Holding His Bladder For 14+ Hours

[antisense]

Sometimes he just doesn't want to pee.

 

He will pee before bedtime, and then in the morning if the weather is not to his liking sometimes he just won't go. However, he is also meticulous about not peeing inside our home (or if he is, I haven't found where he's been having secret tinkles) so he ends up holding it in for a very, very long time.

 

When he finally does go out, he isn't in a rush to pee either. Sometimes we will walk a few blocks before he finds something he wants to mark and he will pee a little bit on it.

 

When he urgently needs to go pee, he will let us know by pacing and whining. When we take him out, he will immediately pee like a horse. But a lot of the time, it seems like there is no urgency to go.

 

He does clean himself very frequently "down there." I'm wondering if maybe he's leaking a little bit, and then cleaning it up. I've only had girl dogs before, so I'm not sure how often boy dogs normally clean themselves. He never smells like pee, and none of his bedding smells bad so I don't think he's having any incontinence issues.

 

 

Is it unhealthy for him to be holding his bladder for so long?

[Riverhound]

Joe does the same thing. It freaks me out!

[Time4ANap]

Rocket can hold it for at least 18 hours when he decides to. The only thing that will make him turn resistance into a peeing opportunity is if the leash comes out and we go for a walk. If we just go "outside" (which means the yard,) he won't even get up to go out.

 

Same deal here. When he's ready, he will let you know. If I'm trying to leave the house and need him to pee, i get out the leash and have to do a dirty trick by leashing him and then going to the back yard. Then he will go because he already go excited thinking we were going to go for a walk because I got the leash out. I reserve that one only for when I really need it.

[Hubcitypam]

Mine have done that many times when it rained for hours on end. They'd stick their noses out the dog door and judge how hard it was raining vs. how bad they needed to pee.

Remember, dogs only drink when they are thirsty and humans drink for many reasons other than thirst.

[RedHead]

Teague does this and it drives me nuts! He will hold it all night, and then will whine in the morning to go out, but he won't pee. He does the same when I come home for lunch quickly to let them out. On the rare day that I can't make it home for lunch, and he has held it all day, he still won't go. My solution is to walk him. I literally put on his leash, walk 20 paces from the house and he pees on the first bush he sees. Much faster then waiting for him to go in the yard!

Edited June 15, 2014 by RedHead

[GreyhoundGirl]

My Belle would regularly go 12+ hours if HRH (Her Royal Highness) didn't feel like getting out of bed to go potty. Once I hysterically called my great-aunt because it was snowing, she refused to go out and I had to go to work. Her response was, "She'll go when she has to." She held it all day and didn't rush to get off the couch when I got home either. L-A-Z-Y!!! It so depends on where it falls on their "If I feel like it meter" (as does everything else in their lives ).

[Guest greyhound_bug]

Joe used to do this all the time. Like someone else mentioned, he'd judge the weather vs. how bad he had too pee. Once he held it for 24hrs because thats how long it had been raining for and God forbid if Joe got rained on LOL. He spoke to our vet about it and he said nothing to worry about, that Joe just had an iron bladder. I know, its hard not to worry about if you've never "dealt" with it before.

[Feisty49]

I've got a girl who, as a couple of others said above, only goes when she feels like it OR if I get the leash to trick her into thinking we're going for a walk. She's easily done 14 hours, which I hate, but knowing she can hold it until she feels like peeing makes me no longer feel guilty the very few times I leave her for more than 3 or 4 hours.

 

I think if your guy was leaking you'd smell it. As far as cleaning his genitals: He's a guy! Cleaning may be the dog way of checking things out, as human guys do with what the think are subtle movements of their hands.

Edited June 15, 2014 by Feisty49

[greysmom]

Our first greyhound once held it for three days during a particularly horrible storm. We kept taking her out and taking her out and taking her out, and she'd just stand there looking miserable as the rain dripped down her nose! As soon as there was a break in the rain, she went out and pee'd for about 5 minutes. She did this several times to us - freaked us out, but you can't "make" them.

 

Unless he's regularly developing UTI's he's probably fine. Same with the licking. If he was leaking, you'd know it.

