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Saint Bernards => Saint Bernard General Discussions => : Yaz June 29, 2006, 01:20:41 PM

: Gershwin nine months and STILL can't hold his water - argh!
: Yaz June 29, 2006, 01:20:41 PM
I feel like Charlie Brown with Lucy and the football. Everytime I let my guard down and give the guy more than a stingy amount of water he PEES! Granted the last time this happened was soon after he turned eight months. I swore that no matter how hot the weather got I would not increase his water intake for a month. He turned nine months on Tuesday so I thought I would take another stab at letting him have more water (Gersh's water bowl is kept empty so I can monitor his drinking).

So, today, if I may vent for a bit, Gersh was out at the park with the kids and I and I brought water for him (I allow him to drink more when we are outside). Brought him home and  put about 1 1/2 cups of water in his water bowl on the porch. My mom came by to babysit for a bit so I took Gershwin to the off-leash park for a good 1/2 hr romp. Gave him water while we were at the park. Came home at Noon, he passed out inside the house panting like a demon, so I put TWO CUPS of water in his bowl. He did not touch the water, instead passed out to sleep.

At 3pm I am in the family room when I hear Gersh waking up. I hear him drink the water I had put in his bowl. He whimpered a bit, but before I could finish changing my son's diaper he had peed on the kitchen floor-argh! That was only THREE hours since he was outside and this is a 132 pound nine month old Saint we are talking about!! I have had five month old pups that have done better than him!

I am running out patience. My vet checked him at seven months and found nothing medically wrong with Gersh, and said that if I wanted to do extensive testing, be prepared to pay. I can not justify paying money to find out that nothing medical is wrong with my dog - he is just retarded!

Sorry if I offended anyone with this post, but I need to vent. If anyone can offer any me any hope with this, I would be eternally grateful.
: Re: Gershwin nine months and STILL can't hold his water - argh!
: horsepoor21 June 29, 2006, 01:57:28 PM
I feel for you hon' ! Allie is a year old and while we don't have so many problems peeing in the house , she stills leaves a pile of poop for me if I slack on watching her close enough . I can't even feed her past 3 pm or she will poop all over during the night ! So , while I really don't have any advice for you , just know that I'm in the same (well ,sort of !) boat as you and we'll just have to keep hopeing our dopey dogs will figure things out one day ! ( preferably before we die ! LOL )  ;D
: Re: Gershwin nine months and STILL can't hold his water - argh!
: Gypsy Jazmine June 29, 2006, 02:12:31 PM
Did you ever crate train Gerswin?...Do they make a crate that big even? :-\ I'd go back to the crate or start on crate training...Go back to square one...Keep him with you at ALL times...Litera lly keep his leash attached to you...If he can't be with you...crate him...How much space is he allowed in the house?...Maybe cut back on where he is allowed...Too much space may be overwhelming for him...& lastly, the water thing rang a bell with me...I don't know if it is the same in dogs but if people don't drink enough water the urine becomes too concentrated & causes irritation to the bladder making you feel like you have to pee all the time...Run that by your vet & see what he says...Good luck...I am sure he'll get it eventually.
: Re: Gershwin nine months and STILL can't hold his water - argh!
: dufus June 29, 2006, 02:25:35 PM
I feel your pain !

By 1 year Day-z was more or less dry, before that the same story.

We did nothing different, one day she figured it out.  But it would not surprise me if she did it again.

The big saint babies eh.

Gotta love 'em

: Re: Gershwin nine months and STILL can't hold his water - argh!
: MafiaPrincess June 29, 2006, 04:03:58 PM
I've found a lot of non crate trained dogs have never been taught to hold their bladder more than a few hours.  Hard to work up to it with no way to 'stop' it.. Other than taking the dog outside to prevent it from happening indoors..
: Re: Gershwin nine months and STILL can't hold his water - argh!
: Yaz June 29, 2006, 05:40:28 PM
Gersh has been crated from day one. During the day, when I can't watch him, he is set up on a puppy station (leash tied to fridge in kitchen). It is not a crate thing, it is a slow-witted dog thing I think. If it really is a medical problem I feel bad for berating him, but me thinks it is more of "Oh, I have to pee a lot and I can not hold it a second more"
If I ration his water he is fine, but the minute he has more than 1 cup at a time, and then takes a nap he wakes up exploding. When he was four - seven months he would dribble in his crate as we rushed to get him outside. For some damn reason this dog can not hold his bladder. When he does go outside to pee after being in the house for a few hours he will pee for over a minute (we timed him). Since he is not lifting his leg to pee or marking, he does not pee as frequently when outside, which might be part of his problem.

