Young Male Greyhound Peeing in House and on His Bed

[HeyRunDog]

A couple of random thoughts.

Is the water at your parents different to yours? Has yours got an additive in it that is making him thirsty?

Do you have a dehumidifier that is drying out the air in your flat?

 

[enoire]

@HeyRunDog Random thoughts are what we need right now!  I have thought about the water thing... Perhaps our water is tastier somehow? Or has something in it that makes him thirsty, like you say. I think I will try filling his bowl with bottled water for a while and seeing if that changes things. I have already tried putting ice cubes in the water to cool it down, as where he drank at my parents was colder. But he just took the ice cubes out and took them to his bed. 

Other things we have tried are changing the bowl, the stand the bowl goes in, and the location of the bowl (e.g. putting it in a place he's never been fed). None of these worked. 

I must sound like an absolute nutter! But we know it's not the food, or the schedule. But it must be SOMETHING to do with this flat. Or the way we behave in this flat vs. my parents. Although I'm not sure what that would be. We work from home and he is never alone, not even in a room on his own. Like I say we give him enrichment activities, plenty of walks, and scritches. 

The times when he drinks the most are when he comes in from outside (from a walk or the garden), when someone comes into the flat, and at mealtimes. I think that mealtimes and when he comes in from a walk are sensible times to want a drink, but it's the quantity with which he drinks that is the problem. He starts drinking, his eyes bulge, and he will not move for treats or toys or anything until that bowl is drained dry. Then he'll continue to lick it, and look at us to refill it. If you do, he'll start drinking again. His sides literally bulge out once he's done. He's just so FULL of water!

I really wish he could talk just for 5 minutes so he could tell me what's wrong!

[Sniffy]

This is so perplexing! It seems like the only thing you haven't tried is rationing his water altogether (but I am not recommending that--that's for a veteranarian to decide with you). 

 

[Jerilyn]

Can you change up your routine at all to break his patterns? He's obviously drinking way more than he needs. I would not be refilling the bowl as soon as he emptied it.

[enoire]

Another phone call with the vet today. She is pretty sure it's psychogenic polydipsia. But because he is so young, they want to be 100% sure, so they've gotten us a consultation at a veterinary hospital and they will be able to confirm for certain it's not something medical. Then, we will be referred to a dog behaviourist at the hospital, as the vet said psychogenic polydispia is very uncommon and the causes are often very difficult to decipher. It is likely that the drinking is a self-soothing behaviour in response to some stressor that is present at our place but not my parents. It could be something like the increased amount of traffic in this area, something which we can't change. In which case we might be able to get some anti-anxiety medications for him that might stop him from drinking so much.

Since we got Nugget, almost everyone we've met has said how confident he is for a greyhound. He is extremely sociable and curious. But perhaps it seems that way because he deals with his anxiety in a different way. Maybe instead of freezing or becoming destructive or whining, Nugget drinks? 

Other than his drinking problem, Nugget is the PERFECT dog for us. I'm finally feeling like I'm getting closer to some answers. Hopefully normality and a happier hound are on the horizon. 

@Sniffy and @Jerilyn The vet said we can begin to slowly restrict his water. Starting at like 5 litres, 4.5, 4 etc. So we'll get started with that. And hopefully that will make our lives a bit easier! 

[DocsDoctor]

I'm glad things are beginning to come together for you, even if there's a way to go.

Self-soothing does sound likely, in which case time and patience and care will be the way forward. I mentioned my dear old Ken on p.1, and his tendency to tank water down. He was quite a shy boy to begin with, and we could see that it would happen when he was feeling anxious - e.g. at home he would rush to a water bowl when visitors arrived, on a day out he would drink to excess when offered water, perhaps thinking 'might not get another chance!' The vet and I suspected that was a result of him having had restricted access to water somewhere in his earlier lie, maybe even having had to compete for it .  

[Sniffy]

Kudos to you for being patient and persistent in this diagnosis.  Nugget is very fortunate to have a caring household.

[Sniffy]

Another probably-not-useful suggestion from me, likely out of the You'veAlreadyThoughOfThis department:  while thinking about environmental factors that are different between your home and your parents' place, maybe consider the lighting?  Sometimes lights can emit sound frequencies out of the range of human hearing but in a range that would disturb canines.  Just a thought, but if you had LED lighting and your parents did not (or vice versa) maybe that's worth looking into.

Either way I hope Nugget resolves this! and soon!

[enoire]

@Sniffy this was a really good thought! We hadn't considered this. Unfortunately it doesn't seem to make a difference. 

Yesterday Nugget had his hospital appointment. They were really thorough and checked for congenital abnormalities, tumours (including a neurological exam in case of a brain tumour), endocrine disorders (e.g. diabetes), infection, etc. Every test came back totally normal. 

They gave him another abdominal ultrasound and everything was fine. After his previous ultrasound the vet said his left kidney looked unhealthy and suggested infection, so I wonder if this WAS a kidney infection which was fixed by the course of antibiotics but the drinking behaviour remains.   

This all means that his bed wetting was just caused by a bladder that is SO FULL because of excessive water consumption that he loses control. 

Oddly enough, he was drinking excessively at the hospital, so it's not JUST our flat. The trigger remains a mystery. Also notable is that the vet's were not concerned with any of his other behaviours and so don't recommend anti-anxiety medications or anything like that. He doesn't present as a nervous dog. Just one that... likes water?

So it seems that the answer is just water restriction. We have got a remote controlled water fountain and this is our plan: turn it off for 10 minutes after he re-enters the flat (this seems to be a very common time for him to binge), and turn it off if he ever starts binging (which has a different look to it than him just doing some normal dog sips... his eyes bulge and his ears pin back a little). So we're hoping that most of the time he does have free access to water, we will just try to prevent him going overboard. 

What a journey this boy has sent us on!! But I am glad that we have a healthy hound... he just knows the importance of hydration. 

[Remolacha]

Sounds like it is indeed behavioral. What ever the trigger was, it is now probably an ingrained habit. If only they could talk! Good luck with the water restriction and let us know how it goes 

[Jerilyn]

I'm glad you were able to rule out any scary medical problems. Hopefully the strategic restriction will break his habits.