dog wellness – Pet Butler

The Ultimate Guide to Keeping Your Senior Dog Active and Healthy

Dog Activities

The Key to Aging Well

We often wonder what we can do to help our aging furry friends stay healthy and happy. The keys to aging well for senior pets are no secret: a good diet, exercise, and mental stimulation, including social interaction, all play a crucial role in their well-being. The age at which dogs enter their golden years is influenced by factors like breed, size, and environment. Although most pets are considered seniors at around seven years old, the age range can vary from 5-10 years. Smaller breeds and mixes tend to live longer than larger dogs. So, how can we improve the quality of life for our senior pets through exercise and enrichment?

Health Conditions Affecting Exercise

Before starting any new exercise program with your senior dog, it’s essential to have a veterinary assessment including bloodwork, thyroid screening, urinalysis, and fecal testing, to ensure they receive the best diet and exercise recommendations. Your vet can also suggest charts to monitor your dog’s body condition, muscle mass, and pain scale at home. Changes in these scores may indicate a need to adjust your dog’s exercise routine. Keep an eye out for weight gain, loss of muscle mass, limping, soreness, joint sensitivity, fatigue, licking of joints, or slow movement, as these can indicate pain and soreness. As pets age, they may develop health conditions that affect their ability to exercise. These conditions include anemia, collapsing trachea, laryngeal paralysis, and osteoarthritis. These conditions can make it difficult for your pet to get the oxygen needed for exercise, cause joint pain, and reduce stamina.

Tips for Safe and Effective Exercise

Once your veterinarian has given the green light to a new exercise routine, it’s important to gradually increase the intensity and duration and make sure to take plenty of water and rest breaks. To ensure your senior dog can safely participate in physical activities, consider using ramps instead of stairs, providing soft bedding, and walking or running on grassy surfaces. Since older pets are at a higher risk of injury and may be less adaptable, it’s best to avoid abrupt movements, tug-of-war games if they have oral pain, or exercising in extreme temperatures. Additionally, warming up with a light walk or jog and cooling down for 5-10 minutes can be helpful. Muscle massage and passive range of motion exercises can keep your senior dog limber and reduce lactic acid buildup, which can speed up recovery time.

Adapting Canine Sports

With proper conditioning, your senior dog can still participate in exercises and sports they’ve always enjoyed, including walking, running, hiking, and swimming. Swimming, in particular, is a great low-impact exercise option. However, seasonal activities may require extra pre-season training to re-establish muscle strength and stamina, so allow 6-8 weeks for conditioning. A sports and rehab vet can recommend specific exercises tailored to your pet’s needs, like balance board work or underwater treadmill therapy. Many canine sports have senior dog offerings modified for their abilities, such as shorter distances in lure coursing or lower jump heights and broader spacing in agility competitions. Your older dog’s other senses, such as smell and sight, maybe just as acute as a younger dog, making field and hunting trials, scent work, obedience, or trick classes great activities for you to enjoy together.

Maintaining Ideal Weight and Muscle Mass

It becomes harder for dogs to gain muscle mass as they age. If your senior dog is already healthy, your goal should be to maintain their muscle mass to reduce joint pain and improve their mobility and quality of life. To achieve this, you can adjust their diet by increasing their protein intake, reducing fat, and cutting down on calories. Dog food that contains omega-3 fatty acids can help reduce inflammation, and dog food with glucosamine and chondroitin can help prevent arthritis in large-breed dogs.

Mental Enrichment

In addition to physical exercise, mental stimulation is equally crucial in enhancing the quality of life of your senior dog. You can explore various activities to provide new and exciting experiences to your furry friend. For instance, you can visit pet-friendly establishments or join a therapy dog group after certification. Occasionally visiting assisted living communities can also be a great idea. You can also try food puzzles or introduce toys with different textures to keep your senior dog engaged. Taking your dog on a new walking path and allowing them to sniff and explore at their pace is also a great way to stimulate their mind. Additionally, getting a new pet can rejuvenate your older dog’s mental state and reignite their enthusiasm for life. As your dog grows older, keep finding creative ways to strengthen your bond and enrich their life.

At Pet Butler, we want you and your pet to live your best and healthiest lives, which is why we offer pet waste removal and other services year-round. We offer weekly, bi-weekly, monthly and one-time clean-up services to work with your schedule and needs.

