health concerns with tess

boyohboyohboy wrote: I have a question about tess, I am almost positive she has a bladder infection. When I took her out this morning, she went and then on the way back to the front door she went about 6 more times although nothing but a drop came out.
It has been really hot here and we have been walking her three times a day to try to decrease come of her hyperness and nipping at the kids, she is already a really large puppy.
and it does seem to help, so I am wondering what we did to contribute to this infection.
I wonder if walking her and the excess heat is dehydrating her? We also have company this week and have had her outside in our garage most of the day, as the people here dont like dogs. She isnt alone, and we keep her water and food right next to her..but does just being out side in the hairy body make her dehydrate?
How do I get her to drink more?
and also I assume when she gets home from the vet today she is going to be on meds, how do I get her to take a pill?
she is on hard food bits, I dont see how we can mix it and she hasnt ever had people food, we were told that was best for her.

other wise she is adjusting well, or we are! she is totally crate trained, and she is walking a little better on the leesh, she knows her name, and we are working on some simple things like sit, and down with treats.

she starts training in one week.

I have been reading a really good book that has helped me not get so upset when the puppy has accidents of what ever sort, and it says to always ask yourself what did I do to contribute to the problem ,because she doesnt know that there is a problem.

CantWait replied: This might sound like a dumb question, but do girl dogs mark their territory?

coasterqueen replied: I thought the peeing thing was a dog thing in general. I might be mistaken. Gavin pees a dozen times on our walks. Well, not always pees, but lifts his leg like he's going to and then doesn't actually pee. Drives me nuts, but I know that's his thing and well...it's his thing I'll have to live with it.

As far as drinking more water....I'm not sure. Sometimes if I think Gavin hasn't been drinking enough I'll splash my hand in his water bowl and then put it up to his nose...then he'll drink, but not always.

If it's very hot where you live, be careful leaving a puppy outside. I know with Gavin being such a big, hairy dog we can't leave him out on hot days - he overheats easily.

As far as them taking a pill......I don't remember the brand, but they have these things called "pill pockets" they are by the same company who makes "greenies" (which are bones shaped like toothbrushes for good dental hygiene). When Gavin had to take antibiotics from his neutering, we just stuck them in hot dogs and gave them to him. I've heard the pill pockets work great, though.

Glad things are going better for you all. Now, can you tell me your secret about not getting upset because I have two cats that sometimes use the litter box for their bodily functions and sometimes not and I'm getting very frusted. I've never had cats that don't use the litter box all the time.

boyohboyohboy replied:
I know that she sniffs where the neighbor dogs go, so I guess she might mark, but I dont see it like I thought a male dog would...

boyohboyohboy replied:
we dont leave tess outside, she hates the sun, she stays in the garage, tethered up so she cant get out in the road, but we sit outside with her and she gets out to go potty and then to play and she walked a quarter mile three times a day,(well she is drug that quarter mile mostly).

I got this book at the pet smart store, and it said that if the puppy does something we dont like, we have to ask ourselves what did we do to that causes it, like is she pees on the floor, then were we not watching her, or was she showing signs and we missed it?
we are doing something also that when she is in the house she is on her leesh and tied to our belt loops so she is with in eye reach all the time, so watch for cues..she has done well,and is also getting more used to her leesh and harness.

we were recommended by someone to use a choke collar on her but I cant bring myself to do it.
she isnt pulling ahead she is sitting down or laying down and wont get up.

cameragirl21 replied: I'm glad you're enjoying Tess more, Stacy, before you know it, she'll be an irreplaceable member of the family.
As to the infecction, don't jump to conclusions just yet. It IS very important that she get enough water, though. But as an animal, she will usually drink as much as needed, so just make sure she always has plenty of fresh, cold water.
If you find out she has an infection and have to pill her, you can take the pill and wrap it up in a small amount of lunch meat and she'll eat it without even knowing she ate it...that is how we pilled our dog. If that is not an option, you would need to put the pill into her mouth, normally just dropping it into the back of her throat and holding her mouth closed till she swallows. She won't like it but it works. I personally prefer the pill wrapped in meat method but I know for some it's a bad option because they won't let their dog have any table scraps.
Hopefully Tess will get a clean bill of health from the vet's today.

boyohboyohboy replied: Thanks Jennifer! I am hoping I am wrong too.
But she hasnt done this type of peeing before.
She went, and then walked a few steps and went again and did it like 6 more times, and nothing came out those last 6 times, and she seemed to be straining.
I also thought that the urine seemed darker yellow not clear but really not able to see thru it, if that makes sense...

I am going to make sure I change her water more, I also didnt give her cold water kinda room temp since it sits out, is that a problem?

