| Extremely important | 43.33% |
| Important | 50.00% |
| Somewhat important | 6.67% |
| Not important | 0.00% |
| I don't know | 0.00% |
| Other | 0.00% |
Does frequency of potty breaks have an impact on dog longevity?
Holding urine for long periods of time, regularly, such as truck drivers have to do, does come with lasting detrimental effects. Our dog's lifestyles aren't all that different from truck drivers. Most of them are stuck at home alone, forced to hold it for long periods of time daily.
Constantly holding pee can lead to urinary retention which is the inability to empty a bladder completely during urination. Having pee sitting in the bladder for extended periods of time instead of washing the bladder walls as it comes through, increases risk of infection, crystals and even stones.
Inability to urinate can be deadly.
When a dog cannot pee at all, that is a medical emergency. The urinary tract can be obstructed by crystals or stones, due to urinary disease or prostate disease. Tumors, lesions and scar tissue also can cause an obstruction.
Urinary retention can lead to infections, infections can lead to crystals and stones, stones can lead to an obstruction. Frequent potty breaks help flush bacteria out of the bladder, lowering the chance of infection. Ideally, a dog should get to empty their bladder at least every four hours.
And that is not to mention that repeat UTIs like to turn into a resistant strain. A persistent infection can also spread to the kidneys.
Do these things actually affect longevity?
It doesn't seem that anybody bothered going further down this rabbit hole. As a side note, most of the longest living dogs were farm dogs, spending most of their time outside, getting to pee any time they wanted. But there is no telling whether there is a direct connection.
That said, a urinary obstruction which can, in part, be caused by your dog not getting to empty their bladder regularly enough, can be deadly. An infection anywhere in the body is not helpful, and infected kidneys most definitely are not.
I have even read some sources claiming that toxins, which the kidneys worked so hard on removing and sending out with urine, might leach back into the system when urine sticks around for too long. I don't know if that's true either.
Either way, having to hold urine for prolonged periods of time is neither pleasant or healthy for your dog.
Related articles:
Dog Longevity Survey Part I
Dog Longevity Survey Part II
Dog Longevity Survey Part I Results
How Important Is Weight Management for Longevity?
How Important Is Diet for Longevity?
How Important are Regular Baths to Longevity?
How Important is Time Outdoors to Longevity?
How Important is Nail Trimming to Longevity?
How Important is Time Outdoors to Longevity?
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