Unleash Your Dog’s Energy: Activities for Active Dogs

Dog Activities

Like balanced nutrition, exercising your pet is critical for maintaining health and strengthening the human-animal bond. A few laps around your backyard or a 20-minute stroll is not enough exercise and stimulation for a healthy, active dog. There are many ways to increase aerobic activity with so many dog-friendly parks, beaches, doggie daycares, and indoor and outdoor training facilities.

Activities for Small Breeds

As smaller breeds have a greater tendency towards obesity, regular physical activity is vital to managing weight and overall health. Smaller breeds can find the room they need to stretch just about anywhere. Indoor activities such as playing fetch with a toy, chasing, hide and seek, going up and down a flight of stairs for treats, or a DIY agility course made up of broomsticks and nylon tunnels can be fun to challenge your dog. Short bursts or intervals of higher-intensity exercise can be what your dog needs to stay engaged and fit.

Considerations for small breeds:

• Toy breeds also have a propensity for tracheal collapse, so stop any activity that causes an increase in coughing or respiratory distress.

• Pugs, bulldogs, Pekingese, and Frenchies have cute button noses, but their narrow nostrils can make for restricted airflow and be dangerous if they overheat. It’s best to stay in cool, temperature-controlled areas.

• Not racetrack material, our brachycephalic dogs and couch potatoes like the basset hound can be sufficiently exercised with a few laps around the block and time to sniff several times a day. Low-impact exercises and obedience work where they practice sitting, staying, and recalling. Scent work can provide lots of physical and mental enrichment without overexertion.

Activities for Large Breeds

It’s best to choose activities that you will enjoy doing together. After all, an exercise program isn’t successful if it isn’t sustainable. Larger dogs generally enjoy more expansive spaces to roam. Choose activities that sound like fun to you.

Considerations for large breeds:

• Dog parks provide an excellent place to socialize your friendly pet and get in a few rounds of fetch.

• Short, high-speed runs are effective for sighthounds. A spacious park setting or fenced-in field can be a great opportunity to let them do what they were born to do!

• Energetic, enthusiastic dogs also thrive in canine sports such as flyball, lure coursing, or agility, and classes abound.

• In colder climates, winter activities like dog sledding, chasing snowballs, skijoring, or building a snow maze can be fun if your dog’s feet are protected and their body temperature is maintained.

• Hunting, herding, and working dogs such as the Australian shepherd, husky, or Belgian Malinois need mental stimulation and a “job” to avoid boredom; they can be active for as much or more than 2 hours a day and not be fatigued.

• Do you enjoy hiking? Your active dog may love to explore new trails and preserves.

• If you enjoy swimming and the weather is right, dock diving and backyard fetch in the pool are great ways to stay in shape.

• Jogging with your dog is another activity you can experience together. Ensure the pavement is cool and water stations are available for you and your dog. Building up the duration and intensity of your runs will keep exercising with your companion fun and safe.

• If you must stay indoors with your active pet, try puzzle games, have a doggie playdate, or look for an indoor doggie daycare to meet their daily exercise quota.

Ask an Expert

Before establishing a new exercise routine or shaking up some old activities, make an appointment with your dog’s veterinarian to assess their health and some parameters to help guide which activities might be best suited for your pet. Age, breed, and pre-existing conditions can affect their stamina, acceptable joint impact, ideal temperature and weather conditions for exercising, and the sport they might enjoy.

View our Pet Wellness Videos for more expert pet advice.

Back to School: 5 Ways to Relieve Your Dog’s Boredom

Dog Activities

The worst day of the year for kids is often the very best day for parents—the first day back to school. Adults veritably kick up their heels with glee at the prospect of having a quiet, clean house and time to themselves. Until they discover Fido has chewed a hole in the rug while they attended a yoga class.

So, why aren’t our pets as enthusiastic as we are to see their sweet little companions board the school bus?

They are bored.

After a summer filled with constant stimulation from trips to the lake, endless games of fetch or just watching the neighborhood children buzz around the block, they miss the companionship and activity.

High-energy dogs benefit from creative enrichment; it improves their quality of life, strengthens the human-animal bond and prevents unwanted behaviors. To avoid any mishaps from your family’s best friend, try these 5 tricks to keep the stimulation going throughout the school year.

1. Ignore unwanted behaviors and reward good ones

Be very careful not to reinforce bad manners. While your enthusiastic dog may want to jump, nudge, bark and whine for extra attention, ignore those behaviors and cultivate good ones. Give them the attention they want only when they are behaving properly. Offering a calm pet or a treat when they are on their bed or relaxed in a crate reinforces desirable behavior.

