8 year old Lab puking, peeing, pooping and trouble walking - testing didn't show anything wrong?

Question

I have an 8 year old Chocolate Lab who, for the past YEAR, has been puking, peeing, pooping (sometimes diarrhea but not always) in the house. This would happen about 1 to 2 times a month except for recently whereas in the last 16 days it has happened 3 times. When I have witnessed it, her legs seem to go somewhat limp and she has trouble walking. She also salivates very heavily.
I spent almost $700 in tests when this first started recurring and the vet found nothing - blood tests, ultrasound, etc... She does eat grass often (yes, when I catch her I make her stop and no, we don't treat our grass with any chemicals).
I am at wits end on what to do! I have a 3 year old and a newborn (no, the toddler isn't poisoning the dog and yes, we give the dog plenty of attention) and am SO SICK of cleaning up crap! I keep her blocked off in the kitchen at night and when I'm not home, but all that does is keep the cleanup a little easier (we have tile in the kitchen). We've had to replace the carpet in our living room twice in the past year! My husband wants to buy an outdoor dog house and keep her outside, but is that safe for the dog? I live in Virginia Beach, VA and temps range from 40's in the winter to 90's in the summer.
What would you do in my situation?

Answer 1

She is not an old dog. I can understand her pucking peeing and pooing, because this can due to dietary problems and the diarrhoea can also be a a symptom of this. However I am baffled by the leg problems and the salivation.

In my experience vets don't acknowledge that grain in dog food can cause horrendous problems and I think that you should look at the ingredients in the food which you are giving your dog. I will paste the info on the problems which my dog had due to grain in her food. Before I do so, I agree that your dog should not be kennelled outside. She could be stolen, abused and attacked by other animals and the extreme tempratures could be a problem.

You have not said how long that your dog is left alone during the day, perhaps of problems could be due to stress and separation anxiety.

I have learnt by my mistakes. My present dog had dreadful problems because of the food which I gave her, I experimented with dog food, I tried raw diets, cooked diets and over the years I tried various dog foods. She did not like the raw diets and the dog food that I gave her resulted in diarrhoea. As an experienced dog owner I introduced any changes gradually. Nevertheless my dog still had problems. She was eight years old before I resolved her problem.

Eventually, because of my researches on the Internet I found that the experts have discovered that GRAIN in our dog’s diet causes many problems. I now know that grain creates acidity in the blood. This causes skin problems, digestive issues, allergies, sickness, constipation, diarrhoea, anal gland problems etc.,



if your dog has skin problems or any of the above problems PLEASE CHANGE THE DIET. Avoid Grain, rice, beef derivatives and dairy food



I now give my dog a dried food which uses beet for fibre and fish. It’s called Fish4Dogs and I buy it on the Internet. Look on the Internet and investigate yourself. Gluten free dog food is not enough to help our dogs, it MUST BE GRAIN FREE.



A rapid change of diet will upset your dog; any change of diet must be done gradually. Do please change to a grain free diet. I have had sixteen dogs throughout the years and they have had various problems. Perhaps if I had known about the dangers of GRAIN they would have had fewer problems. .

Answer 2

Considering all you have done so far, I'd get another vet's opinion. It is obvious that the dog has problems and that you are willing to help her. Before you put her outside (which is way too hot in the Summer, I lived in Chesapeake VA for a while) have another vet evaluate her.

Answer 3

I live not too far from you and to be frank, it sounds like she is having issues with her food. Have you changed recently or has that ever been suggested? She may need to change her diet for sensitive stomachs.



I wouldn't leave her outside though - it gets far too hot and humid here.

Answer 4

First of all where did you get the dog? If it is from a shelter then the kennel training will not work because the puppy was forced to pee & poop in its cage there and so he sees nothing wrong with it. I had a lot of problems with my now 2 yr old elk hound. We got our puppy at 3mos and he was super smalls so we used the puppy pads and placed them throughout the house . Then we locked the dog in our bathroom during the day with bedding, toys, etc. When he was old enough to understand we tied a bell to the door knob and whenever we took him out we would put in down in front of the door and ring the bell then open it. Then when he went out and came back in he would get the treat. This helped him learn that if he rang the bell the door would open & then if he went outside and potty he would get a treat when he came back in. However you need to open the door every time he rings the bell & make sure to ring it each time your make him go out. People tend to award their dog for going potty outside but the dog just thinks you are praising him for going potty. So I recommend praising him verbally for going potty outside but waiting until he completes the whole task before giving him the treat. Now our dog just goes to the door and gives a little whine but he still thinks if he goes out & potty he should get a treat.

Answer 5

You don't mention what you are feeding her, or if at times she gets treats that she doesn't get on a daily basis. Like at Thanksgiving mom fed my dog some ham fat and she got an upset stomach. Try to remember if there was anything different on those days. Since it doesn't happen every day it may just be diet related.



If your dog goes to eat grass, let her. It means there is something wrong and she will look for just the right weeds to set it straight. Milkweed is one of my dog's favorites when her tummy is out of sorts. She might be able to dispose of the problem outside if you give her a little time.



When she eats, look inside her ears, usually if Joy eats something that she is allergic to, her ears will turn bright red on the inside.



I would take her to a different vet if it doesn't stop.

Answer 6

Hmmm did the blood test not show anything? low white blood cell count? I'm not sure if this is just old age or something more. I'm not sure if your dog would have this or not but it could be possible...our pup has distemper which causes vomiting, diahrrea, and neurological signs (seizures, incoordination) and etc. The virus can come become dormant and come back later and show signs....I dont think your dog has this but i was just throwing it out there in case you wanted to ask your vet to do a PCR test to see if the virus is there or not. I really feel for ya cause you are in a tough situation and you have a lot on your plate. We leave our pup in the kitchen during the day and put down a sheet and a vinyl table cloth to help clean up messes- we have tile so we dont want anything to get in the grout. Do you have a backyard for your dog to roam along with the dog house? If so then i think that would be ok as long as the dog had shelter from wind, rain, cold and the heat. When your dogs bad days out number her good ones then it might be time to talk to the vet about putting her to sleep. Hopefully thins will work out for you...dont give up and good luck!

Answer 7

I am very sorry to tell you this but all of these signs mean that your dogs body is starting to slow down. I am only 16 but about 8 years ago my yellow Labrador retriever started having these same exact symptoms of what your dog is having. About 3-4 years later, we had to put her down. You have to realize that your dog is going to pass away sooner or later so you need to start preparing for the worst to come. But I could be wrong. Maybe you need to change her diet? Try buying all natural dog food from trader Joes. This helped my dog get rid of all of her junk in her stomach. Also, how often do you exercise her? If you think you are doing it too much then maybe try laying off for a little bit, just to see what happens. Other than that I wish you good luck with your dog. Oh, and if it helps, try saying a little prayer at night for your dog. It always helped me think that my dog was going to be okay.



-Patrick

Answer 8

it could be dying of old age.