Grown Dog Peeing Issues

Question

We have a 3 1/2 year old labradoodle, who we can hand on heart say is the easiest dog to live with; all except one thing, her peeing or more specifically lack off.

At the best of times it takes forever (15 min+) but she refuses to pee unless someone is standing right with her. She will not go at night, it has meant some days she goes 12+ hours without peeing and I’m worried she will make herself unwell.

it seems like she will not go unless she is absolutely desperate because she will then cry in the mornings to go, but still then takes ages to finally pee.

She has regular check ups and there is nothing that the vets can see that would explain her behaviour.

I cannot begin to describe the amount times that she squats and then decides she’s not going to pee. Heaven forbid that there is any kind of noise, and I mean any, because that makes her stop and the she seems to forget why she was out in the garden in the first place.

I have tried using treats to reinforce good peeing habits but this has had no affect whatsoever.

I don’t want to leave her going hours and hours without peeing but I’m also at a loss as to what to do. How can I get my dog to just pee like any other normal dog?

Any help here would be appreciated.

Answer 1

I don't think that there will be a simple solution for this. It sounds like your dog is anxious or nervous enough that she cannot pee unless she calms down for a while.

First of all, try to identify what bothers her. My own dog doesn't like rain and refuses to pee for hours on a rainy day. A dog rain cape helps with that. You say that she stops if she hears any noise. There are small devices that generate white noise or similar diffuse sounds that can mask background noise. Try getting her used to it inside your home and then take the device with you out to the garden.

There are special devices that produce sounds that are supposed to calm dogs down. Some people report that it works, others say it does nothing. If you don't want to buy such a device, you could also play music or "nature sounds" like flowing water on loudspeakers on your phone to mask background noise. Maybe if you always play the same song / sounds, she feels calmer because the sounds become predictable to her.

I also thought about you connecting the act of peeing with a command, but I think that playing the same song / sounds every time works just like that, but probably better because it also masks problematic background noises.