For dogs that need to learn basic skills such as sitting, staying, “down” and “settle”, enroll in an obedience class to acquire a solid foundation of commands that you can build on. A group social setting can be enriching for dogs and is an investment in quality time spent together. Practicing commands several times a day in short bursts is perfect for younger pets or those with short attention spans. If an in-person class isn’t for you, there’s an abundance of online training courses you can reference.

2. Turn meals into play

Feeding time is another opportunity to turn on your pet’s brain and use that extra energy! Treat or kibble-dispensing toys require your dog to work on how to get the trapped food out of the device and into their mouths. Rolling toys, such as Kongs or Busy Buddies, those with flaps or snuffle mats are options to hide kibble out of sight to test your dog’s mental and olfactory skills. Expending mental energy, whether it be using a food puzzle or in a scent work class where dogs must sniff out a certain scent cue and alert their owner, is the good kind of exhausting!

For home-based training, Amazon sells a starter scent work kit (Leerburg Nosework Training Scent Kit) containing United Kennel Club-approved target odors and containers. You can also find The Nose Work Handler: Foundation to Finesse online.

Remember—a tired pet means a happy pet and happy owner.

3. Enlist in recreational activities

Other activities that are breed- or dog-class-specific can be found. These include dock diving for retrievers and other water-loving dogs, agility and flyball for the highly intelligent and nimble border collie and field trials which require dogs to compete in four components based on hunting breed characteristics. The components are pointing, flushing, retrieving, and scent trailing.

Through these elite activities, the dogs are not only harnessing instinct and brainpower but also performing physical exercise, which releases calming chemicals and promotes better rest.

4. Opt for simple outings for older dogs

For older pets, a simple nature walk or a car ride to the local coffee shop (for a pup cup, of course!) can be all the stimulation they need. By varying the route or activity, you are providing them with enrichment and preventing boredom.

Keep in mind that not all dogs enjoy the car and some may get anxious in loud, unfamiliar settings. Watch for signs like avoiding eye contact, tucking the tail, shaking, yawning or lip licking to indicate they are uncomfortable with an activity.

For social pets, arranging a doggie playdate with a friend or visiting a dog park can be a fun way to interact with others and get the zoomies out. A game of fetch, hide and seek for kibble (or hide the human so the dog needs to find you) can be fun at any age.

5. Leverage a helping hand

If your dog’s energy level knows no limits, you may consider hiring a dog walker or researching local doggie daycares. Having a mid-day pet sitter or one who can come intermittently throughout the week, can prevent your pet from getting stir crazy. Reputable doggie daycares will check vaccination history and temperament of their charges to ensure compatible pets play together. Hiring a helping hand can provide the missing companionship your pet requires.

The extra effort you put in to meet your pet’s mental and physical needs means more downtime for both you and your furry friend.

At Pet Butler, we strive to help you create a schedule that allows you to spend quality time with your pet. While you’re out for a walk, playing a game of fetch or snuggling on the couch, let us take care of the dirty work, like cleaning up your pet’s waste. In the meantime, learn more about the services we provide, like pet sitting and dog walking!

What Are Places That Serve Dog-Friendly Food?

Pet Safety

Pet owners hate leaving their pets at home. It’s a thing. Our dogs are lonely without us and love to get social in new places. (And, pet owners have less guilt about heading out for fun adventures when their furry best friend is tagging along.) Eating out with your dog can be fun. Fun, if you go to the right place, that is! Pet Butler, the company that takes care of your dirty work for you, has a list of tips to help you find dog-friendly places to dine with your pet. When you’re in need of a helpful and trustworthy pet waste removal service, look no further than Pet Butler – we’ll clean up your dog’s mess so you have more time for petting.

Your Guide to Eating Out With Your Dog

Check the menu ahead of time. If you plan to order food off the restaurant’s menu for your dog, be sure to check ahead to make sure that the establishment has items that your pet can eat. This will save time and avoid confusion as well as keep you and your pet happy!

Bring your own food. The best way to eat out with your pet is to bring his or her favorite food with you. Usually, a pet-friendly restaurant will be happy to provide a bowl of water for your furry best friend. Bringing the food your pet is used to is the best way to make the dining out experience best for you, your pet, and the restaurant.

