urinary troubles in puppy HELP

mollyshuman · 11-05-2009, 06:47 PM

I have a 5 month old puppy. She was spayed at 8 weeks at the shelter. I got her at 9 weeks. I was having troubles with training and then determined she had a urinary infection. She was on antibiotics for 3 weeks, retested and all clear. She still can not hold her urine for more than 1 1/2 hours. After that time if she doesnt go out she will pee in the house. She goes all night in her crate with no problems. Lately Im noticing she dribbles around the house. Today she peed on her bed, but I dont know if she did it while she was laying down or when she got up. I am starting to get frustrated because I feel that after having her for 3 months training should be getting easier. I am very consistant with her training. Any suggestions? I was reading about spay incontinence, but I dont know if she is having a medical problem or just a training problem. I have trained dogs before with no problems. I know each dog is different but Im starting to get very stressed. Please help.

Pai · 11-05-2009, 07:36 PM

It sounds like incontinence to me. 8 weeks is VERY young to neuter a pup, and I know for some females, it predisposes them to urinary problems. Here is a study on it: 'The Relationship of Urinary Incontinence to Early Spaying in Bitches.'

I understand shelters being paranoid about unwanted pregnancy, but sometimes it's just not advisable to neuter a dog that young. I just read a site talking about how some female dogs can suffer from persistant UTI if they're spayed before their first heat. It's a complex issue, to be sure.

GroovyGroomer777 · 11-05-2009, 07:40 PM

My dog Jiggy (In sig) has the exact same issues...we rescued her as a puppy, and she was spayed at about 10 weeks old.

We thought we had a dumb dog that couldn't be house trained... nope...shes 4.5 years old and I just went through another round of antibiotics for a BAD UTI....I have been dealing with this her whole life. She is on PPA for her incontinance. She also has a slightly inverted vuvla.

There doesn't seem to be much to do with her except manage what we can with meds and healthy diet.