# Infrequent urination?



## monkeygirl (May 18, 2008)

Hi. We recently adopted a beagle mix from a shelter. Ollie is about 2 years old and has been doing great, however, he only pees once or twice a day. We walk him constantly and he doesn't even try to mark any of the trees, etc. that we pass. Today, he peed once, first thing this morning. It is now 9:30 in the evening and despite our frequent trips outside, he has not done anything -- he doesn't even show any interest in taking care of his business.

My questions are: does anyone know of any reason why Ollie might not be urinating regulary? How long can he hold it? At what point do I contact the vet (I'm ready to call now, but realize that might be jumping the gun)? 

Any advice, etc. would be very much appreciated. Thanks in advance!


----------



## Willowy (Dec 10, 2007)

Some dogs are really good at holding it. He might have been trained to go only once or twice a day at his former home. How is his water intake? Does he seem to drink normally, or does he hold back? If he doesn't drink much, maybe adding some water to his dry food would help. Can you tell what color his urine is? If it's really dark, then he's dehydrated, and I would take him to the vet for some bloodwork, but if it's almost clear, then he's hydrated enough. Some dogs are just like that....my mom's friend has a dog that will only pee a couple times a day. And she does drink normally, I don't know how she holds it for so long.

Have you taken him to a vet since you adopted him? If not, a check-up would be a good idea.


----------



## monkeygirl (May 18, 2008)

Thanks for the quick response. Ollie is not drinking really regularly -- some days he won't drink anything; other days he will drink an entire bowl of water. I can't really tell what color his urine is. He's a pretty stubby little guy and usually stands right on top of the tree he is peeing on -- not much opportunity to see the urine color, despite my best efforts. 

We did take him to the vet the day after we brought him home and he received a clean bill of health, but at that time we had not had enough time with him to determine whether or not he had any regular habits. A call to the vet might be in order on Monday morning if tomorrow goes the same as today.


----------



## Willowy (Dec 10, 2007)

Yeah, that would be best, I think. I would ask for a blood test to check his kidneys. If he's not drinking regularly, he might have decreased kidney function. Try adding water to his kibble for now and see if that makes any difference.


----------



## PeppersPop (Apr 13, 2008)

How long have you had Ollie? Is the lack of water reduced water/urination normal for him? If you have not had him for long, you might want to give the shelter a call and ask.

I wonder if perhaps this is a behavioral rather than medical thing. The shelter I got Pepper from expected the dogs to go to the bathroom in their pens and I think only took them out once a day to get exercise/play. If Ollie was in a similar situation, its possible he started drinking less so that he didn't have to urinate in his pen. If this is the case, it might be helpful to take Ollie out to the bathroom at set times each day, whether or not he needs to go, so that he knows he will have more than once chance to go.

Pepper must have been punished a lot for going to the bathroom in the house, because whenever he had an accident in the house (from diarrhea), he would be fine, playing and acting normal, until he noticed me cleaning it up. I never got upset about it or even said anything about it, just cleaned it up and pretended it never happened, but he would still run off to hide under the bed or couch and absolutely refused to come out, even when I tried to lure him out with toys and treats. So bathroom stuff can have a big impact on dogs and even when they are in a different situation, those behaviors can stick around. 

If you want to check out his urine, get some paper towels or a wee-wee pad (I prefer the wee-wee pad) and take him out to the bathroom. After he's done urinating, put the paper towels or wee-wee pad down in the spot he just went in and step on them. This will absorb some of the urine and will give you some idea of the color. 

Ways to check how hydrated he is.... lift up his cheek/lip and touch his gums. If they are dry or sticky, he may be dehydrated. You can also pull the skip up on the back of his neck... it should go back to normal quickly. If it doesn't, he may be dehydrated. Sunken, dry eyes are also a sign of dehydration.

My dog has been dealing with chronic diarrhea for some time and I worry about him being dehydrated and have two suggestions to increase fluid intake...

1. Add water to his food... Pepper is on a bland diet of chicken and rice and sometimes he gets chicken and rice soup rather than just chicken and rice. 

2. Make him some popsicles... I make them in an ice cube tray and also in those little plastic popsicle molds. I give him plain water popsicles as well as very watered down broth/boullion ones. Pepper prefers that I hold the ice cube so that he can lick it, but you can also just stick it in his dish. 