Choose a good time for your pet. Like most things in like, timing is everything. Bringing your pet out at times when he or she hasn’t had a walk or active playtime could lead to a negative dining experience. Take your dog for a long walk and let her or him burn off that excess energy right before you leave. And, depending on your pet’s nature, you might want to time it so that your pet arrives at the restaurant hungry and eats at the same time as you – that way he or she is occupied while you eat.

Share the responsibility. You might call this bringing in reinforcements. Whatever you call it, it’s a great idea to prep your dinner partner that you might need some help with the pet during your dining out experience. The other diner can take the pet for a walk if he or she can’t sit still so you can finish eating and vice versa.

Bring a treat. Most dogs have a thing that motivates them – a favorite toy, a rawhide, or a dog biscuit. Whatever they love, bring that along to keep your dog busy while you enjoy your meal.

Be patient. Dogs have a mind of their own. Sometimes your dining out experience may seem amazing and perfect. Other times they may be antsy, anxious or boisterous. All of this is normal, but it can leave the pet owner frazzled and discouraged. With a patient mindset, dining out with your pet can be a great opportunity to bond with your pet even more deeply. The key is to be patient and keep exposing your pet to new situations so he or she gets more comfortable in those settings.

Pet Butler is here to make your pet ownership easier. We take care of the dirty work for you so you can focus on the love and care of your pet. Here’s how Pet Butler services work:

Our professional and reliable team comes on a regular schedule to clean up your pets’ waste in the yard.
You, well you can just kick back and cuddle with your pet with fewer things on your to-do list.
It’s that simple! So much so that you might find yourself asking, “Why didn’t I do this sooner?”

Be sure to ask about our additional services like pet sitting, dog walking, commercial scooping services, pet shuttle services, yard odor eliminator services, deck and patio spray, flea and tick treatments and much more!

Contact Pet Butler today to get started.

What Is The Right Shampoo For Your Pet?

Pet Safety

Oftentimes, it’s difficult for dog owners to know which products are best for their furry friends. This problem is particularly true when it comes to grooming and maintenance essentials. Ads for new shampoos, conditioners, and suggestions about how to take care of our pets are found with every click of the mouse. Luckily, by highlighting current cleaning options and reviewing common grooming pitfalls, we can make better, healthier decisions on behalf of our pooches.

To start, we are asking frequent pet parent questions. “What are the best dog shampoos on the market, and what makes them so beneficial?” These questions are a little tricky because there are a lot of great dog shampoos. So, it comes down to each dog and owners’ preferences as well as consideration of your pet’s skin health. Some owners might want to spend big bucks on luxury options with custom scents, whereas other owners are only looking for a simple but effective cleaning option. Regardless, there are a few basic rules to follow when choosing a dog shampoo.

Choose a product that works best with your pet’s skin condition. There are plenty of categories to pick from. Shampoos can be oatmeal-based, degreasing, dandruff reducing, hypoallergenic, organically produced, and age-specific (i.e. for puppies). Expensive shampoos can even have enhanced aromatics or odorless smells. If you don’t know how to assess your pet’s skin, have a talk with a professional groomer and your veterinarian. Certain pets may benefit from prescription-only shampoos to treat conditions such as bacterial infection (pyoderma), flea allergy dermatitis, or an overgrowth of yeast.
Beware of paraben and dye. Any shampoos with these contents are unsafe for your pet – they frequently cause skin inflammation and hair loss. Not only should you avoid these ingredients but stick with a pet-specific shampoo. Though this is your fur “baby” you are shopping for, you don’t share the same skin pH; human shampoos can be drying and cause irritation.
Match the shampoo to the appropriate conditioner. It’s very important to use not only the right product but the right amount of product during bath time. If a shampoo is a 2-in-1, for example, using additional substances can result in a greasy and uncomfortable coat. In general, if your pet has a greasy coat, use little or no conditioner. Conversely, for dogs with dry coats, pair shampoo with a crème rinse conditioner.