[Burpdog]

Pablo used to do that and it drove me nuts. I guess he's been whispering in Taylor's ear, because now Taylor does it. I gave up worrying

[Guest saltwaterron]

riley went out this morning 7:30..been in crate ever since...4:30 now and still shows no signs of wanting or needing to go out...she has done the 14-16 hour time frame..she hates hot weather and it is beginning to get hot here so i suspect she will be in this pattern for a while...

[Victor]

Our boy Duke will sometimes choose to hold it in rather than get wet when it's raining outside. I don't know if he's ever reached 14 hours, but he's certainly gone 12 hours without peeing.

 

When our recently adopted girl Joy suddenly started holding it in, though, it turned out she had contracted a urinary tract infection. Shortly after we started her on antibiotics she stopped holding it in.

 

According to PetMD, if a dog is unable to urinate (due to stones, for example), it is a medical emergency that can "lead to kidney failure and/or rupture of the bladder, and can prove fatal if the obstruction is not relieved right away." I don't know how you know if he/she is unable to urinate or just choosing not to urinate.

[Guest roweboy]

This thread gives proof to people who think they have to have their dog walked during the day if they're working. Unless there's a medical condition, the need is really not there. For dogs with SA, I think it's probably best to let them settle down and not get interrupted with a walk, then have to deal with separation again.

 

Our CJ has all the holding capacity a dog or his humans could ask for. Sleep late on weekends? No problem! Of course, when he's out walking on a leash he can mark about 50 things with a seemingly endless pee supply. I envy his control. I do insist he tough it out and go out in the rain or snow, though. I'll put his coat on him and walk him in the yard if I have to but we don't get back in until he pees. Then he gets lots of love and a towel rubdown so it becomes fun. If he can control it enough to mark a zillion places when HE wants to, he can pee in the rain to make me happy

[antisense]

Oh so relieved that this is normal and not unhealthy.

 

I kinda envy his bladder holding abilities - if only I could hold it that long!

[3greytjoys]

Urine is a toxin/poison. Like humans, dogs should eliminate on a regular basis multiple times daily. If dogs hold urine inside the body too long, bacteria builds which can result in kidney infection, bladder infection, urinary infection, painful obstructions/stones, etc. A long-term lack of frequent enough eliminations contributes to canine incontinence, deadly kidney disease, etc. Prolonged exposure of toxic carcinogens causes cancer.

 

Dogs should be given relaxed opportunities to eliminate a minimum of 4 times throughout the day and evening. Holding urine occasionally during storms or fireworks isn't much of a concern, but an ongoing, long-term situation could be concerning.

Probabaly not the OP's hound, but some hounds are so sensitive to their owner's mood (e.g., owner in a rush) that they're hesitant to relax enough to eliminate. Again not OP's case, some newly adopted hounds don't yet understand their new environment and may be hesitant to release urine/bowel (even more hesitant if they were previously punished for an elimination elsewhere).

Excessive licking on any part of the body can be a sign of discomfort, infection, pain, or clean-up (e.g., blood or urine).

[Guest Almondine88]

My girl can easily hold it that long...She is exceptionally lazy and, if left to her own devices, won't get out of bed until the late afternoon. I get up around 6:30am and I usually wake her up and take her for a walk around 8am and she's happy to go (provided it's not raining, too cold, or too hot...), but if I don't make her get up she'll just lay there all day. I try to make her get up and go out occasionally, because it doesn't seem that holding it that long can be beneficial even if it's not harmful. But often even if she's been sleeping all day, she won't pee at first when she goes out but instead will just go out to lay in the sun. If it's bad weather she will refuse to go out at all. When we lived in Maine I would eventually have to force her to go out during the winter. She'd rush out and do her business, turn around and run right back inside. She just has a crazy good bladder, I guess! I wish mine was that good! =] On the other hand, she always, always makes sure to go before getting in the car, which is very wise of her in my opinion. I figure she doesn't know if it'll be a five minute or 4 hour ride!

Edited June 26, 2014 by Almondine88

[GeorgeofNE]

Any interest in trading hounds?

 

 

Just kidding. I would kill for a dog who didn't have a bladder the size of a peanut.