner such as Simple Solution is the way forward. Make sure you follow the instructions - spray it on and leave if for a couple of minutes for it to do its work before clearing it up. It will get rid of all traces of the smell, which will stop him considering the room as a toilet, too. If an area smells of wee, they are more likely to go there again. Even if we can't smell it ourselves - dogs' noses are so much more sensitive, which is why you need an enzymatic cleaner.
Hi there and welcome! I would be concerned about the nasty-smelling pee, and as snowbunny says I would take him to the vet for a checkup, particularly since he has only just started this behaviour. I cannot imagine it is scent marking. Colin looks adorable by the way!
Sounds like he’s barking to ask you to let him out so he can go wee outside. I’d also be concerned about a UTI - which might be why he can’t keep it in till morning.
Thank you all, we will pop him to the vets for a checkup Will definitely get some enzyme stuff (we had some when he was very little thinking about it, not sure why we didn't think of that