Over-the-counter products commonly recommended by

Veterinarians and groomers

Earthbath’s Natural Pet Shampoo: For dogs with normal coats and no dermatologic issues – no knots, not greasy or dry, no fleas/ticks- consider choosing Earthbath’s Natural Pet Shampoo. Gentle on canine skin, packed with vitamins, and made with moisturizing oatmeal and aloe vera, this shampoo helps counter common issues such as dryness, flaky skin, and removes environmental allergens from the haircoat. Fresh ‘n Clean Scented Dog Shampoo is a great choice for dogs that have problems with mats and tangles.
Fresh ‘n Clean Scented Dog Shampoo: Mats are a very common and frustrating grooming problem. When bathing, water causes the mats to tighten and brings them closer to a dog’s skin. The result is a very uncomfortable, potentially dangerous coat. Fresh ‘n Clean Scented Dog Shampoo contains anti-static agents that stop matting and it also has a long-lasting, popular scent – a scent that can be refreshed by the wipe of a damp towel. As a bonus, it is also the cheapest of all these shampoos!
Furminator deShedding Ultra Premium Shampoo: Works well for owners who struggle with heavy shedding. Infused with omega-3 and -6 fatty acids, calendula extract, and papaya leaf, this shampoo promotes a healthy coat, which prevents excess shedding.
Burt’s Bees Dog Shampoo for Puppies: Effectively cleans and protects the smallest of fur babies. A 4 in 1 calming shampoo, this pH-balanced buttermilk, and linseed oil formula is extra gentle on dog skin; the result is reduced irritation and itch relief. Puppies are notorious for the trouble they find; knocking over houseplants, digging in the yard, and having potty accidents leading to frequent baths. A gentle shampoo is essential since you’ll be reaching for it often!

While fleas and ticks are best treated with medications prescribed by your veterinarian, some over-the-counter shampoos contain ingredients that help kill hitchhiking pests on contact. Because these products aren’t safe for all pets and fleas and ticks require a multi-pronged approach to eliminate them from the household, check with your vet before application.

No matter which shampoo you try, the most important takeaway is to monitor your pet’s skin after bathing. Redness, hair loss, bumps, and scale are all signs of a potentially bad reaction to a product. If any of these symptoms occur, do not panic and do not bathe your dog – it can dry out the skin and cause further complications. Check with your veterinarian for appropriate pharmaceutical shampoos or remedies; luckily, there are many ways to address skin-related issues.

At Pet Butler, we understand what it means to want to provide the best possible care to your clients. That is why when you hire Pet Butler, we remove all your pet’s waste from your yard everything – guaranteed. Learn more about the services we offer here!

Veterinary Visits During These Unprecedented Times

Pet Health

This year has been profound for many reasons, although one stands out among the rest; the Coronavirus pandemic, which exploded in early spring, has led to the end of modern-day economic stability. While responsibilities can sometimes be difficult to recognize, especially right now, it’s important to do what we can for ourselves and each other on a day to day basis. For practicing veterinarians and their clientele, it means there will be many changes in a place like:

In face-to-face interactions
Sanitation requirements
Hospital procedures
New appointment guidelines
Overall safety measures

It is imperative to acknowledge why the following new protocols are so essential for you, your pet and your veterinarian. There are so many people involved in the healthcare system, and we all need to be careful with correct social distancing, protective gear, and sanitization to protect them.

When is the right time to take your pet to the vet?

The first step in making good decisions as a thoughtful pet owner is realizing whether a hospital visit is worthwhile. Below are a few things to think about when thinking about scheduling an appointment:

If your animal isn’t facing pressing health issues, try not to demand an appointment. Many times, a simple call with your veterinarian can be enough to treat your pet for basic complications.
Avoiding the hassle of an increasingly troublesome hospital visit is often safer and easier than the opposite.
Monthly checkups and other non-vital procedures should be pushed to a later date, if possible. The more time we spend away from clogged waiting rooms and avoidable physical contact, the better.

Hospitals are or should be operating under strict sanitation rules. They may utilize different barrier systems or even a non-entry pickup process – where a technician comes out to the parking lot to retrieve your pet. Oftentimes, veterinary offices will request online forms and observed senior hour timeslots, too. Whatever specifications they call for, follow suit as best as possible and make sure you know what to expect. As long as you call ahead or make some efforts to comply, you’ll usually be okay.

How to Maintain your pet’s schedule to prevent health risks?

Lastly, keep your pet’s health at the lowest risk possible. Maintain as much of their regular schedule as you can and minimize fluctuations in established habits. Keep them on the same diet and sleep schedule, keep up a good level of play and attention, and keep loving them the way you have for the past couple of months. If work starts back up again, make sure to give them extra focus on the weekends to make up for lost time – they’re probably used to spending most of the day around you, so they’ll miss you all that much more now. Also, because it’s summer, read up on heatstroke, hot pavement, and other dangerous weather-related ailments. Stay more alert than ever regarding your pet’s health – stay out of the clinic.

