I had 2 west highland terriers who developed this problem in old age. My solution was a wristwatch with several alarms so I could take them out at night.
-Hal

I think there is a medication that can help. Have you asked your vet?

The original poster mentioned that the dog was already on medication. Proin is often used for spay incontinence. Dee, what is she on and have you asked your vet about adjusting the dosage?

We had an older furbaby that became incontinent at night as she slept. She'd wake up, walk to a spot, tinkle and then go back to her bed.
We invested in a mesh sided playpenand placed it next to our bed. We lined it with lots of towels and just washed the towels every morning. She loved having her own space and at night when ready to go to bed she'd stand by the pen and bark to be picked up and tucked in.
It didn't solve her problem but it kept our floors and rugs dry at night.

Cynthia, Grace is on 1mg Diethylstilbesterol every third day. On the night before the medication is due I can just about gaurantee that she will have an accident unless I wake up and make her go out. I asked the vet if the dose could be increased, but he hedged about and then handed me a sterile urine cup and told me to collect her urine to make sure she doesn't have a bladder infection. This has been going on for a couple of months, and the last time he did a urine test she didn't have any infection. I love my vet, and trust him. I just don't understand why he's hemming and hawing about this issue. Grace "kind of" sleeps with me. She sleeps in her own bed that I have made waterproof, but it is on top of my bed right beside me. She used to sleep in the bed with me, but that didn't last long for obvious reasons.
I appreciate the replies from everyone. Most of you have older dogs that became incontinent with age, and that is not all that uncommon. My baby girl is so young and this has been going on since she was less than a year old. I am so frustrated and heartbroken for her.

Cute little thing! I'd talk to the vet again and take a sample if he wants to check for infection. Maybe you could ask about adding Proin to the DES or switching her to just Proin. (Phenylpropanolamine) My understanding is that proin actually helps to tighten the muscles that control urination. Good luck!

My Dobe developed spay incontinence at a young age. She was on Proin and I was actually able to reduce her dosage after a while. You might ask about trying a new drug and see if it helps. It also helped Buttons to try and avoid corn and wheat in her diet.

Lisa

I will ask the vet about proin. He's an older gentleman, actually ready to retire, and I wonder if he's up on all the latest medicines. I'd give anything to find something that actually works, but at the same time won't cause other problems down the road.
Lisa, thanks for the tip about wheat and corn. I think the only thing in her diet that might be suspect are the dog biscuits she gets after supper. I'll have to check the list of ingredients. For special treats she gets dried chicken breasts and her regular food is Nutro Natural Choice lamb and rice.

Don't know if you've seen your vet yet but my dog is on DES one every other day- I tried the proin but my dog had a reaction all her skin got bright red and she started leaking spots of blood into the brown part of her eyes- the vet said they'd never heard of that reaction with proin though so I don't want to scare you.

I didn't get Grace's medicine changed and the vet said he originally had her on Proin 3x a day. Then he said to try the DES because you don't have to give it as often. He started her out on that once a week, but that didn't work, so he upped it to every third day. I think she's doing great now and most nights sleeps through. She is able to wake up by herself if she needs to go out and since I am such a light sleeper I wake up and let her outside. Life is good!

It really sounds like your vet just does not know what is going on here, trying to siphon money from you or both.

Like so many others, I have a dog that is on Proin. She had the same issues yours currently has, only it caused other issues with house training.

You need to quiz your vet about the medication. Since you already have her on one, ask why it's not working. Educate yourself about spaying incontinence, Google has tons of information.

For future medications, set a time limit. Ask the vet how long it will be before you start to see positive results. With Proin, it worked within about 6 hours. If positive results don't happen by the date, ask why. If your vet keeps changing meds, something is off and vet is just trying to find out what is going on while you and your dog suffer.

BTW. You should educate yourself about urinary tract infections. I'm not saying it could happen to your dog, but it might. My dog has had three episodes of UTI, not fun for anyone involved. After much frustration, altering her diet (she is now on hypo allergic venison and potato) and my cleaning her "lady part" twice a day has kept it away for 7 months (thank you dog god). This is due to her vulva not extending properly, a common thing with dogs and urinary issues.

Going the diet route and cleaning has saved tons of time, frustration and money. In my case it worked (so far, thanks again dog god).

SG

Did your vet start out the DES taking it every day for a week? My vet did then decreased to every other day, every third day...
Delta had to stop taking it while recovering from her proin reaction and when they had her start up the DES again(this time a specialist) they did the same thing.