Hi! This is my first post to the forum, but I have been reading all the posts for the past few weeks since getting our first puppy (Duncan) an adorable black lab. The posts have really provided comfort on the bad or frustrating days and a lot of helpful information and encouragement for a first time puppy mom! We were told Duncan was born around January 26, 2016 so when we picked him up he would have been about 8.5 weeks old, but his registration and pedigree papers just came in the mail and they have birthdate listed as Feb 7, so I have contacted the breeder for confirmation on which is correct so that I know if he is about 12 weeks old today or if he gave me the wrong date to begin with and Duncan is only around 10.5 weeks old. My husband and I purposely planned to pick up Duncan the same week I was quitting my old job and starting a new job in a few weeks so I could spend the first 4-5 weeks at home full time in between jobs with him potty training and getting him used to his new home. Today marks the start of week 4 home with Duncan. I am a perfectionist, so it was definitely hard at first to not have such high expectations about potty training and other training and to try and relax and enjoy this adorable puppy stage The forum helped me SO much during the first couple very frustrating weeks of constantly cleaning up puppy messes! So anyways... Last week during week 3 of training Duncan was getting SO good about not messing in the house whatsoever. He basically never popped in the house from the start, but he did pee in the house a lot in the beginning and last week those had reduced to around 2-3 accidents per day only. I live in the city in Chicago USA & I take him to the same potty area every 20-30 minutes and I give him healthy training treats and praise everytime he goes outside. It was really starting to work!! Then last Friday all hell broke loose and I thought I had a bad case of potty training regression on my hands - he was going inside the house every 10 minutes or so sometimes and was also pooping in the house & overall was being very naughty and I chalked it up to either a very bad day or him regressing on all our training. Saturday nothing improved and he was starting to act really unlike himself but with puppies who pee a lot anyways and drink a lot of water all the time anyways, it was hard to tell if I thought something was really wrong or if he was just having a couple bad days with the potty training. We took him to the vet yesterday and I am so glad because he had a UTI or bladder infection (elevated white blood cell count in his urine analysis) and the vet put him on antibiotics for 14 days. My questions are... Has anyone else dealt with their puppy getting this during the potty training stage? How many days / hours into taking antibiotics did you notice an improvement in your dog and them not needing to go potty so often/having accidents inside a lot? Also, did it set you back on the whole potty training process where you had to start over basically? Or once your dog was better from the meds were you able to pick back up where you left off pretty much with them learning to go outside for the potty?
Hello and welcome to the forum from me and my two Labs, Willow and Shadow. There are definitely members on here who have gone through UTIs with their young pups during toilet training, and I'm sure those experienced people will be along to offer some advice soon. I hope little Duncan starts to feel better very soon. I wouldn't worry about it causing any lasting problems. Puppies learn toilet training at such a varied rate anyway. Remember that even adult dogs who have lived their lives outside can be toilet trained if they find themselves suddenly living in a home environment. Toilet training is an ongoing thing for the first couple of months and you'll find you're still having the occasional accident even when you consider them to be "safe". It's just the same as a toddler who has learnt to ask to go to the toilet, but simply can't hold it every now and again. It's not being bad, it's just the way it is. You know they'll grow out of it eventually, and in the meantime, you just have to keep on with your routine whilst they grow and get better equipped to hold it. In the short term, since he has a UTI, I would probably consider using puppy pads inside. I never used them myself, but several people on here have done successfully, in a pen environment, and it doesn't seem to affect the length of time it takes to train them in the long term.
Thank you! I did think about puppy pee pads, but I just didn't want to confuse him since we have solely been training him to go outside for weeks now, but I am considering trying those. Thank you for the response
I think, since you can't expect him to be successful at holding it at the moment with his UTI, pads might save your sanity (and floors!) a little
Hi and welcome, hope Duncan is feeling better soon with the antibiotics. Like Fiona I wouldn't worry about any lasting effect on training due to the infection. Puppies all learn bladder control at their own rate and using puppy pads doesn't seem to impact on their ability to learn. I'm a little surprised that your breeder doesn't know Duncan's date of birth. Most breeders, in my experience, keep a lot of information on their puppies from birth including weight, time of birth and any information relating to the birth. Did you see Duncan with mum and his litter mates?
Yes, we did see him with his littermates and mom when we went to the kennels and he is from a reputable breeder that I researched for a long time. It was not really that he didn't know it was that we never discussed actual date of birth over the phone just when puppies would be ready for pick up and take home and their shots and dewormers etc. but through the emails I thought he was born Jan 25 or 26th, so when I got the paperwork I was a little surprised by the birthdate on there so I just want to double check and confirm with him. I also sent the registration back to the kennel club to register him and they will provide me with his pedigree papers and such. The vet we have been to now 3-4 times already estimates he is around that 12 week mark as well.
If the paperwork and registration documents ate showing the February 7 date as the date of birth, that will have to be accepted as the correct date. I know in some states puppies are legally allowed to leave mum/litter at 7 weeks of age which seems to be the case with your breeder.
