Diggy will be 8 months this week and still has several accidents a week. Sometimes multiple a day. He has his accidents on the way to the door and he does drink his fair share of water. We really try to be diligent, but when he has to go, it’s like his little body just can’t keep it in there long enough to make it to the door. It’s annoying, yes, but it’s not cleaning up pee that has me posting. I’m wondering at what point I should bring him in to see if there is a higher issue. Thoughts? Wait a few not months and see if it gets better? Wait until after neutering and see if that helps? Is has improved slightly over time, but still a pretty big issues. Thanks!
Hi @christina2634 at 8months I would expect my dog to have mastered toilet training. I would take him to the vet to determine whether there is some medical issue. If not I suggest you find a good trainer to observe and suggest a programme.
By 8 months, he should be toilet trained for sure. I would suggest returning to toilet training basics: Taking him out every hour or so, to a specific place, on leash, and waiting in that location until he goes. Giving him a treat immediately after going (not when you come back indoors). Generally toilet training issues happen when owners have just left the door open for the dog to decide to take themselves out. Or when they haven't gone out with the dog, to provide a treat immediately after he's done. If a return to toilet training basics 101 doesn't help, then a vet check would be a good idea to rule out a UTI or other issue. I would not be thinking about neutering him, either. There is much research to suggest that it is best to leave dogs intact, especially male dogs... for both physical and psychological health.
We have definitely been diligent with potty training and done all we can. He knows he should go outside and his accidents are on the way to the door. It’s like once he realize she he has to go he just can’t hold it. And we won’t be neutering anytime soon either. He’s been treated a couple of times for a uti. Might have them recheck to make sure. At this point I’m wondering if an u/s of his urinary parts is in order to make sure there isn’t anything structurally wrong?
Yes, it may be time to go back to the vet and see what they have to say. If he is getting recurrent UTIs, cranberry powder is a great supplement for it - Cranimals make one for dogs. It makes the environment down there inhospitable to the bacteria that cause UTIs. I was a bit sceptical at first, but after my elderly Weimaraner had 3 UTIs in a row (or the same one that kept coming back), I put her on cranberry powder and we had no more until she passed away (about 2 years later). So I do really recommend it, you can get it from Amazon: http://a.co/d/f54Kohe Besides that, I think you probably need to rule out medical issues because it doesn't sound like a common toilet training thing, to not be able to hold on long enough to reach a door at 8 months...
I'm glad that you have recommended going back to the vet. However I take issue with your suggestion that cranberry juice is an effective preventative. http://skeptvet.com/Blog/2017/01/ev...lements-for-urinary-tract-infections-in-dogs/ While it may be argued that it does no harm, I wouldn't want anyone to rely on it instead of going to the vet. This site has always supported science-based treatment, rather than anecdotal evidence.
I think jo did mean for you to go to the vet, but also just gave her experience about using cranberry?
Not sure where you see me saying that people should rely on cranberry instead of going to the vet? I said: and: As for cranberry, if you want science-based research: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19441868 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3370320/ https://academic.oup.com/cid/article/38/10/1413/345228 And many more besides. I don't think any of that is anecdotal evidence? Unfortunately some people assume that just because a product is natural or available over the counter, it is therefore ineffective or has no research behind it. This is not true, many natural products which are available without prescriptions are highly effective and have research behind them to support their recommendation. I would not recommend the use of the Skeptvet website: Vets themselves are not unbiassed and unfortunately that site in particular exists to promote everything mainstream in vet medicine and makes little allowances for emerging research.
The Skeptvet site is interesting, and I think quite useful compared with some other vet sites. Mostly because he is a good source of links to studies on some topics. He has some biases though. If I remember rightly, raw feeding is one.. I think cranberry works by making the bladder wall less 'sticky' - but I haven't read the latest research so I'll need to check that one out. I do dislike the whole 'anonymous' thing. If you believe in what you say, why not put your name to it?
