Zebe is almost 10 months old and still pees in his crate and in the house

[Sue Robin F]

Zebe was rescued at 3 1/2 months by me. He and his 2 littermates [who I remained in touch with] all had difficulty getting housebroken. His 2 littermates probably got trained about 2 months ago .... [which was still very late], but Zebe continues to pee in the house and in his crate. The other 2 families were also concerned and contacted their Vets. The experienced shelter/foster home had rescued them at about 2 1/2 months. He is never in his crate for a long time ... usually 3 hours.

A few months ago the Vet did a urine, which came back fine, but we put him on an antibiotic anyway. It seemed to help and he was ok for a few weeks. Then he got neutered and started having accidents everyday. I called the Vet and we put him on a different antibiotic. He just completed it a few days ago and he is still having accidents.Tonight when i took Moses, my other doodle to a Therapy visit Zebe peed in his crate again. The urine is a very strong and strange smell to me. It almost smells a little poopie-ish.

I called my Vet again tonight, so I hope to get a response tomorrow.
I have used this Vet for 22 years, so I do have faith in him. I am also an experienced dog owner, having had multiple dogs for the last 43 years. The only other dogs I had problems housebreaking was Moses, but that was because I got him from a puppymill when he was 16 months old. He was not housebroken when I got him and at the puppymill was forced to go in his cage. I expected it to be tough with Moses. He did eventually get trained. I also had a Golden Retriever who supposedly had an immaturee bladder, so he was trained late at 6 months. However on 4/1/11, Zebe will turn 10 months.

Since Zebe ws rescued so young, I did not expect a problem. The message I left for my Vet tonight was asking him what he thought the next step should be to help the situation and if neutering could have affected him adversely.
I am wondering if it could be a structural problem. He does not poop in the house.

Has anyone had this type of experience. I now have to get rid of my bedroom carpet and perhaps the hall carpet... and i am sure that the wood floor under it is ruined.

Any thoughts?

[Chelsea and Bailey]

Hmm.. that is a tough one, I am trying to rack my brains right now on what types of problems go on with genitourinary track (there are a lot).  The one thing that stands out to me is the strong smell.  That signals UTI.  Another thing that alerts me is the fact he was given the Abx without a proper culture.  Did they do a sterile collection? (aka. needle throught urethra into bladder) That is really the only true way of checking if there is anything going on.  Also check to see if there is any discharge, if the pee has a tinge to it (red) and if he licks lots.

 

Neutering as does all sterilization, has a risk of creating incontinence, however its such a small chance.  He is still young and I have heard of some dogs being difficult to train. Possible there is smell of urine in crate or carpet that you have not caught yet?

 

For now I would encourage your vet to take the sterile sample.. and in the meantime I will keep thinking about it!

[Sue Robin F]

Thaks Chelsea. i will discuss with Vet.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

We got Starlit, as a rescue, at 4.5 months.  it took months to potty train her also.  Thank goodness my DH was suddenly unemployed in early May.  It helped he was home.  Unlike Zebe though, Starlit just refused to go.  She could hold everything for 24-48 hours!

She is still very slow and cautious when we let her out.  We still praise and reward all successful bathroom habits. Even though she is slow, we really no longer have complaints.

Maybe a rescue thing???  Don't know.  Hope things get better.  Just a lot of praise and vigilance on your part.  We would go outside 20-25 times a day so no accidents occurred in the house. 

[Sue Robin F]

Zebe immediately, within seconds pees when I let him outside. He will also pee on command outside.
I used to reward him each time when he went to the bathroom outside with either treats or praise and affection.

Thanks for your info.