Accidents while crate training.

[Jamie]

Ok, this is my first puppy and I am a little frustrated with the crate training. Is it normal for a puppy to pee 15 minutes after going out to pee? We have had four accidents in three days so far, but I just feel like I am doing something wrong.

[5a54ofb5qk1d]

Hi Jamie! Don't be frustrated (easy to say!), 4 accidents in 3 days really isn't bad. I would make sure that when you take him/her out to pee, you give them an opportunity to go 2 or 3 times to make sure their bladder really gets emptied. Also, I limited Wrigley's water intake during the housebreaking process. If puppy has played vigorously he'll probably need to go out again immediately afterwards. Remind me, how old is your pup?

LOL, it seemed like we were REALLY going through the Nature's Miracle for cleaning up accidents to I picked up another gallon. Wouldn't you know it, we still have the remainder in the first bottle and haven't had to open the new one! So just when you think there's no end in sight, puppy is housebroken! (We noticed a HUGE improvement at 3 months of age. She's only had a few accidents since then, 2 1/2 months ago)

Hang in there!

[Jamie]

Hi Jill. Thank you. I am only frustrated really because I don't know if I am doing things right. First puppy. Lola is 12 weeks old and we have only had her since Saturday night. She did really well Saturday and Sunday driving home, but she wasn't really eating or drinking much I think from the anxiety. I am wondering if we aren't crating enough. I will keep it in mind to let her go a few times when I take her out. My husband has an easy time with her at night. He has been graciously sleeping downstairs with her in the living room. He's on the couch, she's in the crate. We have a townhouse and share a wall with the neighbors so letting her bark a lot isn't an option. But he takes her out at night she goes right away for him and then comes back in to sleep in her crate for another two hours or so. I know she is still getting used to being in her new home, but I just want to make sure we are doing things right. We have been giving her a treat after going. We also just purchased bells.

[Trowby]

Hi Jamie,
What a beautiful puppy!! Congratulations on your new family member. Onthe crate training. If you have a pad in the crate, I'd remove is as they think they can pee in there iwth a pad when they are little. We asked the vet how much water for the day and we measured it out for a long time. That way we knew she was getting enough but not overdoing it. Sage loves water and would drink continuously if she could. The day will come when she is housebroken a red letter day for sure. We still have an occasional accident (not in the crate though) at 21 weeks.

Good luck with your new puppy!

Trowby

[Jamie]

Thanks Trowby. We don't put any pads in her crate. For some reason I really do not like puppy pads. We don't use them. We want her to go outside all the time. Good idea on measuring out the water.

Thanks again,
Jamie

[Adina P]

Not just pads, but even blankets or stuffed toys...some dogs will PEE on them because they absorb liquid.

[Jamie]

We actually don't put anything but a stuffed animal she took from her breeder home and a hard chew toy in her crate. We tried something soft for her to lay on, but when she got bored she chewed it, so we took it out for now.

[Anita]

How old is he? My puppy would have accidents very frequently (even if I just took him out to pee). He's 15 weeks now and things are finally better. He only has very rare accidents, and this miracle started about 2-3 weeks ago. Hang in there!

[Jamie]

She is 12 weeks old. The other strange thing is she doesn't seem to poop and pee at the same time. She will poop and then 15 minutes later pee.

[Adina P]

You are not doing anything wrong...this is VERY normal...I took Rosco out for potty every 15-20 minutes for a long time as a young pup. Expect to take her out a lot. Remember pups are like babies...they don't think about their peeing at first. They may get distracted in the middle of a pee and forget to finish and then suddenly have to pee again.

You mentioned she doesn't pee AND poop at the same time. That is also VERY normal. MOST dogs do pee and poop at separate times. The only reason WE, humans, do it in one toileting session is because we think about it and try to be efficient. Dogs...not so much. Two of our dogs only do one thing at a time. And one of our dogs does both sometimes at once...but she also is the one who can walk in heel on a leash while pooping ... LOL.

Remember puppies pee A LOT:
-after playing
-during playing
-after eating
-after drinking
-after napping
-after chewing
-and many times in between for some!

So just set an imaginary clock in your head to ring every 15 minutes and take her out THAT often. Be sure you praise her warmly and give her an AMAZINGLY good treat (she has to be the judge of 'amazingly good') to reward her when she pees outside. When she has gone a full week without an accident, then take her out only every 20 minutes...gradually extending the time whenever she successfully goes a week without an accident. If she starts having accidents...do your best evaluation to determine why (too much time without a break? extra water? something else?) The 15 min rule is for when she is OUT of the crate. IN the crate she should be able to go a full hour at this age...maybe 2 hours during the day.

Also does she submissive pee? Some dogs will pee when first being greeted or when excited or meeting someone new ... this goes away with maturity.

Be sure you clean her messes with an odor eliminator like "Nature's Miracle" so she doesn't go back to the same spot thinking it is now her new toilet.

Just hang in there...and if frequent accidents continue take a pee sample to the vet to be sure she does not have a urinary tract infection (UTI).

P.S. I just remembered one more piece of advice. Start a journal of her potty behavior...serious! Most puppies will soon develop a "schedule" of sorts of when they go POO. So as you see a pattern develop then you can anticipate WHEN she will go POO and be sure to take her out at those times for a short walk around the yard. Pee is not usually as scheduled...

P.P.S. Start teaching her the command for going potty. I use "go potty" for poop...and 'be quick' for pee...say it RIGHT as the dog is doing it for the next few weeks. THEN say it right before the dog does it....for many weeks. Eventually she will catch on and go on command. But do it for a while...before you expect her to "understand" and always reward with praise and/or treats when she does it right.

[Jamie]

Wow, this really helps. I felt like we were doing something wrong. She does pretty well in her crate then, going about every hour or two during the day and every two hours at night. My husband had a Rottweiler about 10 years ago and he said she would pee and poop at the same time, so we thought it was strange that Lola didn't. Now I see this can be very normal too. She definitely picked her treat. We tried the first one and she could care less, then the vet gave her one when she got her vaccination that she loved, sooo we bought that. She doesn't submissive pee I think we just expected more from her than she is physically capable of doing. So we will make sure to take her out more and hopefully before long she will be letting us know with her bells on her own. Thank you again.