As far as calling the vet goes, I would definitely call him on Monday. If this isn't a change for Ollie and he is acting normally/healthy, then it's probably not a big deal... but it's always better to check it out.

Good luck... please let us know how he's doing.

Sid

PS. One last thought... what kind of food is he eating? Wet food has a lot of water in it already so he won't need as much as if he were eating dry food.





monkeygirl said:


> Thanks for the quick response. Ollie is not drinking really regularly -- some days he won't drink anything; other days he will drink an entire bowl of water. I can't really tell what color his urine is. He's a pretty stubby little guy and usually stands right on top of the tree he is peeing on -- not much opportunity to see the urine color, despite my best efforts.
> 
> We did take him to the vet the day after we brought him home and he received a clean bill of health, but at that time we had not had enough time with him to determine whether or not he had any regular habits. A call to the vet might be in order on Monday morning if tomorrow goes the same as today.


----------



## Mattiesmom (Jan 4, 2009)

Hi!
Gosh, what a relief to know that that I am not the only one with this same problem! We adopted a rescue dog about 6 weeks ago and are finding that she will go hours (12-14, even longer) without peeing, even though we take her outside frequently to do so. She enjoys the game of fetch, and, during the game she will almost always stop to poop and or pee, but not while we take her out on the leash. We both work during the day and she spends that time in her crate, but when we come home, we take her out on the leash....and...nothing. She has had a few accidents in the house within minutes of having her outside for long periods when she had time to pee. We are getting very frustrated, and have tried and are still trying everything we can think of: taking her out frequently when we're home after work and on the weekends, taking her to the same spot where she did her business before, even taking her urine and marking areas where we would like her to go, lavish praise when she does pee on leash, etc. 
I noticed it's been several months since your post.....how is your dog now? Has he overcome this? 
Almost everyone I talk to about this problem, including vets and dog trainers, say the same thing; first, that they are puzzled and second, that it's probably psychological, and third, to keep working with it. Just wondering how things are going for you and your dog now?


----------



## spotted nikes (Feb 7, 2008)

If there is another dog you can walk him with, a lot of times when that dog pees, the other will pee over the spot. Doing that for a few days may break him of the "holding it" habit, if that's what it is.


----------



## Mattiesmom (Jan 4, 2009)

Thanks for your response! I could see if I can enlist the help of one of my friends and try this, although, the only other problem that she has is some leash aggression, so I don't know how walking with another dog would work.. She is OK with other dogs off the leash (in dog park, etc) so maybe if we introduced them before walking, we might be able to try that.


----------



## fayelindasue (May 16, 2011)

We just adopted an Australian Herding dog. We don't know much of her background except she is a year and a half old and has had 4 homes. (Ours being the fourth). Story short and simple is son dropped the dog off at the mother's house. The mother couldn't take care of her because she is disabled so she gave her to her daughter who already had 2 other dogs. We suspect she may have been abused by the son, originally. She is very submissive. We then adopted her. We think she is afraid of being abandoned again and that is why she is like glue to us and submissive to an extreme. Our problem is that the dog, Tanya, only pees once per day. We have taken her for walks during the day and she does not pee. Should we be concerned about her peeing once per day? Yes, she drinks enough fluids. The peeing concerns us though.


----------



## Patt (Feb 12, 2008)

Thank you for adopting Tanya and congratulations to all!!
Once a day for urinating seems a little long for me. I would have your vet give her a complete exam including bloodwork to be sure she's in good health, and go from there. Poor little thing being tossed around 4 times, and possibly being abused. I would work with a "positive reinforcement" trainer to help her get over her submissive, and shyness so she can enjoy her new life. Please be patient and be sure to continue the walks.


----------



## fayelindasue (May 16, 2011)

Her walks will continue as she enjoys them very much. She is gradually becoming adjusted but still sticks to me like glue. I'm sure, in time, she will feel comfortable in the knowledge that this is her new home and she can trust us. Friday she is going in to be spayed. The vet, at that time, will do a complete checkup on her including blood work. Thank you for your response and I will keep you posted on her progress. She still continues to pee once a day and the vet is also aware of this. Hopefully he will find her in tiptop shape.
Picture of Tanya and my husband, Roland, located at:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/fayelindaquimby.mcgovern


----------

