Thanks for new ideas - I'll have to stop by Home Depot, or maybe another local flooring place. Zoey_neohio and premier, not to worry, I'm not offended - you've phrased it very well. ;) Thank you for caring. The dog is about 60 pounds, so I'm not going to be carrying her upstairs. She did have her blood and urine tested at the vet's office, according to DH. She is let outside into the yard, and when she's out there she likes to dig holes and lie down in the holes. Winter is coming up, so she's not going to like being outside some of the time (when it gets cold, she enjoys lying in snow when it's not too cold). Our kids are 6, and 4 (as of Monday), so the dog did decline in status in the family pack over the past few years... I definitely don't give her the attention I used to give her, and I do feel somewhat guilty about this. I'm also not too sure about her quality of life at the moment, so I get to feel guilty about that as well. Unfortunately, the only place upstairs where I could see her possibly having a nice quiet and private area upstairs is the half bath, next to the side door and the kitchen, and that isn't currently accessible due to renovation. I had previously tried to get her to lie there on a nice big comfy looking dog bed - hmm, perhaps a large carpet scrap, once we get that more cleared out would work better for her. My mother is currently visiting so we're seeing more of the dog than usual - she just loves my mom. She actually came upstairs during dinner and lurked under the table, which she used to do but doesn't these days.

Hi Heathen, Well, she used to tug really hard on my falling-down bladder and say "This is really falling down". DUH! I finally started telling her to be more gentle, but I wasn't paying attention this time, because we were talking, but I think she was a little rough........but I guess it doesn't take much. I've had urinary urgency and frequency for so long..........but last week, it was like every 15 minutes, or I'd be incontinent. Bummer!

It really sounds like your vet just does not know what is going on here, trying to siphon money from you or both. Like so many others, I have a dog that is on Proin. She had the same issues yours currently has, only it caused other issues with house training. You need to quiz your vet about the medication. Since you already have her on one, ask why it's not working. Educate yourself about spaying incontinence, Google has tons of information. For future medications, set a time limit. Ask the vet how long it will be before you start to see positive results. With Proin, it worked within about 6 hours. If positive results don't happen by the date, ask why. If your vet keeps changing meds, something is off and vet is just trying to find out what is going on while you and your dog suffer. BTW. You should educate yourself about urinary tract infections. I'm not saying it could happen to your dog, but it might. My dog has had three episodes of UTI, not fun for anyone involved. After much frustration, altering her diet (she is now on hypo allergic venison and potato) and my cleaning her "lady part" twice a day has kept it away for 7 months (thank you dog god). This is due to her vulva not extending properly, a common thing with dogs and urinary issues. Going the diet route and cleaning has saved tons of time, frustration and money. In my case it worked (so far, thanks again dog god). SG

My lab, Abby, developed spay incontinence at 1 year of age. She could leak any time, but it was generally something that occurred more when she was asleep. Definitely rule out an infection, then your vet will give you meds to control it. Though it's not common as far as I know, we used a human homeopathic product with Abby- it worked wonders. Abby was fat when she was young and we helped her lose weight to become a more normal size dog by around the time we started doing the homeopathy. I always wondered if being overweight added to the problem. GL.