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First, we are new grandparents---of a 4-month old puppy! She's a sweet little girl, weighs about 15 pounds, and judging from the size of her paws I think she has a lot more growing to do!
She became part of our household when our 22-year old daughter moved back in with us, due to a bad situation with her roommates. She was sharing a house with 3 other girls, and things just went sour. I always told her she could come home, and she did. However, she had adopted the puppy a few months before, and had no place to leave her We told her to bring the puppy along, we have a decent sized backyard, and she should fit in nicely.
First, let me explain, I've never had a dog as a pet. I'm a cat person, and don't know too much about dogs. Guess I have a lot to learn! DD works FT, and is taking college courses, and we want to help her on her way. I figure by staying here she can devote more time to school and get off the treadmill she's currently on.
Well, puppy is housebroken, at least I think so she's outside most of the time, anyways. However, at times, she leaves little "piddles" of urine, like maybe 1-3-tsp worth. She doesn't seem to be aware of it, its not like its a deliberate act. I've also noticed her licking at her hind parts frequently. My daughter just scolds her when she licks there, and scolds when she "leaks", but I suspect something is wrong. Could it be a UTI? Or something else young, female pups are prone to?
Its my daughter's dog, and I don't want to take over, but I feel for the animal. Is this normal behavior for a pup at this age? Perhaps I will take her to a vet for a check up, she needs her shots, anyways. I really don't think just scolding her, and sometimes smacking her (which my dd does), isn't going to solve anything. Like my mother used to say "any darned fool can hit. It takes some brains and effort to figure out what's wrong and fix it".
The interesting part is trying to collect their urine lol.
My older rat terrier was leaking for a while, and it can be caused by a lack of estrogen. Changed her diet and it went away. But, I got one of these kits just to eliminate the possibility of an infection. Saved a trip to the vet.
This can happen when they're spayed. I'm assuming your puppy is spayed. It messes with their hormones, which are needed for their sphyncter (sp?) muscles to work properly. I saw a video on YouTube by a vet who discussed this, and said to add flax seed to their food, as it's a natural source of estrogen.
The interesting thing was that I'd recently changed my dog's diet and had stopped feeding her store bought dog food. When I looked at the ingredients for the dog food I used to feed her, it contained flax seed. And I had removed flax seed from her diet when I stopped feeding her that food.
I now feed her a little dog food that has the flax seed in it, and also add it to other homemade food I give her, and the leaking stopped. I had figured she was just getting old, but it was actually a really easy fix.
I hope that's all it is for your puppy. But, this article explains that it's not something the dog can control, so they shouldn't be scolded for it. It will just stress her out, and then she may pee from fear. It's a medical problem that needs to be addressed.
The interesting part is trying to collect their urine lol.
My older rat terrier was leaking for a while, and it can be caused by a lack of estrogen. Changed her diet and it went away. But, I got one of these kits just to eliminate the possibility of an infection. Saved a trip to the vet.
This can happen when they're spayed. I'm assuming your puppy is spayed. It messes with their hormones, which are needed for their sphyncter (sp?) muscles to work properly. I saw a video on YouTube by a vet who discussed this, and said to add flax seed to their food, as it's a natural source of estrogen.
The interesting thing was that I'd recently changed my dog's diet and had stopped feeding her store bought dog food. When I looked at the ingredients for the dog food I used to feed her, it contained flax seed. And I had removed flax seed from her diet when I stopped feeding her that food.
I now feed her a little dog food that has the flax seed in it, and also add it to other homemade food I give her, and the leaking stopped. I had figured she was just getting old, but it was actually a really easy fix.
I hope that's all it is for your puppy. But, this article explains that it's not something the dog can control, so they shouldn't be scolded for it. It will just stress her out, and then she may pee from fear. It's a medical problem that needs to be addressed.
Thanks so much! No, puppy has not been spayed yet. Like I said, she technically is my daughter's dog, and she just moved here about2 weeks ago. DD really can't afford to spay her. I will be glad to pay for it, but our vet prefers they be at least 6 months old (pup is 4 months now).
At least I can get the UTI test kit. I didn't know they make such that you can buy OTC!
So interesting, about the estrogen/flaxseed connection.....I will check into that as well!
