Tucker's peeing again…

[TuckerVA]

Okay, pursuant to the Pee pee and more pee thread, and feeling like I didn't want to get lost on page three, I have a similar question.

Tucker peed on my sofa twice in the past two days and NOTHING has changed with regard to his habits. My first thought was "Oh crap, maybe he's getting fanconi…" so I went and got some Clinistix and tested for glucose. No change on the stick at all. Seems like his glucose is normal which lends to my thinking he's NOT headed for fanconi.

No lathargy, no lost appetite... The only change is that while I normally will give him a nibble of what I am eating (any more than a nibble results in explosive diarhea fountains all over the condo or puking - and his favorite spot is on my duvet) and now I stopped because of what's in the ()'s.

How does one check for a UTI or bladder infection and what would some of the signs be?

Oh, one more thing... My walker was out of town last week and I had another friend walk him all week. The walker is back this week. No pee on Monday but he peed Tuesday and Wednesday. Not sure about today yet. I'm wondering if he simply likes my friend better than my walker?

Lastly, and I'm guessing this comes from his past and whatever happened to him back then (those of you who read my posts know what I'm talking about, but in summary, I'm his 5th - and last - home)...I don't punish him because I can't be there when he does the peeing. So I take the article(s) that he's peed on and go to my door, squat, call him over, put the peed upon articles in front of his face and repear "No! Bad dog!" quite a few times, showing him the articles and then take him out. Is this the proper course of action, assuming he's not messed up inside somehow? (UIT or infection)

I know he know's I'm disappointed because he hangs his head and his fur goes up and he starts shaking pretty badly. He then creeps closer and closer as I'm telling him he's a bad dog until he eventually is completely leaned up against me. BECAUSE of this, I don't dare take more stringent measures than what I describe above.

[tanza]

Checking urine for UTI is done by the Vet. You can try and get a sample yourself and taking it in, but they usually want if pretty fresh…if they will let you try that.

Regarding Fanconi, just because he is not spilling today, doesn't mean that he will not be spilling tomorrow. That is why we all recommend that you test 3 or 4 days in a row each month. When Fanconi is in the early stages, many times spilling will not be every day. How has he water intake been? And what is his age again?

And one last thing, while you might think he knows what you mean about where he pees and that he peed, but really they don't know or remember.. at least I don't believe they do... It is his reaction to your scolding him that he reacts that way, not that he remembers he peed someplace

[Quercus]

I agree with everything Pat said. Don't bother to scold him. Just clean it up, and try to figure out what is causing it. I'd start by making a chart that shows when the accidents are occuring. It could be that he doesn't like ANY change in his routine, and the different dog walkers are more than he can handle. Could be that a neighbor is getting a UPS delivery, that wakes him up, and he has to go.

Sometimes a dog will just urinate during sleep. Querk does that very rarely…but it does happen.

But if you keep a chart, you might be able to correlate something with it.

I am guessing he is having reoccuring urinary tract infections. Definitely get him into the vet, and maybe see if you can take a urine sample.

[lvoss]

Most vets draw a urine sample using a needle in order to maintain sterility of the urine and get no cross contamination when trying to determine if there is an infection.

[tanza]

Since I have the house of elders.. we have LOTS of accidents here… just like when they were puppies... only bigger.... it is a fact of life... need to just learn to deal with it... if I catch them in the act I gentle "yell" at them ... and push them out the door, but if I have missed the accident... oh well, I just clean it up and continue on....

[jys1011]

I ditto the above…go to the vet & try to collect his first morning pee & bring it with you. If they can use it GREAT if not they'll take more urine at the vet.

Since it's so sporadic like that it could be that something's upsetting his sleep & you know like most humans when you wake up from a long slumber...you gotta go so Tucker goes! :eek:

Lastly, and I'm guessing this comes from his past and whatever happened to him back then (those of you who read my posts know what I'm talking about, but in summary, I'm his 5th - and last - home)…I don't punish him because I can't be there when he does the peeing. So I take the article(s) that he's peed on and go to my door, squat, call him over, put the peed upon articles in front of his face and repear "No! Bad dog!" quite a few times, showing him the articles and then take him out. Is this the proper course of action, assuming he's not messed up inside somehow? (UIT or infection)

I agree with Pat & Andrea…this is useless. He doesn't know what the HECK you're talking about :eek: he knows you're upset by the tone of your voice but who knows why Unless you catch him in the act he won't know what you mean.

[TuckerVA]

He didn't pee yesterday, so perhaps it's over. He's not showing any signs of infection based on what I know about them… My friend has a Westie. I was around during one of her UTI's/bladder infections and her dog was sporadically peeing in random spots because it couldn't control it and was also whimpering when she peed. Tucker eats normally, has no loss of energy, etc. I don't mind taking him to the vet, but it seems unnecessary if he's just peeing to pee because something may have changed in his mind...

Perhaps it's over. I guess this evening will be more indicative.

[lvoss]

Not all dogs exhibit the same symptoms. I have had 2 girls have UTIs and their appetite and energy level never changed. They never cried when they peed they just started peeing in the house. With one, it wasn't even all the time peeing in the house but I took her in after two incidents because it was not like her.

So if he has another incident, I would recommend ruling out infection.

[nomrbddgs]

You shouldn't ever scold-unless you catch him in the act. Although he may know when you're talking to him he's a bad dog-he probably doesn't know why you're mad at him. He's just going by the tone in your voice. As Pat says-clean it up and move on. Dog's short term memory lasts something like 3-5 seconds. If you can't catch him in the act it's probably pointless to scold-all he's learnng is that when you come home you're mad at him and he doesn't know why.

[TuckerVA]

Seems like Tuck was just having a couple bad days with all of the small changes that seem so insignificant to the humans… I guess me coming back from vacation, having someone other than his walker walk him for a week and then changing back to the regular walker the next had him in a tizzy. He's not peeing anymore. I also strip tested him for several days during a week and the indicator never changed color, so I'm guessing I can rule out Fanconi for now, which would, of course, be the most extreme reaction from an overprotective parent.