Calliesmom
Moderator
definitely get a culture- there are too many resistant strains of bacteria out there. if you don't use the right antibiotic, you might as well not even bother giving them the pills.........
*cry* dont know what to do
- Thread starter snkoyle15
- Start date
definitely get a culture- there are too many resistant strains of bacteria out there. if you don't use the right antibiotic, you might as well not even bother giving them the pills.........
hopefully we will have some extra money soon and i will try to get him in for a full culture and xray to check for stones. and if need be get a different vet to look at him.
Eagle, we have an x-pen but we dont really use it, because it still doesnt stop him from peeing. he will still go while in there. the ONLY place he will flat out refuse to pee is in the crate itself. and when we have put him in the xpen he whines and howls like there's no tomorrow and flat out will not stop. he will go on for hours.
its pretty awful!
and it would be really hard to limit his roaming around. we are in a fairly small apartment. i mean you walk in and there is the front room, look left and there is the dinning room and kitchen. walk down a short hall and there are the bedrooms. we keep the bedroom doors closed to keep the dogs out, gizmo because of the pee problems, and Jenna because she still has to chew on everything. so we just have the front room and hall. no way to block off the dining room. not really anyway to limit him any.
Eagle, we have an x-pen but we dont really use it, because it still doesnt stop him from peeing. he will still go while in there. the ONLY place he will flat out refuse to pee is in the crate itself. and when we have put him in the xpen he whines and howls like there's no tomorrow and flat out will not stop. he will go on for hours.
its pretty awful! and it would be really hard to limit his roaming around. we are in a fairly small apartment. i mean you walk in and there is the front room, look left and there is the dinning room and kitchen. walk down a short hall and there are the bedrooms. we keep the bedroom doors closed to keep the dogs out, gizmo because of the pee problems, and Jenna because she still has to chew on everything. so we just have the front room and hall. no way to block off the dining room. not really anyway to limit him any.
Put a diaper on him. It doesn't"5 seem fair too punish him for something he has no control over. Believe me I know the money situation my husbands been out of work more then in! But I read and read and talked to,people on the forum! He has pancreatits, bad allergies, hypothyroidism and liver issues. But I never gave up and so 't either because they are worth it. Take him to a specialist instead of your vet, that is very co mon and you will save money that way. Your in my prayers. Do not give up.
I want to preface this by saying I am no expert here, and I fully agree you may be dealing with a medical problem and need to get it check out.
A couple of things are bothering me with that theory, but I may very easily be wrong. This is just a thought I had based on my experience (which does not include dogs with UTIs), nothing more.
(1) You said he can go all day in the crate
I don't know, maybe someone with more experience with this can comment. If it was a medical problem, could he go all day in the crate?
(2) You said he has never has been fully house trained
(3) You said it is hard to limit his roaming around the apartment
I am wondering if he is close to housebroken, but not quite, and he got too much freedom too fast. My understanding of housebreaking is that
(a) You need to take them out very frequently and reward them for going outside
but also
(b) you need to very gradually give them more freedom.
Only when they are very reliable in an x-pen do they get the freedom of the kitchen. Only when they are very reliable in the kitchen do they get freedom to the kitchen and the hall, etc, etc.
Either way, I think it can be dealt with. If it is a medical problem, treatment will solve it. If he is close to housebroken but not 100%, maybe you need to go back to what you were doing to housebreak him, but limit his freedom more.
I am just tossing an idea out, I may easily be wrong. I do think you need to make sure he does not have a medical problem. I have had cats with UTIs and they do reoccur, so that may easily be it also.
A couple of things are bothering me with that theory, but I may very easily be wrong. This is just a thought I had based on my experience (which does not include dogs with UTIs), nothing more.
(1) You said he can go all day in the crate
I don't know, maybe someone with more experience with this can comment. If it was a medical problem, could he go all day in the crate?