Glad to know that Daisy was the same and grew out of it!
: Re: Gershwin nine months and STILL can't hold his water - argh!
: Lyn June 30, 2006, 05:11:20 AM
I'm having a similar problem with Lola. Granted she's only 11 weeks old.. but if she drinks more than 3/4 of a cup at a time she will litterally sit and pee on herself. Housetraining was becoming extremely difficult. My vet chalked it up to drinking more than she needs combined with a weak puppy bladder. Hence me measuring and restricting her water which I hate doing. I know if I was thirsty I'd want to drink. :-\
 
Maybe Gersh just has a weak bladder? It sounds like he either can't hold it.. or just doesn't want to. Has he been checked for a bladder infection? It almost sounds like an UTI.
: Re: Gershwin nine months and STILL can't hold his water - argh!
: Yaz June 30, 2006, 03:57:47 PM
Hopefully Lola's bladder will get stronger in time, but she realy does sound a lot like Gershwin at her age. We had him checked for UTI and he does not have one. He is just....challe nged when it comes to drinking more than small amounts of water. At 11 weeks Gersh was the same and I had never seen anything like it. By six months I was frustrated, since our last Saint would drink a ton, but hold it for hours, and by eight months I resigned myself to the fact that Gersh might be well over a year before I can leave water in his water bowl for him to drink at will.
: Re: Gershwin nine months and STILL can't hold his water - argh!
: WI Em July 01, 2006, 10:23:58 AM
How frustrating for all of you!! Weak bladder or not, I have an idea that will keep your floors pee free and your sanity in tact! It takes a bit of patience, but it's EASY AND TOTALLY WORTH IT!!

Get at least 2 bells and mount each one at head height right next to each door that you take Gersh out.

Each hour on the hour, call Gersh to the door and GENTLY nuzzle his nose/head on the bell so it rings PRAISE HIM and then take him outside and tell him to do his business. PRAISE HIM LIKE CRAZY WHEN HE GOES-BUT DON'T DO IT WITH FOOD TREATS.

In the event that Gersh ACCIDENTALLY rings one of the bells (bumps it while sniffing in that area or whatever)take him outside anyway and praise him for ringing his bell. This will reinforce that the bell means time for potty! And in the event that he goes potty -*CELEBRATE WITH HIM!!*

In the event that Gersh has an accident, don't scold, just take him to the bell, nuzzle his nose on it, and take him outside. Not to be redundant, but this also reinforces that the bell and potty equal outside.

I was frustrated with the puppy-potty thing too, but it only took my puppy just about a week to understand that if he rang the bell, he could get outside for potty.

I love that my puppy is bell trained! Since he learned ringing his bell gets him outside to take care of business, WE HAVEN'T HAD ONE ACCIDENT!!!

Give your dog time to learn this, some dogs get it in a week, some take 2 weeks. You must be consistent about nuzzling their head/nose gently on the bell each and every time they go outside for potty.

Try this and you won't be disappointed!

Best Wishes from the Dogue de Bordeaux over here in Wisconsin!
: Re: Gershwin nine months and STILL can't hold his water - argh!
: Yaz July 01, 2006, 11:29:39 AM
Yes, the bells do work well. We actually have bells on our sliding door from the kitchen to the deck (we use the poochie-bells and are quite pleased with them). I am not certain if I am explaining what Gershwins problem is.

The problem is that since Gersh is still a puppy, he must be tied up in a puppy station (leashed in the kitchen) when I can not watch him. Since I am a stay-at-home mom, Gershwin gets out to do his business any time he wants to. The PROBLEM we have with the peeing is when he drinks too much, passes out on the kitchen floor to sleep and then wakes up  - BOOM! if you are not there immediatey when he wakes up, he PEES because he can not hold it very long upon waking. If he drinks a lot (more than two cups) and is awake in the house and not tied up, it is annoying because he will have to go outside two or three times within an hour and a half of drinking, as much as you would take a four month old puppy out to pee.

So, my frustration lies with the fact that he wants to drink  way more water than his bladder can handle - his bladder can not handle a lot of water. I just hope desperately that this is a puppy thing he will grow out of, since with the hot weather, he needs a lot of water. Today for example, I took him to the dog park and he drank his own water and mooched from other dog owners. I put him outside in the backyard when we came home and filled up his three quart water bowl which he promptly drank and is now passed out on the deck. If he was inside I would be a nervous wreck, worrying that I might be upstairs with the kids when he awakens and he would flood the kitchen floor.
: Re: Gershwin nine months and STILL can't hold his water - argh!
: WI Em July 01, 2006, 01:35:26 PM
I'm sorry to hear that you're struggling with him over the bell training too.  :-\

I agree that waking him up and taking him out may help with the "must pee now" upon waking.

I'm sorry to hear that you find the bell bothersome. My puppy is on phenobarbital now and it has the nasty side effect of EXTREME thirst, so Beaumont sometimes rings his bell 4 times an hour. I guess I'm just happy to take him outside a bunch rather than clean up potty from all over the floor. ;D

I know that you're concerned/annoyed with the potty thing, but I wouldn't limit your puppy's water in hot weather because it carries long term health risks (kidneys and liver to name two), not just the immediate dehydration issue.

Sorry I can't be of more help to you. Good luck. :)
: Re: Gershwin nine months and STILL can't hold his water - argh!
: Yaz July 01, 2006, 03:06:08 PM
Hi WI Em,
I do not find the bells bothersome at all. You have to understand that I have a 4 year old, 2 yr old, 17 mth old and am pregnant with number four. The days are chaotic at the best of times - changing diapers, making meals, cleaning messy faces and places, etc, so having to monitor my 9 month old dog as closely as you would monitor a four month old puppy is starting to drain my energy reserve. If I did not have the kids (and a life) I probably would be able to schedule 1/2 hour water and washroom breaks throughout the day, but alas, this is not to be.
I do like the idea of waking him up from his nap - that is brilliant! I guess the expression  "let sleeping dogs lie " will not be heard in our home anymore  ;).