Younger Greyhound Urination

[WalterWallerson]

Ernie has a history of seemingly random eliminations in the house. Today he peed on another bed to the point that I think it's ruined. This isn't the first bed he's peed on. Ernie turned 6 in June and I've had him for 3 years. In that time span he pottied in his crate, the floor, in front of the door, on walls, on different beds. After testing he was put on a thyroid drug that didn't seem to help or hurt much at all. His elimination was determined to be because of anxiety and emotional distress and he was put on prozac.

 

In the last couple weeks, he peed twice in the house and today he ruined a bed. What makes today the most interesting is that my fiancee witnessed the incident and indicated that Ernie was not visually distressed in any manner. It was an entire bladder of pee. To try to anticipate a couple questions, I don't live close enough to drive home from work during my lunch to let him out and I am very uncomfortable having someone else in my home. Ernie has shown me that he's capable of holding it and these accidents tend to be clustered. I cannot be a stay at home mom.

 

I am out of ideas. I'm going to call the vet to get him checked for a UTI but if it's anything like the past, it hasn't been a factor. Ideas? Suggestions?

[JohnF]

Sounds like displacement activity to cover for not having the kind of lifestyle he wants or needs.

 

They can be 'vindictive' too. I remember getting a nice new bed for one of my dogs and the other went on peed on it (long pee), like she was saying ... 'that bed should have been mine and now it is.'

[GeorgeofNE]

Well, normally I agree with JohnF 100%, but I do not believe dogs are vindictive or use urine as a weapon. Sorry John.

 

Pee isn't a bad thing to dogs. Why would they do that?

 

Sadly, I had a dog (George) who did this for the ENTIRE 7 years he was my bestie. I spend thousands of dollars on tests, tried the dog walker, I tried EVERYTHING I could think of.

 

He went an entire year without an accident, and I proclaimed him cured. And then it started up again.

 

There was nothing physically wrong with him that we could find. Despite not seeming all that anxious (and I am very familiar with the entire bladder full of urine on a dog bed--happened more than once to me. And one time he let lose IN THE CAR!) and getting lots of exercise, etc., he never did kick the habit/problem. Eventually I just put hospital pee pads on the floor where he was going, and that solved the mess issue. He was peeing on the slider to outside--getting, I think, as close as he possibly could to going out. So I put the pad next to the slider, and his pee would hit the glass then land on the pad. At least when I got home, all I had to do was swap the wet pad for a dry one and get on with my life.

 

I wouldn't wish it on anyone, but we survived. George was an otherwise GREAT dog, and although I admit to wanting to kill him more than once, I truly believe he couldn't help it.

 

I doubt this makes you feel a lot more upbeat about the issue. But you're not alone.

 

Sounds like Ernie sold joint the Whirled Famuss Unruly Boys chat club and discuss his issues!

[turbotaina]

Dogs do not pee out of spite.

 

Have your vet test him for diabetes insipidus. Is he drinking a lot of water as well?

[JohnF]

Dogs do not pee out of spite.

 

I'm afraid they most definitely appear to do so when marking competitively!

[cleptogrey]

Do can pre and aim well out of spite. Many years my saluki breeder and I were going to have some soup. The 2 bowls were sitting on the coffee table and we were getting ready to eat. I said, "No" pointing to the soup. The 3 other saluki left the soup alone. Mine, walked up, turned sideways and peed right in the bowl. The two of us were totally flabbergasted!

[turbotaina]

 

I'm afraid they most definitely appear to do so when marking competitively!

 

Marking and full-on urination are completely different. OP said the dog is emptying its bladder.

Do can pre and aim well out of spite. Many years my saluki breeder and I were going to have some soup. The 2 bowls were sitting on the coffee table and we were getting ready to eat. I said, "No" pointing to the soup. The 3 other saluki left the soup alone. Mine, walked up, turned sideways and peed right in the bowl. The two of us were totally flabbergasted!

 

Still not spite Marking behavior.

[WalterWallerson]

 

 

I doubt this makes you feel a lot more upbeat about the issue. But you're not alone.

 

 

 

 

yes and no. obviously it would suck to have a dog just pee for the sake of peeing HOWEVER if it isn't displacement or illness it does kind of make me feel better in a weird way. he's a sweet guy, he's just.. a doofus.

Dogs do not pee out of spite.

 

Have your vet test him for diabetes insipidus. Is he drinking a lot of water as well?

 

he's always been a drinker. sometimes it seems like he "forgets" that he's drinking water - he's a sweetie but there isn't much going on upstairs if you know what i mean.

