Senior Dog Peeing in My Bed

Question
Hello Susan,

I have a 13/14 year old Mutt named Harley.  He is, from what the vets have said, a Shiatsu/Terrier/Lapso Apso mix.  I got him when he was around a year old from some bikers in Florida.  I was told that Harley was drunk on whiskey when I picked him up.  It took a while to get him potty-trained but after a lot of work he got it and has been very good about not going in the house for 12  years now.

A few months ago he started peeing on my futon while I wasn't home.  I ended up having to throw out the futon.  After the futon was gone he began to pee on my bed.  (perhaps a side note but it's the first bed I have ever purchased)  

Harley and I moved to a new town and a new home about a month ago.  I took a new job and now have a lot of extra free time and so we have been going on longer walks and spending more time together in general.  We have started playing again in the evenings.

But the peeing problem has gotten worse.  A few weeks back, we went for a long walk for about an hour and a half and then I left to meet some friends for lunch.  When I returned, he had peed on the bed.

I have started to close my bedroom door when I leave but I forget on occasion, whenever I forget he pees on the bed.  This has happened twice since the instance mentioned above.  Last night I went out for a few hours and when I went to get into bed found that he had peed all over it.  Not just the normal little amount of pee, but pee everywhere.

Needless to say that this is very frustrating.  He is ruining my first nice purchase for myself and he is getting more attention now than I could give while at my previous job, which had me working 14  hours most days.  

Is there anything I can do to prevent this behavior?  Is the bed going to ruined?

I hope that I have supplied enough information and I hope that you can help.

Answer
Hi Dyana, Have your vet rule out a urinary tract infection first of all. Then I would  lean towards canine incontinence due to Harley's age. There are some good drugs on the market to help it, and also you can get a doggie diaper which helps a lot. I line them with feminine pads, so I only have to wash it every other day or so.  Please leave me some feedback and follow-up with me so I know how you are doing. Thank you for writing. Regards, Susan