# Drinking Just Before Bedtime?



## CheshireCatSmiles (Nov 20, 2015)

I'm not sure if this counts as a health issue, but my two year has developed this annoying habit of drinking a lot of water before bed. He had done this once before, and had an accident, as a result I've been removing his water bowl just before bed around 10:30 PM. He has access to his water bowl all day, I'm not sure why he insists on drinking a whole ton just before bed (when he knows he has to hold it until the humans wake up around 8 AM he does fine, he's kept in his kennel for that time). 

The bowl is literally across from his bed (two feet) is he that lazy? Sometimes it's like right next to his face since I put it in his kennel if I have to put him up for a while. I can't say he really drinks a whole lot during the day, despite having access to water, and all he does is lay right across from it while inside. He acts fine otherwise, playful, alert, all the things he usual does. Hasn't had an accident since I restricted his freedoms (inside) a bit for doing his business inside (reintroducing his freedoms now, and he does fine). 

I'm just confused as to why he does this, anyone gone through something similar?


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## CorgiKarma (Feb 10, 2009)

Just one accident? Personally, I am someone who is always thirsty and therefore never takes away water. A visit to the vet may be in order.


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## Shell (Oct 19, 2009)

CheshireCatSmiles said:


> I'm not sure if this counts as a health issue, but my two year has developed this annoying habit of drinking a lot of water before bed. He had done this once before, and had an accident, as a result I've been removing his water bowl just before bed around 10:30 PM. He has access to his water bowl all day, I'm not sure why he insists on drinking a whole ton just before bed (when he knows he has to hold it until the humans wake up around 8 AM he does fine, he's kept in his kennel for that time).
> 
> The bowl is literally across from his bed (two feet) is he that lazy? Sometimes it's like right next to his face since I put it in his kennel if I have to put him up for a while. I can't say he really drinks a whole lot during the day, despite having access to water, and all he does is lay right across from it while inside. He acts fine otherwise, playful, alert, all the things he usual does. Hasn't had an accident since I restricted his freedoms (inside) a bit for doing his business inside (reintroducing his freedoms now, and he does fine).
> 
> I'm just confused as to why he does this, anyone gone through something similar?


Sudden changes in eating or drinking = never hurts to have a vet check. 

But, if you think it may be a habit stemming out a change of your routine, 

If he isn't drinking much during the day, his thirst is probably just catching up with him in the evening. I don't like taking water away, prefer not to risk UTIs or to encourage gulping water when the dog does get a bowl of water. By removing his bowl at a certain time, you might be encouraging him to drink as much as he can because he knows it is going to disappear on him. 

But, on the other hand, if my dogs drink a fair amount before bed, I don't expect them to hold it till 8 am. If I hear them stirring at 5 am, we go out for a quick potty break and back to bed a few minutes later. My dog Eva would drink an entire bowl of water at any time when I first got her, in an almost frantic way. I had to dose out the water into small amounts but always keep something in the bowl and gradually, she learned that water is "free" and she quit drinking it obsessively.


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## lookithaslegs (Oct 2, 2015)

Flynn spends his evening asleep or playing with us. So when we start getting ready to go to bed he will get up and drink huge amounts of water. I wouldn't mind a sip or two but he drinks a lot and has no hope of holding it. So I set an alarm on my phone about an hour before we'll head to bed. I get him to go have his massive drink then and then I take the bowl away. He knows where I put the bowl, so if he does get thirsty after that he'll let me know he wants a drink which is fine. For me I think it was just that he forgets to drink throughout the evening so making sure he does it earlier in the night has really helped.


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## CheshireCatSmiles (Nov 20, 2015)

CorgiKarma said:


> Just one accident? Personally, I am someone who is always thirsty and therefore never takes away water. A visit to the vet may be in order.


Just the one, since he hasn't had the chance to drink just before bed like that, at least not that I notice. He did his "drink at the last second" just as we are ready to take the last potty break of the day. I remove the water, and have him sleep in his kennel last potty break just in case now.


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## CheshireCatSmiles (Nov 20, 2015)

lookithaslegs said:


> Flynn spends his evening asleep or playing with us. So when we start getting ready to go to bed he will get up and drink huge amounts of water. I wouldn't mind a sip or two but he drinks a lot and has no hope of holding it. So I set an alarm on my phone about an hour before we'll head to bed. I get him to go have his massive drink then and then I take the bowl away. He knows where I put the bowl, so if he does get thirsty after that he'll let me know he wants a drink which is fine. For me I think it was just that he forgets to drink throughout the evening so making sure he does it earlier in the night has really helped.


My boy does absolutely nothing while inside. I try to engage with him and everything, but all he wants to do is cuddle or fiddle with his KONG (trying to get me to fill it for him). Other than that he sleeps, which is fine, better than him tearing across the house. He has access to a bowl, that's literally a few feet in front of him, and for some reason he just decides at 10 (last potty) he's gonna drink 10 cups of water. I let him, I fortunately have nowhere to be during the week except for class at about 2. I stay up, and give him an extra potty break should he guzzle. 

It's just annoying, especially when we're waiting on him to finish just after I get him all ready to go out. I mean I'm hoping it's like what I do, not drink for like three days (cause I don't feel thirsty), and then just realize "OMG I'm thirsty!" Lol.


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## CheshireCatSmiles (Nov 20, 2015)

Shell said:


> Sudden changes in eating or drinking = never hurts to have a vet check.
> 
> But, if you think it may be a habit stemming out a change of your routine,
> 
> ...


It's not really sudden, and the routine is always the same. I don't purposefully deviate from it unless it's at a different location (we house sit for a friend occasionally), and I only do that because he's an anxious type, and has the occasional mishap when stressed (doesn't do it in high stress locals though, like a depot), he does the guzzling mostly at our home though. 
I would think, since I take his water from him around 10 PM, he'd drink first thing the morning, he doesn't even do that. He hardly drinks even after meals, the only time I really notice it, is if he had been chewing on his KONG or something. He doesn't really do anything in the house, so maybe that's why he gets the sudden urge to drink when he's stirred from his slumber.


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