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My puppy's pee changed

shepherdpuppy
January 7th, 2008, 08:51 AM
Hi,
I noticed that my 12 week old puppy's pee changed recently. He used to pee in small amounts and it was very yellow and now he pees so much at a time and it is almost clear. I know clear pee for humans usually means you are drinking enough liquids, is this the same for dogs?

Also, I'm trying to crate train him and he continues to pee in his crate. I thought dogs didn't like to get their "dens" dirty?

SARAH
January 7th, 2008, 08:55 AM
I would think it means the same for a dog (and a cat too for that matter) but I've never looked into that, I must admit. Maybe someone else knows for sure, one way or the other.

At 3 months he should not want to pee in his crate, but ... how long do you leave him in there for? And do you take him out to pee before you place him in the crate (and make sure he does pee!)?

You really should post a picture though, so we can make sure he's cute and adorable!

breeze
January 7th, 2008, 08:57 AM
how often are you taking the pup out to go pee when he is in the create??
how many accendents are you taking about?? alot a little??

shepherdpuppy
January 7th, 2008, 09:16 AM
Well, I have to leave him in there when I go to work. I come home for lunch, so it is usually about 4 hours at a time. He seems to pee in his crate every time I put him in there.

CearaQC
January 7th, 2008, 09:17 AM
How large is the crate?

breeze
January 7th, 2008, 09:19 AM
Well, I have to leave him in there when I go to work. I come home for lunch, so it is usually about 4 hours at a time. He seems to pee in his crate every time I put him in there.

have you taken him out before you put him in the create??

shepherdpuppy
January 7th, 2008, 09:22 AM
Yes, we take him out before we put him in there. The crate is big enough for him to grow in (he is a german shepherd) but we put the divider to make it smaller. Last night we just made it even smaller because we thought maybe he had too much room. He has enough room to turn around and stand up. I feel bad because it feels like he is in a very small space, but I hear dogs like that. Hopefully that will stop the "accidents".

Does anyone know about the pee change?

breeze
January 7th, 2008, 09:28 AM
I not sure about the pee, have you ask the vet?? a call would usally clear it up for you IMO..
I think as the pup grows the pee might change because they drink more

is there a way you can take him out more often?? or get someone to take him out while you are at work??

I'm trying to remember 12 weeks means 3 months and I think it is every hour for each month so that would mean he would be able to last for about 3 hours...

mona_b
January 7th, 2008, 09:43 AM
I know clear pee for humans usually means you are drinking enough liquids,

Hmmmmmm.The only time I have clear pee is after I have held in the tons of water after an ultrasound:shrug:

How did you introduce him to the crate?

I've never crated any of my dogs.But I have heard that they need to be introduced slowly.

hazelrunpack
January 7th, 2008, 09:44 AM
Is your puppy drinking more than he used to? Increased water uptake will make the urine more dilute--make it clearer. But increased drinking and urination can also signal the onset of diabetes. Another possibility is a urinary tract infection. Your puppy should be checked by a vet. At the very least, you should bring in a clean catch urine sample for the vet to check.

Hope it's just a small puppy bladder sort of thing :fingerscr

bendyfoot
January 7th, 2008, 09:55 AM
When my GSD was 3 months old I was convinced something was wrong with her pee...there was TONS of it, and it was very dilute/clear. Convinced there was something wrong with her kidneys, I collected a urine sample for analysis and asked for a simple blood test to be performed. 90 bucks later we learned she was just fine. Was it worth the 90 bucks? Absolutely. If you don't think what you're seeing is normal, it's worth having it looked at. What was normal for our Jaida may not be normal for your pup.

Kristin7
January 7th, 2008, 10:03 AM
A dog's urine should not be clear and this should definitely be looked into by a vet. I am not sure if things are different with puppies, but my previous dog was peeing in her sleep and also her urine wasn't concentrated. After doing tests, the vet found that my dog had chronic kidney disease. She said my dog was probably born like this, and I had noticed since a pup she drank a lot (i had pointed this out to a couple different vets and they brushed me off, saying all dogs drink a lot). It wasn't until she started peeing in her sleep that they listened to me. If i were you, I'd insist on at least having blood and urine tests done. Hopefully nothing is wrong.

Winston
January 7th, 2008, 10:06 AM
Yes, we take him out before we put him in there. The crate is big enough for him to grow in (he is a german shepherd) but we put the divider to make it smaller. Last night we just made it even smaller because we thought maybe he had too much room. He has enough room to turn around and stand up. I feel bad because it feels like he is in a very small space, but I hear dogs like that. Hopefully that will stop the "accidents".

Does anyone know about the pee change?

Reducing the space he has is perfect..as long as he can stand up and turn around it should fine...This way they dont usually mess in there because they dont like to lie in their mess...Maybe limit his water intake a tiny bit in the morning before work...but it should work well with reducing the space..

Would love to see some pics!

Cindy

shepherdpuppy
January 7th, 2008, 11:19 AM
He has already had a blood test (for other reasons) and everything came out normal. He had it done last Wednesday...the pee thing just started this weekend. I'll ask my vet though.

I have pictures up, can you guys not see them?

breeze
January 7th, 2008, 11:28 AM
where do you have pictures?? in a thread?? or in your profile??

you can start a thread for him or you can put them in this thread..

Kristin7
January 7th, 2008, 12:16 PM
There are a couple pics in the OPs profile. Cute pup! Could be nothing wrong, but if it were me, I'd have the vet take another look. Course, I am ultra-paranoid about kidney problems, after Sydney...

like Breeze, I have also heard that puppies can hold it 1 hr per month of age, so according to that generalization, your pup is not old enough to hold it 4 hrs, since he is only 3 months old.

Longblades
January 7th, 2008, 12:52 PM
The guideline I've always heard is one hour of crate time per month of age, plus one hour. That means a 3 month old puppy can be crated for 4 hours. BUT, that does not necessarily mean puppy can hold on to his urine for that long, and besides, it is only a guideline. Some puppies can handle it and some cannot. Maybe yours is just not ready yet, and 12 weeks (84 days) is really not quite 3 months (minimum 90 days).

Our puppy is 12 weeks today. I endorse crate training but feel uncomfortable leaving him confined in such a small place at his young age for as long as the guidelines say. So our puppy has his crate but it is in a bigger space, our kitchen. He can enter the crate at will for a snooze, and does, but can leave it for the bigger floor area if an accident is imminent. For a week now he has been showing us when he needs to go out so he is getting the toilet training message and accidents are becoming fewer and fewer.

SARAH
January 7th, 2008, 01:29 PM
Bladder size and strenght varies a lot. Our 2½ year old cannot go more than 9 pm to 5:30 am, whereas the 12-year old can go till 8 or 9 am if no one gets up before (or if we're up with the other one but the weather doesn't inspire her to go outside!)

Can a puppy hold for 4 hours at 3 months? Not sure. I used to take my 2-month old out every hour the first week, after that he asked to go and I must admit I never looked at the time between pee-outings. He did go from 10 pm till 6 am though, right from day one (12-week old Hovawart, a little larger then the GSD)

shepherdpuppy
January 7th, 2008, 01:36 PM
I just went home for lunch and Shepherd did not pee in his crate! Maybe it was because we made it smaller. Yay!