Leaking during sleep

Hello guys,

We have a 10 week old G/R puppy called lily and we are first time doggy owners. Recently she has started leaking when she sleeps. Its not a lot, about 50-60ml during every nap. It happens every time she falls asleep - may it be in her crate, on her doggy bed or on top of us.


Her potty and crate training is going well and she barely has any accidents in the house. She can hold it in for about 4-5 hours during the night when she sleeps in her crate, and wakes us up when she needs to go outside to pee.

We have an appointment with the vet on Saturday and in the meantime I don't know if I should be worried about UTI and other possible causes of this and if we should take her to the emergency vet. Has anyone else had similar problems with their pups? and if so how serious was it?

No advice,but she is just the cutest.

I would as a UTI, common in some puppies as they sit so close to the ground and easy for bacteria to go up the urethra. We have had infant puppies with UTIs. Can you not get a vet appointment sooner than Saturday?

Hello Brad the problem could also be due to Puppy Vaginitis , it can be difficult to distinguish between this and a UTI.
The best course of action is a trip to the vet.

Are there any other symptoms like a fish smell /concentrated smelly urine/ blood in the urine. These would give me cause for concern because they indicate infection.

It is important to make sure your puppy has constant access to clean fresh water , this helps to prevent UTIs.

Agree with the others, Saturday is a long way off if its an ITU, or puppy vaginitis , try and get her to the vet earlier if you can..

She is adorable by the way ....

Thanks a tonne for the replies guys.

She is not showing any other signs. its just the bit of leaking. She is drinking and peeing as usual, and her pee looks normal. There are no unusual smells either. She is behaving and looking her usual energetic self as well. When she came to us, we did give her a sanitary trim and have been keeping us as clean as we can.

We always give her fresh water. I also gave her some orange today, after reading that citric acid can help with a mild infection.

I will call the vet again tomorrow and see if I can bring her in if she leaks again tonight. Are there any other reasons she might be having a bit of leakage problem when she is fast asleep?

Hi Brad when sleeping the muscles relax so I guess that is the reason though normally the desire to pee is inhibited during sleep .

She is absolutely ADORABLE. You are lucky if she is going 5 hours without needing to pee at such a young age. I took mine out at shorter intervals than that.

Babies pee in their sleep! And some kids do up to the age of about 12! I hope it's nothing medical - but would advise a trip to the vet to make sure.

Waterworks problems are horrible in humans. Wouldn't like a little puppy to experience them. Burning and all that.

It's common in young puppies as has been said the muscles relax, puppy bladder not fully developed and because there is a little infection present, she leaks. It happened with the bitch we presently have. A course of antibiotics cleared it up.

Just repeating what has already been said, but the fact she is sleeping through the night, and being a very young puppy, may be the answer....deep sleep, weak muscles ... but a vet trip is still recommended to rule out any infection.

Why not pop to the chemist and get a urine sample bottle, then take a sample with you to the vet for him to test for infection.