Guest Anonymous Posted December 29, 2003 Posted December 29, 2003 Hi Everyone, I have a medium sized mixed 1.5 yr old female. I got her from the SPCA when she was 11 months, so I don't know what sort of toilet training conditions she had. The thing is, that unless she is off leash, like in a field or park or in a back yard, she doesn't pee unless she really has to. And to complicate matters, the yard that we have available in our apartment is really small and not grassy and has lots of cats outside. So she spends her time studying the cats unless she absolutley HAS to go pee (or poo for that matter, but poo she can accomplish on walks). In other yards, when they are grassed, she has no problem going pee almost every time she is let out during the day. The problem is that she is getting frequent urinary infections. I believe that the fact that she is peeing so infrequently is causing it. And also perhaps the fact that she is on a dry dog food diet - which in turn makes her urine more basic, as kibble is mostly carbs based and requires an alkaline environment for digestion. Sometimes when I notice she is peeing more freequenlty on a walk (unleashed) I give her some meat for dinner, and this seems to help (as protein requires acidic digestive juices therefore making the urine more acidic) but I tried it this time and it didn't seem to help. I suspect that perhaps the toilet training she recieved was more punishment and less reward oriented and she feels insecure about peeing unless she is "free" and on grass. Does anyone have any suggestions what I can do to a) make her more comfortable peeing and b) have her pee more frequently and therefore hopefully c) rid her of her urinary tract infections and d) what can I do for her current UTI? I was thinking of taking her on frequent leashed walks during the day (which I can do as I don't work right now) and rewarding her with tasty treats every time she pees on leash. Does anyone have anything else to add which may help? Please. Also, I know for me, I can drink carnberry juice and any UTI goes away, what about cranberry pills for dogs? Does anyone have any experience with this? Many Thanks. Happy New Year! Ania Quote
imported_Cassie Posted December 30, 2003 Posted December 30, 2003 Well, I can't offer too much for suggestions...but, I will tell you what I did with my Rottweiler...when I first adopted her she was not house trained...when ever I took her for a walk and she went pee...I always made a big fuss over it...telling her what a good girl she was and always in a happy cheerful uppity voice....then I started watching her, when I saw her starting to sniff an area and was ready to go, I would say..."go pee" in a nice uppity voice...she would go and I would reward her with a good girl. It has really helped me out a great deal as I just have to give her the command...go pee...and she automatically squats. She is also very peticular where she goes pee...in areas I know she will not go I give her the command "go pee"... she will not pee in my yard unless I ask her too....she will not pee at any of my friends yards etc. she likes to pee on her walks, she loves to smell other urine marks and then pee on top of them, its a social thing for alot of dogs and they love to save it for their walks. My Newf's on the other hand don't care where they go....of course only out side! :lol: Your new girl may have had horrible house training as well...just keep every thing uppity and happy for her. I know of one supplement sold through Solid Gold for healthy urinary tracts...its called Berry Balance made from cranberry and blueberrry extract with marshmallow and vitamin C. This product helps balance urinary tract Ph, to dissolve struvite (Magnesium Ammonium-Phosphate) crystals which may develp in urine if it is too alkaline. you can visit them on line at www.solidgoldhealth.com dane@solidgoldhealth.com or phone: 619-258-1914 Solid gold foods are also pH balanced Good luck. Quote
imported_danielle Posted December 30, 2003 Posted December 30, 2003 hi..... I agree with Cassie..... The best thing you can probably do is to really reward her and treat her for peeing when she is with you and in the right place/time... By doing this hopefully she will come to associate peeing with reward/good things and not be so worried about it. Hopefully in turn this will help with the infections as well..... Have you tried just feeding her cranberry juice?? My dogs love things like that becuase of the sugar and a little bit shouldn't hurt as long as its a good 100% juice..... Much easier to get down than something like a pill!! hope things work out Danielle Quote
Guest Anonymous Posted December 30, 2003 Posted December 30, 2003 Hi Thanks for the suggestions. I have started to treat (I was already praising) every time she pees on a leash. And I gave her some cranberry juice today. She made a face :) but after I mixed in some chicken chunks and home made chicken broth she was very happy with it. I am keeping her on proteins for a few days to increase the acidity in her urine too. And I am thinking of changing what I feed her, supplementing with more home prepared food. Quote
imported_danielle Posted December 31, 2003 Posted December 31, 2003 Good Luck.... I hope you start seeing some positive results soon :P Quote
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