Not urinating when wearing haltie?

[momof2girls3304]

Ok.... just tonight we figured out what (another) one of our problems is. Monday we ended up taking our 2 1/2 yr old GSD (problem dog of poopin in daughters room) to the vet because he hadn't urinated in 48 hours. They put a catheter in and drained him, said he had a urinary infection, and gave us some antibiotics. We took him home and took him out often. At least 5 or 6 times a day. He never would pee. Finally late at night he would. So since monday he has been going once a day very late at night. My husband tonight figured out WHY. all his peeing problems started when we bought him the haltie. now i LOVE this thing. because of his immense strength it's the only thing i can control him with when he sees another dog. He is pretty well trained, heeling and all that, but if he sees another dog nothing can stop him, not even me on the end of the leash. So we got the haltie and i hadn't had a problem since. But my husband figured out it's the haltie that makes him not pee. He got home and took the dog out with the haltie. NOthing. And I had been taking him all day and nothing. He came home and put the leash on the regular collar. Said the dog peed instantly. Then he told me last night he got the dog to pee by taking the haltie off and letting him run free. (tsk tsk i know he already heard about that). So we are 99% certain that his peeing problem is not due to an infection but this haltie. But like I said I can't hold him back when he wants to pull without it. Now we do plan on taking him to a training class in about 2 weeks but i'd like to know that i have full control should he ever decide to pull.
Has anyone ever had a dog not urinate when wearing a haltie and how did you train them to pee wearing it? He doesn't fight me to put it on, and walks great. It's just the peeing.
Sorry to be so wordy.
Thanks!

Anne

[dmc123]

By a haltie, I assume you mean a harness? My dog, Rudy wears a haarness all the time (well, I take it off him at bed time, he loves that). He has to wear one because his head is much smaller than his thick neck with all his hair, and collars will slip right off him.

He has no trouble peeing or anything else. The worst part was the first day I put it on him, he was about a yr old, he just stood....completely still....for over an hour. I got him to move, playing with him and finally he realized he could do actually walk and move After that, no more problems.

Are you sure the "haltie" on your dog is not too tight? Can he move freely? It shouldn't bind him at all. Rudy's is very loose in fact.

One last note, my cat also wore a harness for a time, when she had that bad infection on the back of her neck, I stitched a gauze bandage into the harness until it healed. She got used to it after several hours and never seemed to notice it after that.

Anyway, good luck....maybe you will have to switch back and forth from the halter to the collar in order for your dog to do his business....sorry I am no more help.

~~~Diane

[Writing4Fun]

Diane, I think she means a head halter, not a body harness.

Anne, could it be that he's not peeing with the halti on because he's not getting the chance to have a good sniff around for the "perfect spot"? Or maybe it's just too controlling for him - he doesn't feel free to pee?

Just my opinion. You'll want to get him into obedience class asap and off that halti eventually. A neighbor has a very headstrong Lab, and these folks have no clue how to train her. So they use a halti so that the wife can walk her. Only problem is she's now gotten used to the halti and has figured out how to pull against it. She will still drag her owner down the road when she's really determined to get at something. A halti, like choke and prong collars, is a training tool. Folks should learn how to use it properly, and understand that it should be a temporary measure until the dog is trained. But that's only my opinion.

[Spoiled]

Your dog could just be upset about the halti. You don't need to have a halti on your dog if he/she is upset about it. You might want to try a prong collar, a harness, a sporn harness, or other things of that nature.

If it is causing bladder problems, I would avoid it and use anything else, but not the halti.

[GsdDiamond]

We use a prong collar to walk Diamond when she doesn't listen. Once they're used to the prong collar, change back to a normal collar and carry the prong with you. Mine wouldn't walk with the halti on either. She pretends her legs are broken with anything on her face, whether that be a halti or a muzzle. Until she learned to walk with prong collar, a regular one would give me blisters, she'd pull so hard. She's only 50 pounds now, and I don't want to fight with her when she's 75 or so.

Try the prong. They're a lot more humane than you might think, IF used right.

[momof2girls3304]

yes by haltie i mean a head harness. it doesn't seem to bother him at all. he walks perfectly on it. it's not too tight . he can open his mouth and move around. he just can't pull against the leash. classes start in 2 weeks so i need to do something until then. my husband takes him out with just his regular collar and he'll go fine. i tried him today 3 times with a choker and while i got pulled all over the neighborhood he still wouldn't pee (but i'll bet he'll go for my husband with his buckle collar). he pulls with the prong collar and a sporn collar. that's why i'm so depressed about the haltie cuz it's the only way i can control him. i'm really hoping the training class will help. it's a matter of getting him to not want to pull, because if he wants to there is no stopping him. despite the fact he was supposed to work at the prison (by the guy we got him from) it doesn't seem like they did much with him besides sit and lay down. and we gave him a whole hour one night, so i know he's having enough time to find the perfect "spot" lol.
classes start the 26th i think it is. it's the last saturday of this month. definitely getting him them. thanks everyone i'll keep you updated

Anne

[dmc123]

Thanks, and sorry! I never heard of a haltie Learned something new. Still had fun talking/writing about my critters and their halters

~~Diane

[Spoiled]

Have you tried putting the prong or choke collar really high on his neck, like right behind his ears? Dogs who pull like that are tough. You could also try to pull the other way when he begins to pull.

[momof2girls3304]

Originally Posted by Spoiled

Have you tried putting the prong or choke collar really high on his neck, like right behind his ears? Dogs who pull like that are tough. You could also try to pull the other way when he begins to pull.

not sure if i've been putting it high on his neck or not, but we have used both and he can pull me like there is no tomorrow. he has started obedience class but so far we've only dealt with sitting and looking at us.

Anne