Hi I'm new to the site

[bella's_my_lab]

Hi I found this site today while I was browsing the net. From what I'm reading I'm really learning alot. Great site guys and women.
I have recently inherited my uncles
Chocolate Lab she is 4 months old and her name is Bella. (Thats what we named her.) I will try and post a picture.
I have been reading two different things that have been getting my attention. I hope someone can help me with this.

First of all. I took notice to a change in Bella today. Every couple minutes she has to pee. Some of the times she squats but nothing comes out. That is only when she is outside. She acts fine in the house. She hasn't had any accidents in the house at all so far, she just pees away when she is outside. I looks almost like she is struggling to pee. She pees, walks a couple feet and pees again. Or does she just not finish what she started. I haven't taken notice to any blood in her urine either. Could this be the start of a UTI? This may sound stupid but I started giving her some cranberry juice today to drink and she really likes it. Will that work like it does on a female person??

And second. I was reading on here to about the BARF diet. Is there anywhere else that I can read up on that it sounds really interesting. I'd like to try it.

My uncle had her on Pedigree Adult Food cant think of exactly what it is. But she has been getting that cause he had a 52 pound bag of it and he gave it to us. I heard on here today that Pedigree dog food is not good for them. Is this correct?

What do you all recommend giving her? I will change whatever I have to.

Thanks in advance.

[Toby's my baby]

Welcome to Pet Talk!! You came to the right place, especially when it comes to getting help! Unfortunalty, I dont have any suggestions on what you should do for Bella, but I know a lot of pt'ers should be able to help you!

Bella is ADORABLE! *I love her name too* I hope we get to see more pictures soon!

[BC_MoM]

Welcome to Pet Talk! You'll love it here.. it's a real blast.

I know some dogs will "fake pee" because they want to stay outside longer. Maybe she could be doing that? Is there anything out of the ordinary besides the squatting but not peeing going on? Chewing/licking herself a lot? If she's drinking fine, I'd say she's fine. Was she spayed recently? She could have a reaction to sutures used during spaying. That's what happened to my pup and she was squatting but nothing would come out, but she was drinking and eating fine and all.

If Pedigree agrees with your dog, I'd say keep her on it as long as her coat stays nice and healthy and such. IMO, it's up to the dog's body to decide what is a good food for them. Not us (although, to some extent..).

Bella is a CUTIE!!

[bella's_my_lab]

I just had her out like 5 minutes ago and she probably peed about 5 or 6 times at least she tried to pee.
I will keep an eye on her tonight and see how many times she goes out. She usually goes out around 3 and then around 5:30-6:00.
Hopefully this wont be a long night.

[sammy101]

Welcome to PT!
It sounds like she could have a UTI.If it persists i would take her to the vet to get some medication for it.
Pedigree isnt the greatest food,full of by-products and fillers.But if she's doing fine on it,then keep her on it.If you are interested in feeding her better kibble,there are quite a few of great food to feed her.Mine are on Nutro Natural Choice.Mine used to be fed Pedigree,but Kodie developed allergies to something in it,so we had to switch him. I dont know much about the BARF diet though.

[bckrazy]

Welcome to PT! I'm Erica, my pups are Gonzo, a 4 year-old Border Collie, and Fozzie, a 11 week-old CorgixHusky rescue pup. Bella is beautiful! I just love Chocolate Labs, she has gorgeous coloring. =)

Have you taken her into the vet since you got her? A check-up would be a good idea! If she is 16 weeks, has she recieved her final booster and rabies vaccination? If not, take her in for that and have the Vet look her over to be safe. UTI's can get nasty if not treated. I hope she feels better!

I definitely commend you for looking for a better food for her! Pedigree to BARF is a big, big step up. Raw diets are extremely complicated, though, trust me I'm going through transitioning myself! I recommend printing out all of the good information you can find (check out www.rawlearning.com) and reading up on books, plus talking to your Vet/a holistic Vet about it. Your Vet might push you towards the kibbles they sell, such as Science Diet and Eukanuba, because the average Vets tend to push kibbles because they have little knowledge about raw feeding. Until you research enough, buy some high quality kibble - Innova Adult (because she is a large breed), Innova Large Breed Puppy, Canidae (for all life stages, perfect for puppies), California Natural, Solid Gold, Wysong, and Natural Balance - are wonderful foods and can be found at almost any feed store or specialty pet store. Considering that Pedigree is mostly made up of fillers (check out the ingredients label: corn, soy, food coloring, preservatives, by-products, YUCK!) you should slowly start switching her over to a high quality kibble ASAP. You can continue to feed her half Pedigree until the bag is finished, if you wish to do so.

I hope to hear/see more about Bella! She is super cute, and I'm sure very fortunate to be in her new home.

[luvofallhorses]

Welcome! She's beautiful! more pics please!

[wolfsoul]

Welcome to PT! I just have to say that thinking of switching to a raw diet is an awesome idea. My Belgian shepherd is on a raw diet and she does just great. I thought she was healthy before I switched her but now she truly is healthy. Everything about her is so much better. I especially feel great because I know that her puppies will get optimum nutrition in the womb and when they are nursing. I highly recommend it! Good luck with your problem too, I hope you find out the cause.

[binka_nugget]

Welcome to Pet Talk! Bella is gorgeous!

There's a lot of great information in some of our older threads (just type raw or barf in the search feature). Yahoo also has some great groups.

Feeding raw is a huge change though. I've started getting back into it (stopped due to lack of time) and I've found it very difficult to keep up with some days. It helps if you can buy bulk and have some time set aside to prepare the meals in advance. The changes I've seen in my dogs are amazing! No more doggy breath, poops are much smaller and firmer, cleaner teeth and Kai has lost weight on it (long story short, Kai has a fear of pretty much everything which makes getting exercise very difficult. It helps to be able to control what he eats). The dogs love it too!

Feeding raw does take a lot of research and a bit of time though. If you're not up for raw, there are still some nice alternatives such as Innova Evo (I feed my dogs this when feeding raw isn't possible), Innova, Chicken Soup for the Dog Lover's Soul, Wellness, Canidae, California Natural, Go! Natural, etc.

[bella's_my_lab]

Whellp she was up every hour last night going pee. She squatted like 4 or 5 times before she came in. She has been to the vets, has her rabies shot she has all the other shots that she needed. And she was in last Wednesday for her last distemper shot, the vet said she looked really good and she was very healthy. She goes in June 19th to be spayed, cause right now she is only 4 months old or she would go now.
This peeing all the time started yesterday afternoon she was fine in the morning, we took her to the pet place and bought her a bone it was a Nylabone Healthy Edible in the BBQ chicken flavor. She ate the heck out of that and since we came back from there its pee ALL THE TIME.
I took her out this morning and while she was peeing I got a urine sample, its got a yellow color and very faint smell but I don't see any traces of blood in it.
I have no idea, thinking UTI but i'm no vet.

[Oggyflute]

G'day mate and welcome to Pet Talk. Bella is a beautiful girl, and you'll definitly get the right advice about her here.

[bella's_my_lab]

last post here. I went to the vets today and took a urine sample and sure enough she has a UTI. They put her on 250 MG of Amoxicillin. She will be on that for 14 days.
Then she will be all better.

pictures posted soon of bella....