Tips for helping a senior dog with incontinence

1. Bring your dog out to their potty area more often. As they age, they are not as mobile and sometime need extra assistance getting up an moving around. Help your dog get to their spot easily by helping them off the floor, eliminating steps (if possible, install ramps where you can) and just making the area as easy to access as possible.

2. As your dog ages, especially a larger dog, they may end up with pain or lameness in their hips that makes it hard for them to support their weight while squatting. You can help support them while going to the bathroom using a towel or "Lift-n-Aide Mobility Harness" as a support sling.

3. Limit heavy water drinking an hour or two before bedtime. Always, Always, Always make sure you take you pet out to empty their bladder before going to bed!

4. Don't use a diaper in lieu of making your dog go outside. This will work against all the training you have worked so hard to instill in your pet about going outside. Once they get used to just going wherever they are, they forget about going outside. save the diaper use for when they may be alone and unable to go outside or when they are sleeping.

5. Remember when you dog was young and how you praised him/her for going outside? Now that your dog is older, bring back that praise every time they go outside. Senior dogs, much like senior people sometimes forget what they are supposed to do. Keep on praising and trying to reinforce the behavior of going outside to to their business.

No matter what stage your dog is in, you can never praise too much and it will always put a smile on your beloved babies face.