I spoke with the breeder and he had 2 litters due right around same time and looking back at our emails and when Duncan was picked up he just put the date on there incorrectly and is having that changed. Duncan was a little over 8 weeks when we got him so now is a little over 12 weeks. I am not worried about his age or the paperwork right now as we are dealing with his infection and giving him antibiotics 3x per day I am moreso focused on when he will show big improvements from the medicine and if it will effect where we were at with house training at all.
Unfortunately, it's not really possible to know how the infection will affect house training as all puppies are so different. Some have developed good bladder control at 12 weeks and pretty much accident free, others still have some way to go. Even if the infection sets Duncan back a little in his training, he will still soon be reliable in the house as he learns to control his bladder and the signals when he needs to go, also of course his bladder is also growing. How is he with the antibiotics? Has there been an improvement in the frequency of Duncan peeing?
Hi Bridget I am going through the same thing with Tyne at the moment, I posted about it last week. She has been on ABs for two weeks now and is having a check up tomorrow but is def improved. It's been very frustrating as we were almost there with the toilet training but the Uti has set her back for sure. Even yesterday morning when I came down and let her out she only made it to the towel by the door (I find that the best option, easy to scoop up and wash and very absorbent). Not easy to stay cool about it but bless her, she has been in some discomfort for sure. Easier this last few days as the weathers been better and have kept the door open. I have just decided not to stress out about it until she's given the all clear and then we will have to start afresh. Good luck, make sure Duncan is completely clear of the infection when you take him to be checked. I only say this as Tyne was given the all clear and then was suffering again that very evening xx
Thank you, Marge! Good to hear from someone who went through it too. Duncan seems to have made some improvement the past 3 days & hopefully all clear soon!
Hi Bridget. I had the same problem when my dogs were pups. A similar age to Duncan actually. They are now five. My dogs are brothers so I was house training two pups who both got bladder infections. From what I remember you should see an improvement in a few days. Don't worry you won't have to start from scratch with his house training he will pick it up again quickly. Once my two were clear of infection they were house trained quite quickly. Try and do all you can to increase his fluids. That might sound like the opposite of what you want to do but fluids will help flush out the bladder it's the reason they drink so much. If you feed dry food consider soaking it or substituting some for wet food. He will be much better in a few days.
Thank you so much, Jen! Duncan has always been a big water drinker - to the point that he gets hiccups after gulping down as much water as he can get sometimes, so I definitely haven't even had to force fluids with him I just have left a big bowl of water out and he has been drinking a ton - even more than usual (which is saying something!) I think I am seeing some big improvements since starting antibiotics on Sunday afternoon after the vet - still some small puddle accidents here and there but a LOT less than before we got the antibiotics. As for his personality, he seems back to his friendly rambunctious self, so that is very comforting. Since I am home all day I haven't crated him at all while he has the UTI, even though before the UTI diagnosis I was working on crating him for longer periods of time each day so he gets used to being alone and crated when I work from home and need to put him in the crate for periods of time or when we need to leave the house for a couple of hours and do not want to return to complete destruction of our things! But I think since he has started to improve a lot with not pottying in the house as much we will put him back in his crate tonight since he cries when he needs to go out to potty in the morning anyways. We didn't crate him last night because I have felt so bad for him and his little bladder but then when he woke up wanting to play and bite at 2am we did put him in the crate and he settled down and slept in there and cried when he needed to go out around 545-6am when we wake up for work anyways & there were no accidents or anything, so I am hopeful he gets better and better each day now! Thanks so much for your reply & your experience! It is encouraging & I needed some encouragement after this situation! Haha - Bridget & Duncan
Also, I forgot to add, did you add any dog cranberry supplements to your pups diet afterwards or probiotics or anything to prevent this in the future?
So we took Duncan to the vet after his 2 week course of antibiotics 3x daily & he still has the UTI the vet put him on a different antibiotic that is once daily for 8 days... I really hope this clears it. I feel so bad for him & also I feel like this has really set us back on the potty training front...
I hope little Duncan is in the mend. Try not to worry about the toilet training Jessie had a horrible tummy bug at around 12 weeks old and was pooing in the house, including her crate. Once she was over that we were quickly back on track. We just kept on with the routine of going outside whilst she was poorly, and ignored and cleaned up thouroughly any accidents. Hope he's better soon. X
We go back to the vet tomorrow. I am really hoping the urine test comes back clear and he is fine now so I can get him back on track with potty training and so we don't have to keep putting him on different meds. Poor baby I really can't even tell at this point if he is better or not because this has been going on for so many weeks I don't even know what normal or peeing too much is anymore for him I guess we will find out tomorrow
I know how you feel. I've become paranoid about watching Tyne go for a wee. Waiting for the sample report to come back, hopefully today, so I can be sure it's gone. Good luck with Duncan. Xx
