Keeping bed dry
Keeping bed dry
How do you keep their bed dry during the night? My mini Doxie leaks constantly and even though I express good right before bed he still sometimes ends up with a wet kennel during the night which then results in me having to get up. I had back surgery last year and it is hard to get down sometimes in the middle of then night to change out the kennel. In his kennel is a crate bed, waterproof pad, towel and a cloth baby diaper and a blanket to cover him with. He only weighs like 8 lbs and gets cold really easy. He wears a cone to keep him from attacking his feet so he can't always crawl into a space that is dry.
Re: Keeping bed dry
Have you tried a male doggy diaper, also called a belly band or male wrap? It's a wide band that fastens around the waist with velcro. Inside you put an absorbent pad, such as Poise (cut to size, your dog is small). They also make disposable male wraps but in my limited experience, the ones I tried for my dog had a funny chemical odor. I think washable wraps with a pad inside are better. Male wraps are your friend! 
You probably want at least 2 or 3. One to wear and a couple to wash.
Here are some really small ones. I've used this kind, they're great.
https://www.tinydogstore.com/index2.asp?id=&cid=68
HandicappedPets used to sell some blue ones but I'm not finding them when I try to search so I don't know if they still do. Lots of places sell them, even local pet stores. There are 2 kinds. The kind with elastic all the way around, and the kind that lie flat. The link above is the kind that lie flat.
You probably want at least 2 or 3. One to wear and a couple to wash.
Here are some really small ones. I've used this kind, they're great.
https://www.tinydogstore.com/index2.asp?id=&cid=68
HandicappedPets used to sell some blue ones but I'm not finding them when I try to search so I don't know if they still do. Lots of places sell them, even local pet stores. There are 2 kinds. The kind with elastic all the way around, and the kind that lie flat. The link above is the kind that lie flat.
Re: Keeping bed dry
I have not tried these because it was stressed to me early on not to us diapers. When we first got his cart we used regular dog diapers and he ended up with a really bad UTI.
I may ask the vet again and see what she says.
I may ask the vet again and see what she says.
Re: Keeping bed dry
Oh, I see. That's kind of interesting. I can't remember a vet telling a caregiver not to use diapers (belly bands) before. Maybe she wanted to be sure you got in the habit of always expressing and did not simply rely on a diaper? 
Really don't know what the thinking was.
Many dogs (it sounds like yours is one) need diapers even when completely expressed at bedtime. Some dogs dribble 24/7. Some dogs can hold it for a few hours but not 8 hours. On a positive note, it's good if your dog is running plenty of fluids through his system, because that will help prevent UTI.
A diaper for backup will help keep him dry to avoid a urine burn on the skin, and avoid having to get up in the middle of the night all the time, and reduce the need for frequent baths. (Though he looks like he'd fit in the kitchen sink, he's adorable!)
It can be hard to tell what causes a UTI, but a lot of times it is incomplete expressing, especially during the first weeks when you are still getting good at it. It happened to me with my dog. The second week after her surgery, she got a bladder infection. I had been expressing her bladder very conscientiously, but she got the infection anyway simply because I wasn't very good at it yet.
I don't know if this is an option for you, but do you have a table you could put your dog's crate on? Having him up at waist level would save you getting down on hands and knees to change blankets in the middle of the night when you're not moving very well. The only thing is, you have to be careful to latch the crate every single time, even if you just turn your back for a second. You don't want him rushing out excitedly and doing a nosedive off the table. If you have kids, I'm not sure putting it on a table is safe (in case they forget). The ideal place is somewhere that the dog can see out a window during the day (as long as he won't be in direct sun at any time). I have a back problem, too, and up on the table was way easier for me to deal with. Here is a picture of my dog in her crate on the kitchen table.
Oh, by the way, another issue with the crate on the table was I had a large cat name Teddy who liked to jump up on top of the crate and it would move a little when he did. You can't really see it, but I got some big C-clamps and fastened one on the table on each side of the back of the crate, and that kept it from sliding. If you need a picture of the clamps, let me know.
Hopefully if you can get him on gabapentin or another medicine for neuropathic pain (the pins-and-needles feeling) and get the right dosage, then he won't need the cone and will be able to move around inside his crate better.
Really don't know what the thinking was. Many dogs (it sounds like yours is one) need diapers even when completely expressed at bedtime. Some dogs dribble 24/7. Some dogs can hold it for a few hours but not 8 hours. On a positive note, it's good if your dog is running plenty of fluids through his system, because that will help prevent UTI.
A diaper for backup will help keep him dry to avoid a urine burn on the skin, and avoid having to get up in the middle of the night all the time, and reduce the need for frequent baths. (Though he looks like he'd fit in the kitchen sink, he's adorable!) It can be hard to tell what causes a UTI, but a lot of times it is incomplete expressing, especially during the first weeks when you are still getting good at it. It happened to me with my dog. The second week after her surgery, she got a bladder infection. I had been expressing her bladder very conscientiously, but she got the infection anyway simply because I wasn't very good at it yet.
I don't know if this is an option for you, but do you have a table you could put your dog's crate on? Having him up at waist level would save you getting down on hands and knees to change blankets in the middle of the night when you're not moving very well. The only thing is, you have to be careful to latch the crate every single time, even if you just turn your back for a second. You don't want him rushing out excitedly and doing a nosedive off the table. If you have kids, I'm not sure putting it on a table is safe (in case they forget). The ideal place is somewhere that the dog can see out a window during the day (as long as he won't be in direct sun at any time). I have a back problem, too, and up on the table was way easier for me to deal with. Here is a picture of my dog in her crate on the kitchen table.
Oh, by the way, another issue with the crate on the table was I had a large cat name Teddy who liked to jump up on top of the crate and it would move a little when he did. You can't really see it, but I got some big C-clamps and fastened one on the table on each side of the back of the crate, and that kept it from sliding. If you need a picture of the clamps, let me know.
Hopefully if you can get him on gabapentin or another medicine for neuropathic pain (the pins-and-needles feeling) and get the right dosage, then he won't need the cone and will be able to move around inside his crate better.
Re: Keeping bed dry
Thanks for the information. I will ask the vet in a few weeks when he goes in for boarding at the hospital while we travel. I have some of the disposable wrap that I can try and see where we get. We did just clear up a bacterial infection on the skin around his penis so we will see how the diapers go.
Re: Keeping bed dry
Maybe changing the wrap more often might help prevent UTIs? The thing is that pee all over everywhere can and does cause skin breakdown and even chemical burns, so even a butt buzz cut and skin protectant spray might help on that score. Zinc creams need to be covered by a diaper or something to prevent ingestion and toxicity if they're used.