night time peeing

Question
QUESTION: I have a bernese mountain dog bitch who is 5& 1/2 months old.  Our back door is left open all day and she goes outside to pee no problem.  However i cannot get her to go through the night (approx 7 to 8 hours) without coming down to a swimming pool.  I leave paper down at night and she does use it.  Am I expecting to much to soon considering her age.  I have tried cutting down her water intake after 7pm (she goes to bed about 10pm) but this doesn't seem to help either. please help

ANSWER: Well something you should try is a crate and lock her in there at night,dogs don't usually dirty up there sleeping spaces,so crates are usually recommended and they usually work wonders-pulling the water up after a certain time is good too

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QUESTION: I think she has gone past the stage of a crate because of her size (27 kilos) my kitchen would not be big enough.  Any other idea's please?  Is this normal for bitches of 5 1/2 months old? Could there be a medical problem?  Thanx

Answer
There is extra large crates on the market for Danes,mastiffs ect

It may be a bladder infection,there are other medical problems,like diabetes,hypothyroidism and cushing's disease,but thats rare for dogs under 5 or 6 years to get such problems-but since it could be a bladder infection it wouldn't hurt to have her looked at,that way that can be ruled out before trying to find and extra large crate