I am ok with giving her food to hide the pill as long as the food wont hurt her..the first vet we went to said to not give her table scraps as she would then beg at meals and also get worms..
so we have just stuck faithfully to her diet.
lamb and rice.

she has a large healthy appetite! This dog has at least tripled in size since we got her and I dont think its been a month yet!

I am enjoying her more, I think she prefers my husband to me, I am second best, and am jeolous since I am the one who takes care of her most..
but the kids are doing ok. Jakob is a dog whisperer, literally what he says to her is a secret he says, andrew is to young and has to be watched closely because he is jeolous of her and hurts her. caleb is still scared of her and goes to class with her he will not be so timid. he gets upset when she nips him.

coasterqueen replied: You don't have to give cold water. We don't with Gavin sometimes. If he's out in his kennel during the day it comes from the hose, so that's cold water, but seriously later in the day it really warms up and he drinks it then, too.

I still think even the darker yellow urine is ok, but I'm not a vet. Gavin's pee sometimes is darker than other times. Tess may just be understanding the concept of marking, sniffing/smelling other dogs, etc and just goes through the motions without having to go. Like I said, Gavin does this too, but it may be a male thing, not sure.

We just got back from our training session with Gavin's trainer. It was so nice to see Gavin after not seeing him for a week and he's a lot better on a leash, and we learned a LOT about what we should let him do and not do when walking him.

It's good you are getting her trained soon. I know with Megan being at eye level with the dog (or just above eye level) she gets licked a lot by the dog and the trainer said that's not good because Gavin is at same level and bigger than her so he sees himself dominant over her and that could lead to her getting hurt. So they told us what to do about that, etc. So if Tess is trained before she gets more eye level with the younger kids that will really help, I think. Obviously Tess is going to grow much faster than the kids.

coasterqueen replied: Oh and the table scraps, thing....I've heard both, that it's ok and that it's not. We quickly realized that we should not feed Gavin table scraps anywhere but in his bowl. If you don't put it in their bowl, if you let them lick it off the floor or hand it to them then they tend to hound you at the table/dinner time. If they know it's in their bowl, then they know that's where they have to always get it. Now the trainer today was having us give Gavin hot dogs for treats because he won't eat any other kind of treats, which doesn't help training very well. Otherwise we don't give him table scraps except to feed him medicine, usually. He does get raw meat bones, though, but only always gets them out in his kennel. I think you would be fine giving her table scraps to give the pill, because you wouldn't be doing that all the time, kwim?

cameragirl21 replied: Stacy, you don't need cold water but just like humans, dogs prefer it, especially in the heat of summer. I always add ice to my cats' water dish and they live in an air conditioned home and never go outside and I notice they prefer the water with ice in it.
Very dark urine is a sign of dehydration...if she's not drinking on her own it's possible she may have some infection or whatnot but I wouldn't worry about it till the vet gives you reason to worry. A bladder infection is an easy fix with antibiotics and like I said, wrap them up in some bologna or something and she'll eat it without any qualms.
I think she only nips to play, that's how they play, my cat is now 1 year old and she constantly nips at me to play. Of course you have to teach her not to bite, otherwise she may hurt one of the kids as she gets bigger and stronger.
If she's eating well, she's likely not that sick, a sure sign of a sick animal is refusal to eat.
As for her preferring your dh, it's likely she sees you as the alpha dog so she takes you seriously whereas dh is just another member of her pack so she sees him as an equal and is more comfortable with him. Idk for sure, I'm not there to see it but that is a likely possibility. Are you affectionate with her or do you mostly discipline her? Because if you are not affectionate with her she likely won't be affectionate with you, she is establishing her role in the pack, kwim?

coasterqueen replied:
I personally don't think nips are good, because it's a negative behavior that can get worse. I'm sure your trainer can touch on this. Cats are different, IMO. Our cats nip (we call it play biting) when they want you to pet them, etc.

As far as the dog prefering one to the other.....Gavin much prefers me and that makes Dh a bit sad. He wouldn't admit it, but it's true. We talked to our trainer about this today. Gavin sees me as the nurturing person who lets him get away with a bit more than DH who is stern and not as lovey-dovey with him. The trainer repeatedly told me today I can't be that way with him or he'll revert from some of his training. So I love that he's like that, but I guess I have to be more stern. The cats have noticeably been the same with me as Gavin. They'll come more to me (at least Sox the male cat) to hold them and pet them. Maybe it's a male-female thing? Like maybe Tess likes your Dh better, and maybe if you had a male he'd like you better? Not sure on the psychology on that, I'll have to ask my trainer.

mckayleesmom replied: I also put ice in my dogs water bowls...I figure that if I wouldn't drink it warm, then they probably don't like it either..plus it cools them down.