I have had my pup since he was 8mo. He was born in the shelter and neutered at/before 6mo. I have all his medical records from his first owners and there is no mention of a neuter procedure, so I am assuming it was done before they adopted him at approx 5mo?
Since I’ve owned him, he will inconsistently and randomly dribble small amounts of urine. Does anyone have any similar experiences?
Our 3yo sheperd dog has a similar problem. She was spayed around 1 yo after her first heat but she always had this intermittent incontinence. The vet ruled out kidneys, bladder and general health but couldn’t find anything. She is ok for months and then she loses small amounts of pee while she sleeps. We noticed that it happens more when she’s very tired.
Do you worry about it at all?
So in female dogs, spaying early can lead to incontinence. I had a female with this problem. However, I’m not sure if that’s true for a male. Maybe a quick google search to see if there are any studies for male dogs?
There are some other tests you can do to rule out anything else: Urinalysis - is there a low grade infection? Are there stones/crystals in the bladder causing irritation? I would recommend a clean sample be taken by your vet rather than you doing a catch outside during potty time. It’ll save you money in the long run. You could also ultrasound the bladder and whole urinary tract to look for anything suspect. I ended up doing that with my current neutered male as he had chronic UTIs. We found that he did have some abnormalities that were probably contributing factors to his incontinence.
Otherwise it could just be him. If it bothers you enough, then proceed with your vets recommendation and/or further testing. It all depends on how much you want to spend for peace of mind.
We did a urinalysis last year and everything was good. Neutering too young can cause incontinence in male dogs though it’s more common in female dogs!
My rescue was 4 or 5 when I got her last year and had been spayed two months before that. She had a few episodes where she would drip a bit, or there would be a few drops on the floor where she was sitting. After trying one or two other supplements, this has been working for her:
This one has soy, which is thought to help female dogs after spaying. Not sure if it would help a male dog with different hormones. They also make Bladder Strength, which is slightly different and may be more useful for a male dog.
I had a male lab who constantly dribbled in the house his whole life. I had him neutered at 6 months (this was 16 years ago so I didn’t really hear much about later neutering, my in laws had breeding dogs and she was paranoid he would breed them). My vet always said it was because he was a farm dog and just peed when he wanted to, so he would always be messy in the house (I never quite believed that but I never looked further into it - I also have a new vet).
I have heard about incontinence on early spaying and females when I researched on when to spay my current pup. I did wait for her to finish growing and she had one heat when I spayed her (she was 1.5 years old). I really hoped she wouldn’t leak as she can hold it like a camel! Even at 8 weeks old she could hold it through the night and never had an accident in the house. And so far at almost 2 years old, she has been ok and has 0 issues there (so about 6 months after her lap spay). Its been so nice as I’ve had a dirty dog for the past 14 years before her, so this is a nice change. I never got mad at my guy though as he just couldn’t help it.
But its interesting about your guy. It wouldn’t surprise me if its due to early neutering.
No idea if it is the same in male dogs, but ever since my female was spayed at 6 months she has had incontinence. She get Proin twice a day to help. I am not going to say it has stopped it completely, but it has definitely reduced the level of incontinence.
If it’s not a UTI, I too was going to suggest Proin as well. My girl is on a 1/4 tab twice a day and the issue ihss ompletely resolved
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