Hi all. I havent posted here for a very long time, probably a couple of years. I used to post about my male called Blade who I lost 2 yrs ago to DCM. Now I have a B & T female Ruby who is 2 1/2 yrs old. She is neutered and been very active though has problems with dog aggression. Is wonderful with people. She is also hyperactive but it seems to run in her bloodlines. She is very much like her mother. I have tried a few things with her with dog socialisation and training but even though she is obedient , it just isnt going to work with other dogs so I am resigned to that fact and walk her in a harness and muzzle for piece of mind. She also never keeps still. So different from my male. She chases birds in the sky, shadows from the clothesline and will dig a hole trying to get the shadow, tries to get any little reflection off anything like a watch or a pot lid. We have to kick her out when we watch tv because she just wont settle trying to get things on the large screen and god help us if a animal show comes on lol. She even tries to get any little animated thing that hops or jumps on the boys computer screens. Its just her and its something that we have resigned ourselves to. Not going to be able to change that i dont think.

This isnt the problem though that I am posting about

The problem is that she is incontinent now. Havent had her to the vets as yet as was waiting to see what happens with this. It isnt a UTI as the urine does not smell and it is usually a very large amount she does in the early morning . She is waking me at 5.30am now with a wet bed adn her one bark that means, 'let me out' I know she is doing it before she gets up because its in her bed and i feel her and she is wet on one side where she has lain. It doesnt matter how late you put her to bed and how much you toilet her before putting her to bed, it is still happening. I notice also that sometimes if she is with us lying down somewhere and then gets up, there might be a little spot where she has lain.

She drinks well, wees well outside..no problems urinating at all. She is eating well, shiny wiht wet nose and bouncing around.Never had her to the vets yet with anything wrong (touch wood...my Blade lived there and think I owned a share in the business)

The laundry where she sleeps in our house and she has one of those plastic moulded bed with a mattress and blankets. There is another door to the laundry that leads outside but have tried leaving that open but she goes on guard duty all night and barks and then she goes hunting. She ripped down a whole passionfruit vine tryign to get 'something' in it. She wont go back inside to her bed to go to sleep. We have always had her in the laundry and she wont sleep anywhere else now. We got her shortly before blade passed and he was priority at the time as he was sick so had to have him near me in his bed.She also belted him up a few times and was very dominant.

I have read that there are meds for this sort of thing but have read that they can have side effects like excitability and panting and raised heart rate etc. She is certainly one dog that doesnt need to be any more excitable or anxious as she is. I worry also about the raised heart rate as she is related to my male Blade and he had DCM. Ruby's heart, so far, is fine as I get it checked. Some might say why did I get a dog with related bloodlines but she was last of the litter and I knew I wouldnt have Blade for long and I love dobes so much that I thought well I was aware of DCM and had been through it all before and thought that if I got another dog with it, at least I knew how to deal with it. Better me than anyone else who wasnt familiar with it.

In fact, Ruby is the sort of dog, that if anyone else who was unfamiliar with dobes, had purchased her, she might have ended up at the pound. I say this because of her aggression towards other dogs and her hyperactivity.Its prob a good thing that I have her.

So...if anyone else out there has been through the incontience thing, can you let me know how you dealt with it please.

Sorry this is so long....have to make up for the time havent posted lol

Tracey & Ruby

I changed her food to one with no grains---corn and wheat make it worse for her. I have also had good luck with cornsilk----both in capsules and in liquid form. You can get both at a healthfood store. She is much better and rarely leaks now. She's not totally dry but it's way better. Also, I buy the  underpads (Chux) at the drugstore that are used in hospitals/nursing homes. They are pretty inexpensive and much easier than doing laundry all the time.

I, too, have a female doberman that went through the same thing. She's almost 4 years old now and for the longest time she was always "leaking" around the house.

I talked to my vet about it and they prescribed a medication called Diethylstilbestrol (DES).

When she first started taking it, it was a capsule a day for a week, then every other day for a week and now she only needs to take it once per week. The results are amazing and we saw a difference rather quickly. It's very inexpensive, too. I can get 20 capsules for $16.00 at my vet's office, so it's about $0.80 a capsule. A VERY inexpensive therapy to help with this problem!

He said this is a common effect of females who have been spayed because they lose their ability to "pinch off" a tube on their insides so they end up leaking (no fault of their own, they just can't hold it in). He said it was commonly used a long time ago in pregnant women (I can't remember the reason they used it), but it was causing birth defects in babies so it's since been stopped for use in pregnant woman. He told me that pregnant women should not even handle the capsules because of that risk. So if you do happen to get these pills, be very careful with them.

I have been very pleased with the results and she no longer leaks. I just put in with her breakfast in the morning once a week and she doesn't know it's in there. I used to give it to her in cheese but she started to figure it out.

Good luck with your girl!

Forgot to mention, I do not notice any side effects with DES - my vet told me it's very tolerable. She never has gotten sick off it and it's not changed her personality at all. Our dobe is hyper enough, so we wouldn't want that!

Again, good luck!

Thanks for your replies. Its good to know that that drug doesnt alter moods. She is a lovely girl with people, just dog aggressive and wouldnt want to make that worse. She is 2 1/2 now and have tried a few thigns with the aggression with dogs but now just resigned to the fact that she is a dominate bitch and so walk her in a muzzle and harness for everyones benefit. Its just very embarrassing when you are continueing to walk on past and this dog is making such a racket and everyone is looking and crossing over to the other side of the road when they see the muzzle. Its such a display and yet she absolutely loves people and would lick you to death. I always thought dobes were not licky dogs but god help you if she comes into your room in the morning and you are still fast asleep with your mouth open lollllllllllllllll

Its alwasy a good way to wake the teenage boys when they have slept in. I enjoy that lollllllllll