female puppy bladder infections

I was wondering how many dog owners of female puppies experienced numerous bladder infections in them in the past? I recently took our 14 week old labradoodle to the vet for this and he stated that once they start having them it is a common occurence and will continue until they are spayed. Our lab, who is now 8, had the same thing and it was a pain taking in the urine sample before and after treatment. She must of had a zillion of them before being spayed at 6 months. Any suggestions, cranberry juice,(if they will drink it?) of any kind to ward these things off would be helpful. I am not looking forward to this again. I already run outside plenty of times as it is!!!!!

I remember a couple bladder infections in my female dogs in the past, but nothing that wasn't cured with treatment, nor were they reoccurring. My females were spayed at the time.

Maggie has had many bladder infections. I tried the cranberry juice trick, but not sure if it really worked. Actually, it took a continuous treatment of antibiotics to kick it out of her system. She had these infections before and after she was fixed, so don't count on it being a cure all. Also, my Aunt recently told me that food with a lot of ash in it can cause problems.
I have a great trick for collecting urine samples. I keep Maggie on the leash (close enough to me) and as soon as she squats, I slip a lid from one of those disposable plastic containers under her. I put the lid upside down so that the urine doesn't spill off. Then I pour it into a baggie. Keep in mind that some of the urine may touch your hand http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/eek.gif, but this trick has worked for me every time. Good Luck! http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/smile.gif

Thanks Maggie. I need all the suggestions I can get about the urine sample collection part. First course of antibiotics is done so we will see what happens now.