Urinating In House Please Answer

[Guest kar]

how long should a female 9 year old grey be able to hold her urine during the day. Snow has had a lot of uti's had an ultrasound and nothing was wrong with bladder or kidneys. she was on antibiotics for uti and while she is on them holds her urine until I get home. She has been off the antibiotics for about two weeks and now three times when I got home she had already urinated on the floor. I am gone at work from 8 to 5:30. am I expecting too much of her. I have no one to let her out during the day.

[tbhounds]

I couldn't hold it that long. Look into getting a petsitter/dog walker.

[Guest MnMDogs]

I think that's too long. We're gone between 8-4:30 and have someone to come in mid day.

[Guest kar]

I would love to do that but I am on a limited budget. don't know if I can afford it.

[Guest Scouts_mom]

When I had an old dog that could no longer hold it, I realized that she had all her accidents by the back door as if she was trying to get to the back yard to do her business. So I put some peepads on the floor there and let her go on those. It was much easier to clean up and I think she realized that it was okay to go on those.

[Batmom]

If she doesn't have accidents when on antibiotics, might be worth seeing if she still has a UTI. Otherwise, dog walker or Scouts_mom's suggestion. Some dogs can hold it that long, some can't. Best luck!

[Busderpuddle]

what about hiring a neighbor kid who could walk her after school ? They usually work pretty cheap. Or maybe a pet door ?

My 9 year old goes out around 9 AM and then does not go back out until 6-7 PM for dinner. She has never had UTI's though.

[GeorgeofNE]

I am highly qualified to respond!

 

I too live alone and work all day. In my area, a daily dog walk would run me over $2,000 a year. Money I really can't spare. There are no "neighborhood kids" who are available or willing to actually do anything besides their school activities. We just don't have that kind of population here--kids don't even have to clean their own rooms, never mind work for money....anyway, a normal healthy dog should be able to hold it all day despite what some people say. Millions of them do it. There was no such thing as doggy day care or dog walking services until fairly recently (10 or 15 years?).

 

George was my first greyhound. At first I attributed his inability to hold it to SA. Then I decided it was a UTI. Because any time he was on antibiotics, he could hold it. And we tried heavy duty doses for 3X longer than normal. I kept thinking he was cured, and he kept starting up again.

 

Despite spending literally thousands of dollars on vet bills, antibiotics, and every test under the sun, I never really figured out George's problem. He even had an ultrasound and he had no anatomical abnormalities. He did go a year once without an accident--but the other 6 years I had him it was hit or miss. And a dog walker (which I did try for a month or so) made no difference. It didn't even seem to be the length of time he was alone. He just had to go when he had to go.

 

My initial solution was to put a belly band on him with a Tena ultra absorbent human incontinence pad. That worked keeping my house clean, but I did feel sort of bad for him because I know he just couldn't help it. Heck, he would pee right in front of me--and he'd get this totally zoned out look, and seemingly GALLONS of pee would just gush out of him.

 

Once I realized he was peeing in the exact same spot every time he did pee (which wasn't every day) I put hospital-grade human incontinence pads on the floor, and he peed on those. It wasn't ideal, but it was better than coming home every day and sobbing while I attempted to clean the carpet for the 10,000th time. You see, he was a good boy, and what he did was lift his leg on the patio door--as close to getting outside as he could. The pee splashed off the glass and onto the pee pad!

 

Everyone who followed George's saga knows that this was actually a victory of sorts for us.

[rycezmom]

Yes you ARE qualified to comment Miss Susan. George did his best and it was a learning experience for all of us as we followed Georges pee issue. That being said, it is a wise person who sees that a sometimes a problem is fixable by simple finding the easiest, and least expensive way to compromise. I too, had a hound who could not hold it in her later years, even though I had a "hound nanny" who came twice a day and Miss Star was free and clear of any uti. I followed Susans lead but with a variation. Plastic runner by the back door, plastic garbage bag flat with one or two of my many old towels on it. This worked for me as I worked 12 hour shifts and would simply run a quick "small" load of pee towels when I got home from work. At one point, I got a small kitchen garbage can with a lid and put a plastic bag in and used it like a diaper bucket until I had a reasonable load size to launder. Sometimes you have to pick your battles. At 9 y/o she is a senior and this just may be her little old lady self. Thank you Susan for chiming in on this. You have a world of experience. Missing George of Noo England....

[XTRAWLD]

I work those same hours and I have never had a pee issue in the house ever. We also don't have pee breaks overnight, so really that is a longer portion of time that they don't go out to eliminate as well. Is it bad that they Kasey & Ryder, had/have to hold it that long - probably. Could they do it? Yes. Could they do it on a daily basis? Yes. Do I feel bad? Yes. Life circumstances don't always allow our schedules to work out to give them a mid-day break. Would it be beneficial? Absolutely. I am not in a position to have someone come in mid day so it is what it is. I agree with the above posts to perhaps put pee pads down and just be happy she hits those!

 

How long have you had your girl? Have you worked her up to those hours in the past or did you just get her recently and have that expectation? Not every dog is born with a bladder of steel, but I also believe some dogs can learn to hold it for longer periods of time if given the opportunity to work up to it. I'm fortunate to have had two tanker trucks.

Edited May 18, 2016 by XTRAWLD

[Fudge]

Washable pee pads by the back door or on the spot they like to pee

[winnie]

We put out pee pads. Our greyhounds - and galgo - have all been pretty good about using them if unable to hold it all day.

[carronstar]

I would love to do that but I am on a limited budget. don't know if I can afford it.

 

I know people will likely give me grief for this, and I don't actually think peeing in the house is a behavior to be endorsed, but when I moved with Tallulah (who had been through a lot of changes in 9 short months) I found that indoor grass potties really solved the problem and are pretty affordable. I still order them because Tallulah is not crazy about walks! She gets all excited to get her leash on and go but once we are out, she is ready to go back inside. I am also super picky about who walks my girls and I have yet to find someone in LA so this is a good solution for now.

 

I get them from Amazon but you can certainly order from the vendor. I order/ordered Doggie Lawn because the size is slightly larger but there is also Fresh Patch. With shipping, the cost is equal to what I paid for two walks when I was in NYC.

[XTRAWLD]

I think your suggestion Carronstar is great! I as well thought about those grass potties for Kasey when he started refusing to go outside in the winter. I was going to train him to use them in my garage. It's not a crazy out there idea, but I was worried about training him to go and then maybe he would associate that with going in the house etc. Then I realized, he has never ever ever gone in the house and would be mortified to do so and the garage was an extension of his house and he would likely never be trained to do it.

[krissy]

I work the same hours and our dogs are fine. I think most dogs are more than capable of holding it that long, though some just might not be able to. And of course it is nice even for those that can, to not have to. I sometimes bring the dogs to work with me (perk of the job!) or will pop home at lunch. And 2-3 times a week I work the afternoon shift, so the dogs are only along for about 4-5 hours between when I leave and DBF comes home. The rest of the time they just wait 8-9 hours and it's fine.

[krissn333]

We had the same issue with Clarice. When she was on antibiotics she was fine. But she would pee otherwise, and pee a TON.

 

Have you had the vet swab her vulva for bacteria? Clarice's vulva was hooded and it contributed to SO many issues. She had a vulvoplasty last month and other than a somewhat difficult recovery (she had to wear the cone of shame), she is GREAT now. No accidents, no antibiotics.