Q: Please help, my dog is driving me crazy. We go to bed at 11 pm and she sleeps until maybe 4 am when I have to get up to take her to the bathroom. Then back to bed and if I am lucky she will go back to sleep until 6 am. She is a 1 1/2 year old Lab/Shepherd mix. We weaned her from her crate about 3 months ago. She is confined to the downstairs area to sleep. It's making me crazy because she is sleeping so little at night. How can we get her to sleep more and go out less at night? Thanks.

A: It would be a good idea to take a fresh urine specimen to your vet and have him check her for urinary tract infection. Also, if she has not been spayed do that, because it will cause frequent urination at some points in her cycle. Some medications, such as steroids commonly used for skin allergies, will cause the dog to have to go more often too, so review your dog's medications with your vet.

She might sleep better if she were in your bedroom at night, but that is not necessarily the problem here. Another thing to examine is her feeding and water schedule. Avoid feeding her late in the evening, and avoid getting her heavily exercised where she would tank up on water after 6 pm or so.

Some dogs just can't hold it all night, even fully mature adult dogs. If these other things don't help, you may want to consider creating a doggy door for her into a safe enclosure where she can relieve herself at night.