# Housetraining with a UTI



## forwardess (Nov 23, 2014)

Hey guys,

So I bought this beautiful black female a couple weeks ago and she's absolutely fantastic. House training has been going relatively well. Envy (what I've decided to name her) is currently 9 weeks old and learns very quickly. I take her out to potty every 15-20 minutes, after eating, drinking a lot of water, romping about the house, and after a nap. She doesn't have too many accidents in the house - like maybe one every other day or so. When she does have an accident in the house it's usually because I've gotten distracted and lost track of time. At any rate, if I catch her going pee on the floor I'll give a loud no, thump her little nose, and promptly carry her outside and give her lots of praise when she potties outside. So we go to the vet yesterday to get her boosters and the doc tells me Envy has a recessed vulva and it may cause her to have issues with frequent UTIs. I told her that I had been seeing some vaginal discharge and went home with an antibiotic to clear up any possible infection. Today, Envy has been peeing like crazy. Every 10 minutes. Can't hold it in. I mean, we're walking to the door and she's squatting before the threshold. The hand-held carpet cleaner has been out all day. I'm being patient with her as she's still very young and of course she isn't feeling very well - but I don't want to relax on correcting her during this period because she wasn't housebroken to begin with and I don't want her to think going potty in the house is okay. Has anyone else experienced this?

-Chelsea


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## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

Please do not thump her nose. She doesn't know that peeing in the house is "bad", and if she has medical issues that can cause frequent urination she can't help it anyway. 

As you said, when she has accidents it's because _you've_ become distracted and lost track of time. It's not _her_ fault you didn't let her out in time. I'm not saying that to beat up on you, I just want you to be aware that it's not fair to punish a baby puppy for having accidents. 

Rather than "correcting" her for accidents, try upping your supervision. You can tether her to you with a leash, so she can't wander off and pee somewhere. Or close her in a small room with you to keep her close. Take her out more frequently. Rather than walking with her to the door to go out, pick her up and run! Have her drag a leash so you can pick it up quickly, if necessary. 

What I do is clap my hands sharply if puppy starts to squat, to interrupt, and then quickly scoop it up and run outside, encouraging puppy to "go potty". When s/he does, I praise enthusiastically and give a small treat. Housetraining is a process that can take weeks or months, and you have to keep your expectations realistic during this time since she has very little bladder or bowel control at 9 weeks old, similar to a baby in diapers. With a UTI she has even less.


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## gsdsar (May 21, 2002)

You need to clear up the infection before you can expect anything from her. She is a baby. Get the infection under control. All the while, keeping to your schedule and praise when she goes outside. 

I would also not "thump" her nose. Can make them head shy and fearful of your hands. A loud "no" maybe a foot stomp, to distract her. No swatting of the nose.


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## Pawsed (May 24, 2014)

I don't have any experience with UTS and puppies, but I feel that "correcting" a puppy for having an accident in the house is never the right thing to do. If anyone should be corrected, it's me. It's my fault that I didn't get the pup outside in time, not the puppy's fault for not being able to hold it. 

Keep praising her for getting it right, but don't punish her for your own mistakes. She will get the idea without any corrections.

Maybe the antibiotics are making her urinate more? If so, your vet might be able to switch to another one that might not have that side effect.


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## misslesleedavis1 (Dec 5, 2013)

Do not put your hands on her and "thump her" because she has had an accident, thats not being proactive, you take her out on a schedule, pups need a pee routine and if she has a bladder problem (infection) its really hard to control urine- i would not make a big deal outta house accidents, take her out on a schedule, make a little pee party and repeat. Do wait until she is clear of her issues


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## middleofnowhere (Dec 20, 2000)

I'm chiming in here on the no physical punishment to the pup for house soiling. Physical punishment to handler only. Thump yourself on the head and yell no at yourself. A more up beat "whoops!" and calm removal to outside is lots better.

And wait until the UTI is cleared. 

BTW my latest pup took a long long long time to get house trained. It was very exasperating. Old woman doesn't learn new tricks very easily. And this pup had some new tricks...


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## forwardess (Nov 23, 2014)

Thanks for the quick reply guys! Let me reiterate myself: the pup goes out nearly every 15 minutes. Often more frequently than that. She's on a very strict schedule to assist in training her bladder. She's never left unattended. Also let me clarify that I don't strike my pup in the sense that it seems to have ruffled everyone's feathers. This is my 5th dog (3rd GSD) and all prior housetrained just fine. I've just never had such a young puppy get a UTI. My concern is if her infection going to set her back in house training, what alternatives do I have at my disposal that will help her? Especially if there's a possibility that she may go through these her whole life(if her vulva doesn't "drop"). I'll be getting a urine sample to the vet tomorrow to see specifically what is going on in there and maybe change her medications. I hope this thing clears up soon, I know my girl must be uncomfortable.


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

It doesn't matter how you "strike your puppy" or "thumb her on the nose", just stop doing it. It's not her fault.

Regarding the UTI issue, look into D-Mannose. Giving her a maintenance dose should help keep the UTI's to a minimum. I know this works because I've used it myself for a UTI. It kills the e-coli which is what causes most UTI'.s. You can mix the powder right into her food daily. Many people use this for CRF dogs.


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## gsdsar (May 21, 2002)

You can do vulvaplasty when she is spayed. Then you won't have to worry as much.


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## forwardess (Nov 23, 2014)

Jax08 said:


> It doesn't matter how you "strike your puppy" or "thumb her on the nose", just stop doing it. It's not her fault.
> 
> Regarding the UTI issue, look into D-Mannose. Giving her a maintenance dose should help keep the UTI's to a minimum. I know this works because I've used it myself for a UTI. It kills the e-coli which is what causes most UTI'.s. You can mix the powder right into her food daily. Many people use this for CRF dogs.


I'm all for supplements. She's currently on a puppy multivitamin and antibiotics and takes them well (by that I mean she has no idea its "medicine" and gobbles it up). I've personally had issues with my bladder also and had not previously heard of D-Mannose. Wish I had a few years ago, that would have helped! I see some D-Mannose supplements are sold at the average pharmacy and some pet stores carry pet-friendly versions of it. I'll ask my vet on the dosage this week when Envy goes in for a urinalysis. She also drinks filtered alkaline water per my vet so hopefully that helps flush her system until we can figure out how long it'll take for her vulva to do what it's supposed to.


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## forwardess (Nov 23, 2014)

gsdsar said:


> You can do vulvaplasty when she is spayed. Then you won't have to worry as much.


That's definitely an option. My vet is hoping that the vulva will "drop" I guess you could call it sometime before or around her first heat cycle. If not, then we'll have to consider that.


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

pet friendly versions? Save your money and just buy the human product.


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## forwardess (Nov 23, 2014)

Jax08 said:


> pet friendly versions? Save your money and just buy the human product.


That's what I did with the cat when she was taking probiotics. Pet friendly supplements are way more expensive than what you buy at the grocery store. A bottle of Omega-3 fatty acids at the pharmacy could cost something like $7 whereas Petsmart sells it for nearly $24. It makes absolutely no sense at all. Believe me, I love saving money if it doesn't affect quality.


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

it's all a gimmick. Same stuff, different dosage listed. D-Mannose is simply a sugar. You can't hurt her but giving her this. It kept me out of the ER one weekend and had it almost all cleared by the time I got to the doctor on Monday. A friend used it on her dog having UTI issues and it cleared it right up. this is one of the few supplements I fully support.


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