Hi,
I was wondering if someone could help my boyfriend and I, I've already made an appt with a vet but they haven't confirmed it yet.
We brought our 7 week old pup home yesterday (she was fine all day yesterday) and today I noticed that she squats about 20 times but doesn't actually go. She went a nice amount about 3 times but in between she'll constantly squat and only do a couple of drops. I think she has a urinary infection but I'm wondering what could have caused this, the food, water, or treats. Could it be that she needs more water? I've been giving her water when she eats (3x a day) and I've randomly set water down throughout the day like 2 other times. So she drinks water about 5 times a day, should I be giving her more? I don't know, I'm worried that I'm doing something wrong. Has someone else gone through this?

Kae, while it'll play hob with toilet training, in the hotter areas, a dog needs to have water available 24/7.  Dogs cool themselves (regulate their body temperature) primarily by evaporative cooling off their tongues - which isn't going to work well in your location (and thank you by the way, it really helps to know where people are located, at least in general)   They also cool themselves by radiating heat from their ears and paws and to a degree off their bare bellies.

Regardless of the humidity level, in hotter climes, dogs need more water to help keep themselves cool.

And to answer the question you really posed - yep, lack of sufficient water is a major cause of UTI's - the body doesn't have sufficient fluid to remove the bad stuff.  That said, though, the squat and nothing sounds more like a urinary tract blockage (an extreme UTI).  UTI's can be serious if not looked after and a urinary tract blockage can be fatal - don't wait for them to confirm the appt, take her in.

While this article may seem a bit extreme - it's really very direct (( my old lab had several UTI's, finally got a urine acidifier for her that helped a lot ))

My girl used to do that. I think it's just a puppy thing... they don't know how to control their bladders well yet.

aljones wrote:

Kae, while it'll play hob with toilet training, in the hotter areas, a dog needs to have water available 24/7.  Dogs cool themselves (regulate their body temperature) primarily by evaporative cooling off their tongues - which isn't going to work well in your location (and thank you by the way, it really helps to know where people are located, at least in general)   They also cool themselves by radiating heat from their ears and paws and to a degree off their bare bellies.

Regardless of the humidity level, in hotter climes, dogs need more water to help keep themselves cool.

And to answer the question you really posed - yep, lack of sufficient water is a major cause of UTI's - the body doesn't have sufficient fluid to remove the bad stuff.  That said, though, the squat and nothing sounds more like a urinary tract blockage (an extreme UTI).  UTI's can be serious if not looked after and a urinary tract blockage can be fatal - don't wait for them to confirm the appt, take her in.

While this article may seem a bit extreme - it's really very direct (( my old lab had several UTI's, finally got a urine acidifier for her that helped a lot ))

I appreciate it, at first I thought she was faking it so that I would just take her off the potty pad but we noticed she would lick herself there right after trying to go and the UTI came to mind. Thanks for the advice, I'll definitely take her to the vet today w/ or w/o confirmation.
I'll also be leaving water out for her 24/7, I started doing that last night when I suspected it was a UTI but I took her water away when she went to bed, I guess that is OK?

From the sound of her previous living situation you mentioned in your intro thread I would expect she came to you with this uti and it wasn't specifically caused by you keeping water picked up, but in future once this one is cleared, I'm with Al, leave the water down all the time. It will help her avoid future uti and make her more comfortable all around. Once the uti is cleared potty training could become much easier for you also.

I meant to comment on this later but my tablet is not the thing to try to type a message on - it works, it's an aggravation.

Until you feel like she's house trained, it's safe to take her water up overnight. In fact, I think many of our members do that as a matter of choice. My two normally will let me know when they want out ( if I'm paying attention, that is ) Avalanche is really bad for literally 'getting in my face' when I'm asleep to let me know - dog, your breathe stinks and what's with this hot, stinky nonsense ....... oh, you want out ... let me wake up!!

I agree with Jenn, potty training - well all her training - should become much easier after you get her cleared up.