[KimAsh]

Good evening fellow Bully Breed lovers. I'm fairly new to Pit Bull Chat and would first like to say thank you for everyone's wonderful posts. As a new AmStaff owner, I've learned a ton. Next I'd like to apologize for the length of this post.

My husband and I adopted a 6 mo (now 7mo) old AmStaff Terrier named Luda, from a local shelter the end of January. To our knowledge, there was no abuse or neglect, she apparently didn't get along with the previous family's cat.
As a puppy she's obviously very hyper and a lot of fun. We've got her in puppy training 1 night a week and doggy day care 2 days a week for socialization. She's excelled in both venues. We are potty training, which SEEMS to be going pretty well too.
To further set the scenario, I will tell you I work from home so am home 7 days a week. Although home, I do crate her several hours everyday to workout, run an errand, host a meeting, etc.

Now the issue. About 90% of the time we have no accidents or issues in the house. The other 10 you ask? Over the last several weeks we've noticed Luda will urinate in front of us for pretty much no reason. Or so we think. And many times, it's been within a 1/2 hour of her going out. This hasn't been a consistent problem either, we went for a week with no issues, now it's started again (Sun & tonight, Mon was fine). We've keep a "diary" and can't seem to make heads of tails of the issue, but we seem to notice the trend as her having issues with us not paying attention to her. For example, she's has several accidents right next to us while we're eating dinner. A couple more as I've left the room to go do something else.

Does that make sense? Would a dog through a temper tantrum that resulted in her urinating in our house? And if this is the problem, what do we do? We love playing and cuddling with our baby, are we paying too much attention to her? Is there a such thing as too much attention? This isn't my first dog, I've never had this problem before and it's getting frustrating.

Appreciate anyone and everyone's thoughts!

[Teal]

When she does pee infront of you like that, what do you do?

I babysat a dog that would do the same thing, and I believe he was doing it for attention... especially when he started doing it when someone new was over and we were all ignoring him. Whenever he'd do it, I'd just grab his collar without making eye contact and put him outside. Then I'd clean up the mess. Then I'd open the door, lead him to his crate, and ignore him for the next 1/2 hour or so. He was about 5 months old. Pretty soon, he learned that peeing in the house meant being IGNORED, and he'd rush outside to pee because THAT is when I'd praise him lavishly.

To a dog, even negative attention/scolding IS attention... and if that's what they want, then they just got it!

First things first, get her medically cleared before you assume it's a behavioral issue, this could be a UTI, stones, spay incontinence, etc.

That being said, if it is a behavioral issue, it may indeed be a sign of SA (separation anxiety), especially since you do work from home. Attention and affection are fine, they just shouldn't be your first priority , excercise and training should be.

Get her to the vet for a urinalysis and culture, then see what comes up.

[Rai_77]

Originally Posted by huskylove First things first, get her medically cleared before you assume it's a behavioral issue, this could be a UTI, stones, spay incontinence, etc. That being said, if it is a behavioral issue, it may indeed be a sign of SA (separation anxiety), especially since you do work from home. Attention and affection are fine, they just shouldn't be your first priority , excercise and training should be. Get her to the vet for a urinalysis and culture, then see what comes up.

Good advice. This started happening with my cat (yeah, I know, not a dog, but still!) and I took him to the vet and found out he had giardia. I guess it was his way of letting me know something wasn't quite right!

[Michele]

Originally Posted by huskylove First things first, get her medically cleared before you assume it's a behavioral issue, this could be a UTI, stones, spay incontinence, etc. That being said, if it is a behavioral issue, it may indeed be a sign of SA (separation anxiety), especially since you do work from home. Attention and affection are fine, they just shouldn't be your first priority , excercise and training should be. Get her to the vet for a urinalysis and culture, then see what comes up.

Good advise.

Teal: my JC has squated right in front of me and peed. All for attention.

[KimAsh]

Thank you all for your suggestions and comments. We thought about a UTI but dismissed it because we can go to a week without and issues. Do you have any suggestions on good ways to get a good sample - she's so low to the ground!?!?

[Miho]

KimAsh,

I think the best thing to do is get her midstream. She might look at you like "What in the world are you doing" but chances are so won't stop going once she starts. Maybe your vet could get you something to help?

We thought about a UTI but dismissed it because we can go to a week without and issues.

But the bacterial levels in the urinary tract can and do rise and fall, thus making the symptoms come and go . Is she spayed?


Get the first morning urine for a sample, it'll be the most concentrated. As for catching it, you can go about this two different ways, a small shallow disposable baking sheet, or my personal favorite, a clean Chuck It .

[KimAsh]

Thank you again for all the advice, but a Chuck it?!?!? You just put a smile on my face. She is spayed. And I have made an appointment for tomorrow, wish me luck collecting!

KA

[Rai_77]

Originally Posted by KimAsh Thank you again for all the advice, but a Chuck it?!?!? You just put a smile on my face. She is spayed. And I have made an appointment for tomorrow, wish me luck collecting! KA

And if you can't collect on your own, there is always a catheter.

[KimAsh]

Back from the Vet and Luda got a clean bill of health. Vet has suggested seeing a behaviorist and suggested a couple people. Anyone have any words of wisdom on this one? Should we find someone who specializes in bully breeds?

KA

[littledozer24]

You should most definitely find someone who has a great deal of knowledge about bully breeds.

Originally Posted by KimAsh Anyone have any words of wisdom on this one? Should we find someone who specializes in bully breeds? KA

Not necessarily, this is not a breed specific problem, but finding someone who is comfortable working with an Am Staff couldn't hurt.

After rereading your first post, I might be inclined to think this is a separation anxiety issue, but armchair quarterbacking this without seeing the dog firsthand is like telling someone how to remove an organ with a butterknife over the phone, lol , but if your vet gave you some recommendations, I'd check them out thoroughly. Ask them for references from former clients and what kind of professional experience and or affiliations they have (although I know some excellent trainers/behaviorists who don't have any professional affiliations at all, but their work speaks for itself!)
And check your PM's, I might be able to help you out finding someone .

[gooddog]

Allot depends on what you are doing when this happens, and what you do after. I would not recommend you grabbing the dog by the collar and looking it in the eyes. When this is done you are challenging this dog. Are you prepared to fight with this dog? What you need to do is when yo come home walk in ignore him for 10 minuets. then give him the attention when yo decide to not when he wants it. when he does urinate on the floor clap your hand or make a negative sound allot of times this will stop the dog. take him out and praise him after he does it outside. Do not give this dog attention(petting or speaking in high pitch voice) if he does urinate in front of you. dogs learn to do things to get a response.
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