Penis hair is ??? Urinary tract??? Help please

[Lorraine Bromley]

Hi I searched for urinary tract and didn't find what I was actually experiencing. I figured someone would know. The puppy I am sitting has a problem with his penis hair at the tip being clumped together in a sticky type of situation. He has peed on some of his other fur and it seems a bit sticky too. He is over four months and potty trained mostly but is still having accidents. He has had two since being here in the week but both times was at the back door and just didn't have anyway to tell us. He drinks ALOT but they are playing alot. He doesn't hold it all night. He has a lost smaller bladder than Neely but then again Neely must have a gas tank. At times he has a strong urine smell, I notice it when he is on the leash but usually he pees in the yard with out me. I asked the owner about it and he said that if he has held it for awhile or hasn't drank enough it will smell. They crate him all day due to work. He won't use his crate here. And in fact when I missed his cue to pee and I put him in the crate he went without a worry. He seems to have urgency as he runs and barely gets outside. He has no other symptoms and is a happy funny energenic puppy. 

I was also concerned that they are feeding adult food because their trainer has written a book on dog nutrition and says puppy food is a marketing scheme. I wonder if eating the adult food could affect his kidneys.  Could vitamins affect this? I don't know what they are feeding but suspect it isn't a higher quality food.

Please help. I want to tell them if they should really feed their puppy adult food or not. And he is supposed to get spayed when he gets back and I don't want an infection to interfere with his health.

Thanks 

Lorraine

[Kaytlin and Cooper]

Puppy food is generally higher in fat and calories, and the vitamin and mineral (ash) added are different to Adult food too. However, there are lots of All Life Stages food out there, which I assume is different to both Puppy and Adult foods but im not too sure how. Maybe cross post this in the Food Group 

 

As for the peeing - if he is drinking alot and its still smelly then Id say there is SOMETHING wrong..... especially if its sticky too. Burt as to what I dont know. Im sure someone on here will know!

[F, Calla & Luca]

He may have a UTI explaining his urgency. Since he is only a puppy  that may be the whole explanation. Certainly the hair around his penis can be trimmed, carefully, and this may reduce any odor. The urine really shouldn't really be Sticky though, again this may be a UTI.How old is he. There are all stages food, which should be fine but the food group has more info on this.

[Nicky, Riley & Boris]

I think I would give him an underneath wash.  Perhaps the hair is getting wet when he pees and it's just dried in urine.  Male dogs do sometimes have sticky stuff.  If it's really smelly then i'd say it's an infection.   As to the food I can't say as I don't have enough experience on that question.

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

I think the sticky penis hair is common and might just need to be washed. Our Vern is over one and still squats like a girl, so he is not always the neatest when he pees. If the stickiness seems really unusual, rather than just messy, then I would definitely point it out to the owners and let them get him in for a vet check. The food question should be posted in the Food Group. You will get your answer there. Good luck.

[Taylor & Huff]

We fed Huff adult food at maybe 9mos and he was ok. Maybe he isnt eating enough vitamins?

 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

The hair at the tip of the penis does need to be carefully trimmed, and they do need to be cleaned there regularly. Dried urine can build up there and clump the hair together, interfering with good urine flow, and dried urine would definitely smell, lol. A couple of years ago,  JD had sticky dried urine in the hair at the tip of his penis that was actually preventing a good flow, and he was actually developing an infection there. His specialist saw it during an exam; I was embarrassed, I don't normally examine that area, and he is my first male dog. Now we keep the hair trimmed and I check to be sure there's no "residue". You don't want to remove all the hair, it acts as a wick to direct the stream of urine, but it has to be trimmed and kept clean.

I doubt this has much to do with vitamins or puppy food VS ALS foods, although certainly a good-qualityfood helps with most health issues. And unless the trainer has a degree in veterinary nutrition, I wouldn't follow her advice on anything other than training.

 

[Lorraine Bromley]

Thanks for you responses he is just over 4 months old. I did wash him twice in three days. It doesn't smell. Just sticky. I am afraid the trim it too close as I did that with Neely and he went into a total nightmare licking it to death til it was swollen and black and blue!! I did trim Harleys so that about a half inch or so is still on the tip. I also trimmed up his belly area where it gets over spray.

I will post to the food group too thanks.

[Jennifer Tramell]

As others have said, the sticky stuff is probably nothing to worry about and is common in male dogs.  The smell could come from the urine getting on his hair when he goes.  I don't consider a 4 month old as being potty trained.  I think it is very common for accidents to happen until the dog gets a bit older.  It is easy to think that they are potty trained when it is actually the owner who is trained; the owner gets forgetful and the puppy starts having accidents.  I speak from experience as a former forgetful owner :-)  I never consider my dogs fully trained and dependable until they are about a year old.  They get pretty good and "almost" trained but, in my opinion, there is a maturity factor needed.

[Lorraine Bromley]

He is in two totally different environments while being here he is out of the crate at all times only being in when we try to keep him interested in it for their sake. He is sleeping next to my bed everynight. He is playing constantly with our 2YR old. At his house he is crated for hours at a time and doesn't have a doodle to play with. He didn't have the bells when he first came so had accidents. The bells are here now and he hasn't had an accident since. You are so right about the owners being trained. When we had Neely I saw his cues and the kids never did. He was telling us but only the trained owners saw it.

[Jennifer,Chloe & Myla]

Yes, the dried up urine is a sticky problem. Myla has this sometimes because she will not let us groom certain parts of her sometimes so when she gets brushed out after a bath, we try to have the groomer do a sanitary trim.

 

plus, he's in a different environment so he may be confused or not sure?

[Kristen Juarez]

Henderson. has the same problem strong urine smell bright orange/ yellow, Always thirsty. he also still has accidents one or two a day. He.s 5 months. Should they still  having accidents?

[Lorraine Bromley]

I have an update on Harley the puppy with sticky penis hair. While giving him a belly rub I found his penis sticky again. I washed it and when I did it had a greenish thick discharge. I called the emergency vet of Mine to see what could be done. THey suspect UTI as well. I should have listened to my inner voice and taken him in. So I have to take in a sample on Monday to confirm. BUT she also said that discharge in males can be normal as they are reaching sexual maturity and washing with soap and water is the key to keeping that clean, but no way of stopping it. He is scheduled for his neuter when they arrive home at the end of this week. So I want to treat a UTI asap so that doesn't have to be resheduled. He drinks alot but over the last two nights he has had to get up twice in the night to go. I feel so bad that he has to wait until Monday.