A bit of an odd problem

[meleeka]

I’ve had a rescue 6yo German Shepherd bitch (not yet spayed) for a few months now. I know a little of her past and she spent a fair amount of her life living outside. I know she didn’t start off that way and is house trained, apart from one problem. She wees on the floor sometimes. I’m pretty sure it’s not medical as she’s 100% reliable overnight and most days, but it seems to be some sort of marking behaviour. She usually does it near where she’s fed and it can be anytime of day, but more often a while after her breakfast, . The back door is always open too. One day we came home from the horses which involves a walk across a green from the car and a minute later she’d weed in the hall (by where she’d had breakfast). She had ample opportunity to go if she needed to outside. What struck me as really odd was yesterday we got to the horses and she went straight into the Shetland’s empty stable and did a wee IN his food bucket! She was playing with it last week so wonder if it’s some kind of marking things that she feels are valuable? She’s also gone in her own empty food bowl before. It’s a full on wee, not just a trickle. Is there anything I can do stop her? I’ve tried taking her outside at regular intervals and praising her when she goes in the garden, but I don’t think this is an issue of just not being housetrained, although there’s obviously an element of that. Luckily we have laminate so it’s not a huge problem.

 

[PurBee]

That is odd! Behaviourally could be a few things...especially as you dont know her full history.
yet still odd...hope others can give more insight

however, i wanted to mention it may be cycle/hormone related, as my female gsd, who gets very possessive of places/things/her bowl/toys has never gone as far as peeing on them,( yet i have a cat that did that!) but when she has had impusive weird peeing inside the house was due to mild uterine infection, aligning with hormone fluctuations or stomach infection.

only this year, at age 9, did she have to have a full hysterectomy due to pyometra - infected uterus. She was weeing even when she had the chance to go outside...probably to tell me she had a problem?!
I didnt spay her as i dont have intact male dogs and am very rural with no dogs around except the next valley over. Wish i had spayed her earlier, as the peeing incidents were probably cycle/infection related all along.

is your dog holding weight Ok? Has a good appetite? My girl was always on the slim side as she’s so active no matter how much she ate, yet past year i noticed she looked slimmer, even over winter with less exercise and started refusing certain foods - then the pyometra hit hard. So i think all along she was having mild recurrent bladder/uterus infections. only when it got really bad did the obvious symptoms arise.

 

[CorvusCorax]

I would have her checked out in case of something hormonal or UTI etc.

Dogs which have lived/been brought up/spent long outside sometimes have less discretion about where they go.
She may also just be unsettled a little still.
A dog doesn't automatically know to go out an open door to toilet, they need to be shown, if you can I'd be treating her like any new dog or puppy, always being aware of when and what they're eating and drinking, containing to one area and supervising and taking out every hour or two for a dedicated toilet break and using a clear word and mark for the behaviour.

 

[meleeka]

is your dog holding weight Ok? Has a good appetite? My girl was always on the slim side as she’s so active no matter how much she ate, yet past year i noticed she looked slimmer, even over winter with less exercise and started refusing certain foods - then the pyometra hit hard. So i think all along she was having mild recurrent bladder/uterus infections. only when it got really bad did the obvious symptoms arise.

She was obese when I got her but is now down to a good weight and loves her food. I will be getting her spayed, but I posted about my experience at the vet with her a while ago. I have never seen a dog so scared, so am holding off the neiutering until after her next season in the hope she’s less scared and I can take her in to the surgery. She is due to come into season around Christmas time I think. My other dog has had a couple of visits to the vets lately which has provided a training opportunity and we’ve made a bit of progress.

 

[PurBee]

Mine was ‘inhibited’ at the vets, as she’s just a one person dog really, so anyone else poking around with her worries her, but i was there and she was very good really. Yours will bond closer to you the longer you have her and that’ll give her more confidence with vets etc..

when I left mine at the vets in the p.m for her to stay overnight and have early a.m pyometra surgery - when i collected her she was sooo happy to see me, and then the next moment she completely blanked me! Was peeved at me for leaving her overnight ...as if to say “i cant believe you left me here”. She’s been in a mood with me before but this was a stonker!