Thanks so much! No, puppy has not been spayed yet. Like I said, she technically is my daughter's dog, and she just moved here about2 weeks ago. DD really can't afford to spay her. I will be glad to pay for it, but our vet prefers they be at least 6 months old (pup is 4 months now).
At least I can get the UTI test kit. I didn't know they make such that you can buy OTC!
So interesting, about the estrogen/flaxseed connection.....I will check into that as well!
Agree. Eliminate the UTI possibility. Easy enough. A young puppy can't "hold it" nearly as well as a fully grown adult dog can. She may start leaking if she needs to go out, but hasn't fully made the association between "needing to go" and asking to go outdoors. If you notice a leak, take her outdoors, then praise her for going where she's supposed to. Puppies can also piddle a little when they are excited or fearful. They are not paying attention to everything they should be!
BTW, one trick I used to collect a sample from my dogs was to follow behind the leashed dog with a long-handled soup ladle. Dog squats, put the ladle where it will catch it! Less distracting than trying to get a hand or a cup down there.
While this pup most likely will out grow it going to take forever when she not exposed to being inside or around people. You don't want her PLEASE find a New home for her. Yelling at her will only make it Worse!
While this pup most likely will out grow it going to take forever when she not exposed to being inside or around people. You don't want her PLEASE find a New home for her. Yelling at her will only make it Worse!
And smacking her.
Four months old, outside pup, and no core vaccines yet. Poor puppy.
Yelling at and hitting a puppy for anything is at best unhelpful. The poor thing needs a vet visit to rule out UTIs, plus to be rabies and parvo vaccinated. Has she ever been to a vet? She also needs to be properly raised/trained in a social setting. Anything less than any of this is neglect.
As a lifelong cat person who works with dogs, I love ‘em both like crazy. Just know, OP, that a dog’s needs are much more involved than a cat’s. They need daily emotional and social stimulation that is very different from a cat’s. Unless you just throw them out in the backyard as puppies and ignore them. But that’s a horrible thing to do to a social creature like a puppy.
I'd take the pup to the vet to test for the UTI. If you home test it will be a waste of money if it is positive (since pup would need to go to the vet anyway). It sounds very much like a uti, and the antibiotics will magically stop it. Problem solved
Definitely scolding will take the pup 2 steps back as far as trust goes. LOVE Your mom's saying, I hope you have shared it with your dd.
She must not scold pup for this. Since you are a cat person you understand you are not going to scold a cat who piddles in front of you, you would take it straight to the vet.
Since this is her first pup you guys are lucky that she is already otherwise housebroken, so good job on that daughter.
Since the pup has not been to the vet (at least recently) I would ask your vet to separate the rabies from the parvo/ distemper shot by 3 weeks.
If your vet won't spay before 6 months they are ahead of the groove yay! Spay before 6 months is not in the dogs best interest.
They will fully understand separating the rabies vac (especially for a small pup).
Sounds like a nice little pup. It sounds like a good story alltogether that dd was able to bring the dog along to your house.
Hopefully you can share the follow up, and photos later!
You've gotten good advice on the possible medical issues, I need to weigh in on behavior. I'm sorry that this will sound mean but puppies are babies and need to be treated as such.
Many shelters offer free training classes, your daughter needs them, she is not raising that puppy correctly. If she thinks yelling at and hitting a four month old puppy is ok she is wrong. If she can not make time to take the classes then she should not have a puppy, if she can't afford to get her vaccinations she should not have a puppy, if she can not commit time to walk, groom, love her she should not have a puppy.
If your daughter can't handle a 4-month-old puppy, she's going to be a disaster for the 6-12 month period. How has this dog not had her shots yet? That's insane.
Please convince your daughter to rehome this dog that she is clearly unprepared to and uninterested in raising correctly.
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We told her to bring the puppy along, we have a decent sized backyard, and she should fit in nicely. 
she's outside most of the time, anyways. However, at times, she leaves little "piddles" of urine, like maybe 1-3-tsp worth. She doesn't seem to be aware of it, its not like its a deliberate act. I've also noticed her licking at her hind parts frequently. My daughter just scolds her when she licks there, and scolds when she "leaks", but I suspect something is wrong. Could it be a UTI? Or something else young, female pups are prone to? 
yay! Spay before 6 months is not in the dogs best interest. 