What Does My Dog’s Urine Mean?

Pet Health

Naturally, a follow-up to our ever-popular poop blog would be about the wonders of the urinary system. Specifically, what do all the smells, colors, volume, method, and frequency of your pet’s urine excretion mean about their overall health and behavior? There is a wide variation in “normal” pet urination, from amount of water consumed (and thus presumably urinated), to the color of urine and everything in between. Let’s cover a bit about what is typical and how to know if your pet’s urinary system has gone haywire.

FAQs About Dog Urine

Urine is constantly being formed by the kidneys when the body’s blood is filtered. The urine then and travels through tiny tubes called ureters from each kidney to the bladder. When the muscular bladder contracts or becomes overly full, urine is forced down the urethra (which courses through the male’s prostate gland), and out a small opening in the male or female sex organs. Blood volume, hydration, and thus urine volume has a lot to do with how much water your pet has consumed; normal dogs drink about an ounce per pound of body weight a day.

How Much?

This translates into 10-20 ml urine produced per pound per day. Smaller and younger dogs tend to be on the higher end of this number. For example, a 10-pound dog may urinate a cup of pee a day! Dogs that urinate frequently but are straining to do so with minimal urine output and discomfort undoubtedly have inflammation and/or obstruction in the urinary tract. Contact your veterinarian immediately if your pet is experiencing these symptoms.

How Often?

For a puppy, it’s not unusual to have to urinate every 3-4 hours when they are very young. Healthy adult dogs need to urinate at 6-10 hour intervals, though some rock stars can hold their urine for a longer duration if you are stuck in traffic.

How?

Most pups, some neutered males, and most adult females squat to relieve themselves. Lifting the leg to pee is normal for adult males in order to eliminate and to mark territory in males and some females. Marking behavior can occur normally, though disruptively, at every tree during a walk. Marking is intentional and lasts just a few seconds while your dog is seemingly alert and happy.

What Does Healthy Dog Pee Look Like?

A well-hydrated dog should be producing light yellow colored urine that has just a slight ammonia smell and be asking to potty at regular, but not too frequent, intervals throughout the day.

Because we’re all special snowflakes, there exists a spectrum of normal when it comes to pup pee and poop. It’s best to monitor your pet and consider anything outside of their typical behavior and urine odor, color, volume, or frequency a sign to call the vet. Many times, your veterinarian will request you present them with a first morning urine sample. This entails chasing your pet outside before coffee with a ladle or small dish to catch a teaspoon of pee. What fun! Other methods of urine collection include allowing your veterinarian to pass a urinary catheter or to use a fine needle to extract urine through the bladder wall for a sterile sample.

What Does My Dog’s Pee Color Mean?

What should you be watching for in your pet’s pee that may indicate a health problem? Urine that is especially:

Dark
Orange
Red, with a visible blood clots
Greenish tint

These can all indicate troubles such as liver disease, muscle breakdown, infection anywhere in the urinary tract or just outside the urethral opening, tumors, or stones.

Clear Urine

Especially clear urine can be an indication that your pet is over-consuming water, has an endocrine disorder such as Diabetes or Cushing’s Disease, or the kidneys aren’t functioning at their full capacity and unable to normally concentrate urine.

Why is My Dog Peeing in the House Again?

Should you be concerned if your previously housebroken puppy or dog starts peeing in the house? Can I get a “yes, ma’am!”?

In some cases, especially with juvenile or senior pets, they may have been incompletely housebroken or are having symptoms of cognitive dysfunction syndrome or senility changes. Behavior problems and canine dementia cannot be diagnosed without working up other medical disorders first.
It’s possible your puppy has an infection, a congenital defect in the urinary system, or stones.
Senior pets may have a medical condition associated with the urinary tract or even arthritis which makes going down the deck stairs to get to the yard or lifting their leg painful. You might “hold” it a bit longer if you were hurting too!

It’s important to differentiate having an intentional pee accident from unintentional urine leakage or incontinence. Many times, the volume of urine released by an incontinent dog is smaller, happens at rest and in a reclined position, and your dog may be completely unaware the accident is happening. In older pets, relaxation of the sphincters or urine overflow caused by a neurological disease may be to blame.

A urine test, bloodwork, and imaging by your veterinarian may be needed to determine and treat the cause and get you and your dog back on the right track!