www.atlantabeaglerescue.org

Dogs, just like people, suffer some indignities as they age. Problems holding their pee can be one of them.

During the day all our foster dogs are crated. We do this for several reasons, not the least of which is that frequently foster dogs come to us not housebroken, or as chewers or they have other issues that put them in the "needs supervision" category. We also crate them so that our own dogs can rule the roost while we're gone.

The crate peers we've had mostly have some separation anxiety. We haven't had a fully incontinent dog.

And Manny's not incontinent, really. He can hold it all day while we are at work - usually close to 10 hours. At night though, he knows he can wake us up when he needs to go out, so he does. And if we leave him out at night we have to put down puppy pads that he occasionally actually pees on (versus the floor right above them). If he hasn't been out in a while though and he's had a good amount of water he does sometimes..... leak a bit. He'll be laying on the floor on his side (his favorite place to be) and just leak a bit. Doesn't happen all the time - his bladder control mechanisms are just gettin old. Just like they do for people.

As I'm writing this I'm thinking "This is dumb. I shouldn't put this out there because now we're REALLY never going to find a home for him!".

Truth be told we figure Manny isn't going anywhere. He's an older dog, with a bad eye, and he's on daily thyroid medication, and he may develop other problems of an old dog sooner rather than later.

To meet Manny is to love him though. He has not met a person he doesn't love of a place he's not comfortable in. He has a great, lively personality and he can give you the most adorable beagle look, even with his funky eye. He gets so excited to go for walks or to get treats that he's beside himself and does the most adorable beagle dance and howl.

We wish that he'd hold it all night, or at least hit the puppy pads every time. But we love him and we'll take the pee with the good.