Peeing in the house...upstairs only

[Keri]

Jackson is 11 weeks old and house breaking is going well...except when we're upstairs. It's obviously a longer walk to get outside from there, but are there other reasons he could be having accidents upstairs and not down? We do have wood floors downstairs and carpet upstairs, and I've been told they like to pee on carpet, so maybe that's part of it. I also know they often have to pee after playing, and he plays with our kids upstairs. 

We have a gate at the bottom of the stairs, so we can keep him down there, but in the mornings and evenings when we put the kids to bed, we're upstairs, so I'd like him to be part of that time. We use Nature's Miracle and he goes in different spots, so I don't think it's him smelling it and wanting to go there  Has anyone else had this problem? Should I just keep him downstairs until he's older? Is there a way he can tell us when he's upstairs and needs to go? Help! 

[Dexter Doodle]

Not sure if this is it, but just a thought. A trainer told me to make sure we do training in every room of the house that our puppy will be in. Otherwise, they will be more likely to potty in those other rooms thinking the rules don't apply. 11 weeks is still young. That is right around when my guy had his last accident.

[Malenie Piscetelli]

11 weeks old is still very young. Doesn't matter it's either wood floors or carpet. If you want Jackson to stay upstairs with you this is my opinion he should be going in the crate. Another thing you should train him 2 or 3 rooms at a time. Good luck.

[Laura and Angus]

It sounds like you all are working on the housebreaking...there will definitely be accidents as your puppy is learning the rules. What helped us in our house was constant vigilance and closing doors. We keep Angus around us at all times and try to know where he is every second. This is probably difficult with young kids, so I'd say maybe you want to use baby gates to block your puppy in smaller areas upstairs OR you could get some of those cool playpen things and keep puppy in there with toys. Just a thought. Keeping Angus with us or in smaller, more contained areas helped us keep an eye on him and notice his signals (e.g. sniffing around in circles) so we could rush him outside when he needed to pee. Jackson will get it with repetition and consistency. Also, knowing when Jackson last had food and water or when he ran around and played will let you know he likely has to potty soon, so you can preemptively take him outside to praise him for pottying in the right spot. Consistency and positive reinforcement should do it! Keep up the good work! 

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

We kept his world small (blocked off areas) and carried Ned downstairs to pee when he was little because we felt it was too far for him to hold it while negotiating the distance.  We spent most of our time downstairs when he was awake, and just watched him like a hawk when he was upstairs with us.

[Keri]

Thanks, everyone, for the tips! We've been confining him to one room at a time when upstairs and (knock on wood) we haven't had any accidents in three days :)

[Malenie Piscetelli]

That's great news!!!!