Tuesday, August 12, 2008

The Dog In The Night

SUMMARY: Boost and her potty habits. Or what.

I am exhausted. Boost has gotten worse about not sleeping through the night. Last time I bemoaned this, someone suggested maybe she had a bladder or other urinary-tract infection, but no, I was sure it was just some sort of training that she had figured out was being trained when in fact it wasn't being trained, it was all a misunderstanding.

So I determinedly walked her out back before bedtime and insisted on a good pee and then we'd go to bed. And it got a little better sometimes, and then finally we had a good solid run of a whole week, 7 days, with no asking to go out after bedtime. Then we backslid for a few days, then we had maybe 5 days with no going out, and then the last couple of weeks it's back to almost every night.

What still doesn't have me convinced that it's a UTI is that she sometimes goes ALL DANG DAY at an agility trial without wanting to pee, so if it were a real problem, wouldn't it affect her all the time? And then the usual pattern is: pee and go to bed, then maybe within an hour, ask to go out again (what, is she holding it back?) then maybe or maybe not in another 1-2 hours ask to go out again but almost never after 1 or 2 in the morning. Then she's fine until whenever I wake up for real, which sometimes these days isn't until 9 because I'm so wiped out from being woken up.

Anyway, OK, now i'm going out of town for 2 nights without the dogs and realizing that I have to explain this to my renter, who's watching the dogs for me. I did not have to explain this back in May when I went to Arizona for a week. So clearly it has gotten worse, not better.

So this morning I went out with her, wearing rubber gloves (me, not Boost), and shoved a little baby-food jar into the appropriate location to gather a sample. Now we have a vet's appointment for tomorrow morning. The receptionist said, oh, no, they'll want to get their own sample. I seem to remember from a past dog, ages ago, where the vet said it's sometimes hard to get their own sample so if I could get one, that would be helpful. But that was then and this is now. And maybe I don't remember that well. So should I dump the sample? Nah, guess I'll hold on to it for a day and let it brew. Or maybe try again tomorrow morning just in case.

Meanwhile, Boost enjoys a little boxing. I spend money on dog toys why?
Posted by Elf at 9:13 AM
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4 comments:

  1. I think the urinalysis is a good idea just in case she has some kind of simmering UTI but a fresh sample (within 4 hours and kept refrigerated) is best.
    If it turns out that they find nothing's wrong then I'd try what Susan Garrett does.

    Her dogs all sleep loose in her bedroom (I guess once the dog is housebroken) and if one of her them gets her up during the night she takes them out and then when she comes back in she puts them in a crate somewhere outside the bedroom. The next night she does the same thing, if neccessary, and continues doing it until the dog gets the message that, Sure, I'll take you out but there is a consequence.

    The only exception she makes is when the dog has serious diarrhea--then she figures he can't help it and shouldn't have to pay the usual consequence.
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  2. Here's hoping Boost is OK, and you get some sleep soon!
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  3. Hoping Boost (and you) are doing better!
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  4. Thanks. Just posted an update.
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