(2) You said he has never has been fully house trained
(3) You said it is hard to limit his roaming around the apartment
we have an x-pen but we dont really use it, because it still doesnt stop him from peeing. he will still go while in there. the ONLY place he will flat out refuse to pee is in the crate itself. and when we have put him in the xpen he whines and howls like there's no tomorrow and flat out will not stop. he will go on for hours.
and it would be really hard to limit his roaming around.
I am wondering if he is close to housebroken, but not quite, and he got too much freedom too fast. My understanding of housebreaking is that
(a) You need to take them out very frequently and reward them for going outside
but also
(b) you need to very gradually give them more freedom.
Only when they are very reliable in an x-pen do they get the freedom of the kitchen. Only when they are very reliable in the kitchen do they get freedom to the kitchen and the hall, etc, etc.
Either way, I think it can be dealt with. If it is a medical problem, treatment will solve it. If he is close to housebroken but not 100%, maybe you need to go back to what you were doing to housebreak him, but limit his freedom more.
I am just tossing an idea out, I may easily be wrong. I do think you need to make sure he does not have a medical problem. I have had cats with UTIs and they do reoccur, so that may easily be it also.
Dear Friend,
I want to give you a bit of encouraging news on the car-chasing front, even though I feel bad that I can't offer any help with the potty issues. As I've told you before, our Sammy is a maniac around cars. We live in a residential neighborhood, but in order to get to the park we have to cross one of the main arterials in our city, and Sammy loses his little puppy mind...ahem....when I am walking him. As it turns out, he doesn't do it with Hubby!!
The little Stinker had me hoodwinked, shnookered, bamboozled. I would come home from our walk and wail the blues with my husband, telling him how Sammy pulls crazily when he says a car, and I am at my wit's end. Hubby say, "Doesn't do that for me!" What?? I didn't believe him. Well, being the Christmas holidays, Hubby has a few days off and we walked together today, with the Tazmanian Devil in a Sheltie suit. Guess what? When a car passes, Hubby says, quietly but firmly, "Leave it!" and the little Goof obeys him! Apparently he has my number (1-800-Patsy). Here I was thinking, "Oh, the poor thing will never be able to get over his "instinctual need" to chase. It's part of his nature and there's nothing I can do about it. Hrmmf!!
I just wanted to tell you this in case the same thing might be going on in your house. These little guys are crafty.
Merry Christmas to you and your family! Janet
I want to give you a bit of encouraging news on the car-chasing front, even though I feel bad that I can't offer any help with the potty issues. As I've told you before, our Sammy is a maniac around cars. We live in a residential neighborhood, but in order to get to the park we have to cross one of the main arterials in our city, and Sammy loses his little puppy mind...ahem....when I am walking him. As it turns out, he doesn't do it with Hubby!!
The little Stinker had me hoodwinked, shnookered, bamboozled. I would come home from our walk and wail the blues with my husband, telling him how Sammy pulls crazily when he says a car, and I am at my wit's end. Hubby say, "Doesn't do that for me!" What?? I didn't believe him. Well, being the Christmas holidays, Hubby has a few days off and we walked together today, with the Tazmanian Devil in a Sheltie suit. Guess what? When a car passes, Hubby says, quietly but firmly, "Leave it!" and the little Goof obeys him! Apparently he has my number (1-800-Patsy). Here I was thinking, "Oh, the poor thing will never be able to get over his "instinctual need" to chase. It's part of his nature and there's nothing I can do about it. Hrmmf!!
I just wanted to tell you this in case the same thing might be going on in your house. These little guys are crafty.
Merry Christmas to you and your family! Janet
corbinam
Moderator
I wanted to respond and say that yes, even with a UTI he made be able to hold it in the crate. It's likely very uncomfortable, but he'd rather be in pain than to soil where he sleeps.
When my girl was a puppy she also had chronic UTIs. But she never, ever peed in her crate. Once she was on the bed with me playing and she just peed. No signal, nothing, so I knew something was wrong.
