our dog (a small bichon) seems to have a new habit that she will go to toilet in the middle of the night. I am wondering what are good strategies to keep the dog having the toilet inside in our appartment but wake me up so I can go for a walk. (I already go for a walk before around 22h, but it seems only to help sometimes.)
Thanks!
As already pointed out, make sure the dog doesn't have a medical problem.
If she is free to roam at night, where does she sleep? If she sleeps on your bed or in your bedroom, transition her to a properly sized kennel on the floor next to your bed (big enough to stand, turn around, and stretch in). She will most likely not want to urinate in her confined space, and will whimper when she needs to go. If she sleeps elsewhere, still kennel her, but close enough for you to hear her whimper.
You can train a dog to go potty inside the house. Service dogs of people with mobility issues are sometimes trained to go on a pad in the house. I have a dog, who when she was a puppy, had to go a bazillion times a day, and wouldn't always let me know. I did take her out frequently, but apparently not enough for her needs. One time when I saw her urinate, I cleaned up, then put down a plastic sheet where she urinated. Without a single miss, she started using the sheet when I was too stupid to know to let her out. I needed to clean it up after every use, though.
She is an adult now, and doesn't have this problem any more, and has no accidents in the house. She also lets me know when she needs to go. I have two other dogs who didn't lapse on their house training with the puppy's accommodations, and didn't seem to take offense.
The only other time in all my years as an owner that there was an accident issue, it turned out to be a UTI. I'm glad I took the dog to the vet!!!
I haven't explicitly trained my Husky to do that, but she does actually wake me up when she needs to go in the middle of the night. Of course, that's easier as she sleeps with me in the bed, so all she has to do is put her paw on me and do a high-pitch squeal. Happens maybe once or twice a month.
This won't help you right now, but the more time you spend with your dog, the better you will understand her signals. I didn't realize first two years that her certain body posture meant that she had to go, despite us being out just 30 minutes ago.
Now, I have water available to her 24/7 across the house. But, that couldn't be the case when she was a pup with a tiny bladder and compulsive unregulated gulping. Now, I notice direct correlation between the type of food she eats and amount of water consumed. Meaning, I adjust my expectations accordingly. If I see her drink a lot of water an hour before going to bed, I will postpone going to sleep.
Perhaps your breed doesn't possess a large bladder and they shouldn't have water available in the middle of the night ? Of course, climate plays a role here. I'm in North Dakota, meaning without a radiator, 8-9 months out of 12, it's below 60 'F at night. If you live in a desert climate, you just might need to train yourself to go out in the middle of the night unless you limit her water intake prior to going to sleep. I recall the first week of house-breaking was hard, but after a week you get used to getting up in the middle of the night.