[turbotaina]

Hm. OK - I'd definitely have your vet rule out diabetes insipidus. It's not a common dog thing, but it's also not that rare in greyhounds. Many vets don't think to look for it, because you don't often see it in non-greyhounds. So ruling that out, he may have what one of mine does - psychogenic polydipsia, which is basically over-drinking for no reason. For mine, drinking is an emotional response to start with, then he can't seem to stop it until we call him away from his water dish. If that's the case with your guy, and since you can't get home during the day, you can try limiting water a little (so, instead of a full 2 quart dish, maybe fill it half way). A friend of mine whose dog also had PP (heh) would just give her pup a cup of water at a time. Warning though, you have to be careful with this as it may make your dog *more* likely to seek out water if he thinks it's not an available resource. Also, you have to be absolutely sure that there's no medical reason for the polydipsia as reducing intake may be harmful. Regarding the thyroid supplementation - was a full panel (including TSH) done? Supplementing a dog who is not truly hypothyroid can have negative consequences.

 

Start with diabetes insipidus though and see where that goes.

[Bizeebee]

Ernie has a history of seemingly random eliminations in the house. Today he peed on another bed to the point that I think it's ruined. This isn't the first bed he's peed on. Ernie turned 6 in June and I've had him for 3 years. In that time span he pottied in his crate, the floor, in front of the door, on walls, on different beds. After testing he was put on a thyroid drug that didn't seem to help or hurt much at all. His elimination was determined to be because of anxiety and emotional distress and he was put on prozac.

 

In the last couple weeks, he peed twice in the house and today he ruined a bed. What makes today the most interesting is that my fiancee witnessed the incident and indicated that Ernie was not visually distressed in any manner. It was an entire bladder of pee. To try to anticipate a couple questions, I don't live close enough to drive home from work during my lunch to let him out and I am very uncomfortable having someone else in my home. Ernie has shown me that he's capable of holding it and these accidents tend to be clustered. I cannot be a stay at home mom.

 

I am out of ideas. I'm going to call the vet to get him checked for a UTI but if it's anything like the past, it hasn't been a factor. Ideas? Suggestions?

I know this was pretty long ago, but did you ever find any medical reason for Ernie's peeing issue? Our guy is having very similar problems and all the common medical culprits (UTI, bladder crystals/stones) are coming up normal/negative.

[WalterWallerson]

I know this was pretty long ago, but did you ever find any medical reason for Ernie's peeing issue? Our guy is having very similar problems and all the common medical culprits (UTI, bladder crystals/stones) are coming up normal/negative.

 

 

It's still ongoing. It varies week to week but is ongoing. Have not found a reason and to be honest, haven't taken him to the vet.

[WalterWallerson]

I know this was pretty long ago, but did you ever find any medical reason for Ernie's peeing issue? Our guy is having very similar problems and all the common medical culprits (UTI, bladder crystals/stones) are coming up normal/negative.

 

hold on, sorry. he went to the vet & there were no medical issues that they could find. they determined that it was anxiety and he gets people prozac from walmart. i have also come to the conclusion that his bladder may be smaller than average (without any testing) when compared to Walter. Or maybe Walter is bigger than average? it's unclear. i hope things have improved for you, sorry for my delayed responses, i don't visit here like i used to.

[Bizeebee]

 

hold on, sorry. he went to the vet & there were no medical issues that they could find. they determined that it was anxiety and he gets people prozac from walmart. i have also come to the conclusion that his bladder may be smaller than average (without any testing) when compared to Walter. Or maybe Walter is bigger than average? it's unclear. i hope things have improved for you, sorry for my delayed responses, i don't visit here like i used to.

No worries I appreciate any insights.

 

For us, there are definitely more medical tests/things we could do, but the issue certainly seems to be boredom or anxiety (leading to excessive drinking) as well. Did the prozac work for Ernie?

[WalterWallerson]

No worries I appreciate any insights.

 

For us, there are definitely more medical tests/things we could do, but the issue certainly seems to be boredom or anxiety (leading to excessive drinking) as well. Did the prozac work for Ernie?

i see the excessive drinking too.

 

we seem to go through cycles. sometimes prozac works great and he's happy and whatever. other times (like today) we came home to poop, pee, vomit after poop eating. i think poop eating is part of his anxiety. he doesn't eat poop in the backyard or on walkies.

 

i came home a couple weeks ago and i took his muzzle off and he ran back to the poop to eat it muzzle free. as if, "she'll never know it was me!"

 

there are more ebbs in the late fall/early winter than any other time of the year. we're looking into having someone let him & Walter out during the day but our concern is having a stranger in the house so who knows. my fiance is not interested in a dog door.