As an aside - my bitch only came into season once a year...vet says that should be twice a year - but it generally always was around springtime, so perhaps that was a clue to her eventually getting full-on pyometra. Mine has never had a litter btw. Her pee wasn’t bloody, but she was drinking a lot and peeing a lot before the infection got really bad. The real clue was her seasonal bleeding not ending after 2 weeks....and then she stopped eating. I noticed her drinking more before those more severe symptoms, yet her energy levels, happiness belied what was really going on inside.

Mine is more of an outdoor farm dog who gets her nose into everything...bringing back all sorts of old dead deer legs etc from the wild...a more outdoor lifestyle does put them at risk for higher exposure to pathogens, e-coli/strep belly/infections. She rolls in badger shoite...wades through streams and drinks stream water, which ive tested, for several reasons and it has a pathogen level. The exposure to bacteria is high.
You could trial your girl on a round of kesium e-coli/strep. antibiotic from the vet, if you explain symptoms and ask if it sounds like a uti or infection, they normally happily prescribe without needing to see the dog (if they know you), and that would reduce the vet stress for your girl.

If her poops are firm, i would rule out gut infection and be more inclined to think bladder/uterus infection more likely, that’s IF its not solely behavioural.

 

[Goldenstar]

I would want to rule out a UTI but I the thing would do is feed her in the garden .

 

[PurBee]

I would have her checked out in case of something hormonal or UTI etc.

Dogs which have lived/been brought up/spent long outside sometimes have less discretion about where they go.
She may also just be unsettled a little still.
A dog doesn't automatically know to go out an open door to toilet, they need to be shown, if you can I'd be treating her like any new dog or puppy, always being aware of when and what they're eating and drinking, containing to one area and supervising and taking out every hour or two for a dedicated toilet break and using a clear word and mark for the behaviour.

That training went hilariously with mine. Having an older dog who knew ‘wee’ time i thought would help - so mine as a pup took her out at ‘wee time’ older dog did pee instantly, but her as a pup loved the great outdoors and especially the echo of her bark across the valley. So she would stand there and yap her little bark...i’d tell her wee....she’d she the other peeing and she would pee....while yapping inbetween. I couldnt tell her ‘no’ about the barking, while trying to also praise her for peeing, as i didnt want to confuse her. So i ignored the barking and praised the peeing.
At other outings i had the chance to tell her ‘no’ for excess barking, away from toilet training. However, it has still resulted in her instantly barking one loud bark when i say ‘wee’ ! ??

 

[meleeka]

I would want to rule out a UTI but I the thing would do is feed her in the garden .

Oddly enough we were talking about this earlier. We did feed her in the garden at first because we were worried about possible food aggression with my other dog and thinking about it, she didn’t wee indoors then so that could be an easy solution. Whether it’s food bowls or just the spot she’s fed in, but it’s definitely there most of the time. Thanks for pointing it out!

 

[meleeka]

You could trial your girl on a round of kesium e-coli/strep. antibiotic from the vet, if you explain symptoms and ask if it sounds like a uti or infection, they normally happily prescribe without needing to see the dog (if they know you), and that would reduce the vet stress for your girl.

That would not happen at my vets, I’m certain. They weren’t happy about giving her a vaccination in the car park, so I’m pretty sure not seeing the dog would be a big no no, even though I’ve been a client for 25 years and probably give them thousands most years (horses with same vets).

 

[PurBee]

That would not happen at my vets, I’m certain. They weren’t happy about giving her a vaccination in the car park, so I’m pretty sure not seeing the dog would be a big no no, even though I’ve been a client for 25 years and probably give them thousands most years (horses with same vets).

maybe my vets were being lenient due to covid this year?
If you’re vets do outside rounds, maybe ask them to pop-in on you while on their usual rounds?

 

[meleeka]

maybe my vets were being lenient due to covid this year?
If you’re vets do outside rounds, maybe ask them to pop-in on you while on their usual rounds?

Definitely don’t do rounds. In fact I’m seriously thinking about changing to a smaller vets for her who are more likely to be understanding.

 

[Christmascinnamoncookie]

Is your laminate properly sealed? We took old laminate up last year and under the dog bed, the concrete floor was wet and wrecked from them being on there after a swim/walk in the rain. *misses point of thread*