Behavior problem or health problem?

[Mozart's Mom]

Hi all. My Mozart is a 4 year old male Rottie who has been obedience trained and house-broken since we got him at 3 months old. He has been the perfect dog in every way. About 2 months ago, he finally started lifting his leg to urinate instead of squatting. However, at this time he has also started marking in the house. When I correct him, he knows he's done something wrong, but he's kept doing it so four weeks ago I took him to the vet and found he had a bladder infection. We've treated him for it and it's cured, but the vet mentioned in the results of the tests we had done that he has a high PH level, due to the food we're feeding him, which will make him prone to bladder infections often. During the treatment and for a few days thereafter, Mozart was pretty good at not going in the house. However that was short-lived and yesterday he lifted his leg on my bed right in front of me! Has anyone had any experience with a previously trained dog straying from good behavior? Should I re-crate him until he re-learns what is acceptable? What type of food would lower a dog's PH level?
Any and all suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated since I love my boy but I want him to behave.
Thanks,
Mozart's Mom (Candy)

[spidey]

Was his urine rechecked to ensure that the infection is gone? And did your vet suggest you switch foods? Medical causes should always be ruled out first (I'm glad you phrased your question like that ). That said, I would treat him like an untrained puppy for the time being - he should always be on-lead when not in his crate, take him out regularly, praise for going outside. If it's a medical problem, this should help avoid accidents, and if it's a behaviour problem, it's what you'd need to be doing anyway (i.e. a refresher course in housebreaking).

[Mozart's Mom]

I haven't yet taken him back to be re-checked, but he was on antibiotics for 10 days. The vet didn't recommend a different food. He suggested we give him two cups of cranapple juice a day. That worked for two days, then Mozart refused to drink it anymore (I don't blame him - I don't like it either). We currently feed him Iams Weight Control. Any ideas on which foods will reduce PH levels?
Candy

[damp]

A housetrained dog (with a bladder infection) SHOULD run to the door, when he needs to go out and if you are not fast enough to let him out, yes a minor “accident” may happen but no big deal. But a housetrained dog (even with a bladder infection) will only mark inside in front of me three times…the first… the last …and the only!!!
I would not treat a 4 years old dog marking in front of me inside like a puppy, no matter what the vet and any tests say! I would treat him as an adult and I would ignore “a bit dripping inside” from a dog with bladder infection, if he did the best to avoid it and tried to get the message across to me. (Standing whining at the door even there are drips all over the floor)

Sickness, in many cases can/will change a dog’s behavior but also very wrongly, it is used by the owners, as a bad excuse for a bad or changed behavior.

[spidey]

I dunno, damp, a lot of the time a bladder infection means you get little or no warning that you've "gotta go right NOW", and a dog doesn't have the understanding that a person does. I'd certainly interrupt a dog in the act and make it clear that it wasn't acceptable, but I don't really see how going over the housetraining (i.e. by leashing the dog and taking it out on a schedule) is a bad idea, it's not "excusing" the bad behaviour, it's retraining the desired behaviour.

[Bruce Lanthier]

Originally Posted by Mozart's Mom

However that was short-lived and yesterday he lifted his leg on my bed right in front of me!

Lifting a leg signifies marking behavior to me. There may or may not be a bladder issue but when a dog lifts its' leg, he is marking, in my book and I would deal with that in much the same manner damp has said. There would be a severe reprimand and then I would reasses my relationship with the dog and look at my actions. Why look at my actions? Because the dog obviously is not to impressed with my leadership if it will, as Judi often points out, piss on me. As she says, when a dog is pissing on your bed, he is pissing on you. This dog needs to get back in training and have its house privileges severely restricted so that the relationship between dog and leader(the human here) can be reestablished.

[damp]

Originally Posted by Mozart's Mom

However that was short-lived and yesterday he lifted his leg on my bed right in front of me!

The above qouted is a warning!!!

Spend some hours on training and the marking problem is fixed (and 10 min. and some bucks at the vet..that will hopefully fix the bladder infection)

[miccmill]

Hannah (2yrs.) has had two UTI's. She did a dance with vocalization right in front of us then ran to the door when we looked up at her. No accidents in the house though.

[Mozart's Mom]

Retraining the dog is NOT a problem and I will have to purchase a crate he can fit in and start this immediately, but I still don't have an answer to which food will keep his PH level lower. I have two other dogs that use to have constant ear infections until I found the right remedy for that problem. The fact that this dog has a high PH level, which will lead to recurring bladder infections, tells me that re-training is not the ONLY solution. I've had the best trainers in town tell me that a bladder infection can lead to urinating in the house, which in turn leads to a slip in behavioral problems. This dog doesn't need to spend the rest of his life in and out of a crate. Rottie's, by nature, are slow to mature and as I stated in my first post, he just recently started lifting his leg to begin with. Up until a couple of months ago, he always squatted when he peed. I imagine this has something to do with his recent behavior.
Candy

[Mochasmom]

Here are the results when I searched "urine ph" on these forums...
http://www.rottweiler.net/forums/sea...earchid=220411
it is a start.
good luck
Keri

[Mozart's Mom]

Thanks Keri. This should help a lot.
Candy

[2rotties2luv]

I've seen in health food stores a cranberry supplement in capsule form for people who don't like the taste of cranberry juice. Perhaps you could use these to help lower you dog's urine pH? I'd ask the vet to help you determine the correct dosage though.

[Ilovemypuppy]

Cranberry extract capsules are much better as the cranberry juice often contains some sugar which will just FEED the bacteria...I would also suggest acidolphilus capsules as well..get from a health food store.

[Mozart's Mom]

Thanks for the info on the cranberry supplements. I'll pick those up and start Mozart on them tomorrow. We've already started the refresher course on the housebreaking and he's loving the extra attention as if he's back in school. I guess you should never take it for granted that they like some extra praise once in a while.
Candy

[Silvermarten]

You've got some great training advice so I've nothing to add to that .
However , from the medical standpoint I'd definately get his urine rechecked asap . Some uti's are very stubborn and can require 4 weeks or more of antibiotics . Was his urine cultured to make sure he was on the right antibiotic ?
Hope things are back to normal soon for you