Caro
Moderator
I really think you are still dealing with an adolescent. Generally speaking males take longer to mature than females and dogs raised around children take a little longer to calm down. So keep in mind he will still settle down, but you do need to teach him to settle.
With the toilet problem, the only thing I would add is to keep to a really strict routine for toileting, taking him out at exactly the same times ever day.
With the car lunging, I really encourage you to put him in a head collar. You'll have much more control over his behaviour in a head collar, they are great for redirecting car lunging dogs - I use them myself for this purpose. They will also help keep him focused on your walks. I know a lot of people use them all the time with their dogs, esp for large dogs for safety reasons. But you can also switch him back to a normal collar when his behaviour settles down, that's what I do with mine. Tully was in a head collar throughout adolescence because of car lunging, and now I get it out on the rare occassion if she regresses.
He may also need more calm walks than he is getting - I know it is hard to walk a reactive dog so they often get less walks than they need and more of their exercise comes from high octane activities instead where it just reinforces he hyper behaviour. A head collar should really help with he calming walks.
I'd also be teaching him how to be calm. Over the next few weeks focus on activities that challenge his brain rather than pumps up his adrenalin. Use a treat dispenser/treat bottle or hide his food for him to work for his food, practice obedience commands when you are out walking, limit games like fetch and rough and tumble games. You can also teach calm by having short periods of play and then stopping suddenly and have some calm time (tell him to 'settle') - kind of like the statues game kids play. Massage rather than rough him up, talk to him in a quiet calm voice so he has to be quiet to listen. Set up an environment where he can learn the behaviour you want him to display.
With the toilet problem, the only thing I would add is to keep to a really strict routine for toileting, taking him out at exactly the same times ever day.
With the car lunging, I really encourage you to put him in a head collar. You'll have much more control over his behaviour in a head collar, they are great for redirecting car lunging dogs - I use them myself for this purpose. They will also help keep him focused on your walks. I know a lot of people use them all the time with their dogs, esp for large dogs for safety reasons. But you can also switch him back to a normal collar when his behaviour settles down, that's what I do with mine. Tully was in a head collar throughout adolescence because of car lunging, and now I get it out on the rare occassion if she regresses.
He may also need more calm walks than he is getting - I know it is hard to walk a reactive dog so they often get less walks than they need and more of their exercise comes from high octane activities instead where it just reinforces he hyper behaviour. A head collar should really help with he calming walks.
I'd also be teaching him how to be calm. Over the next few weeks focus on activities that challenge his brain rather than pumps up his adrenalin. Use a treat dispenser/treat bottle or hide his food for him to work for his food, practice obedience commands when you are out walking, limit games like fetch and rough and tumble games. You can also teach calm by having short periods of play and then stopping suddenly and have some calm time (tell him to 'settle') - kind of like the statues game kids play. Massage rather than rough him up, talk to him in a quiet calm voice so he has to be quiet to listen. Set up an environment where he can learn the behaviour you want him to display.
we did use to have a gentle leader for him. he hated it with a passion but it really did work for him. but we actually had the clasp come undone twice while on walks and the second time he almost got hit by a car. so we stopped using it and just havent ever replaced it. when we gone some more money, i may look into getting another one because it really worked well, even if he did hate it.
and i have noticed the last few months, he really has actually started to calm down at times. he will jump up on the couch and lay on my lap (or just next to me) for a really long time, while i give hims scratches. he also loves to sit on our daughters lap when she is on the couch too.
I agree with everyone here about the medical problems. Once you get that squared away, I highly recommend a potty bell! I've had every one of my Shelties potty trained in 2-3 weeks with the potty bell. Every time I would take them out, I'd use their paw to ring the potty bell on the door that they go out of. Within a week or 2 they were all independently ringing the bell when they wanted to go out. Now of course they do ring the bell when they want to go play or go for a walk too, but I'd rather have that than have accidents. When I don't hear the bell soon enough, every now and then I'll find a puddle right by the door so they tried to get me but I was just preoccupied.