Excessive peeing when he's all 'fired up'

[Elizabeth Boychuk]

Ok, so here I am again. Just got on top of the crying/crate training and I have another challenge I wanted to run by you all. 

Housebreaking Howard was going SUPER well. I work from home so it's been easy to get him out regularly and he has been excellent about doing his business and will come inside and wait for his treat when he's done. We noticed a few days ago that in the middle of him being totally fired up and playing with Cooper, he ran over to the tarp where he had his pen setup and let out a tiny pee (even though he had already gone about 20 mins earlier). At the time we just figured 'bad owners' and that we should have probably seen that he was playing a lot and let him out again. 

It has happened another couple times and always in the same scenario - he's playing like CRAZY and then will run over and pee a TINY bit. 

Tonight, it went to a whole new level. He ran over and let a little out in the same spot and I was able to say 'NO' while it was happening. We cleaned it up and less than 10 mins later, he did it AGAIN, and then AGAIN. He was acting nutty so we put him in his crate for a nap. When he was quiet, I opened his crate door and he came right out and peed on the carpet (different spot all together). 

I totally get that puppies have accidents and we have to keep on top of it but four small pees in the house in less than 45 mins seems so strange to me. He's also been drinking a LOT of water so I guess my questions are as follows:

- could he be marking? He's only 9.5 weeks so that seems like a crazy idea to me

- Is this normal - are puppies more prone to accidents when they're in crazy 'zoomies' mode?

- Should I be concerned that something medical could be going on (like Addison's because of the excessive drinking?

- Should I be restricting his water after a certain point?

Any other tips on how to nip this in the bud? He was doing SO well and I don't want to have to be scared that he's going to pee on the carpet every 5 mins!

Thanks!

Elizabeth

[Deb's Yarrow and Schatzi]

When Yarrow was that young I kept her confined to the kitchen where I could work at the kitchen table and keep an eye on her, the floor is tiled, there's a door to the yard. A gate kept her out of the rest of the house. There's something about carpet that young puppies relate to grass. The first time Yarrow was allowed in the carpeted bedroom, she peed.

Also, I remember that we'd have several excellent days without accidents and then there would be an evening with several accidents. Don't worry, it's not uncommon. Just start over and perhaps keep him in an uncarpeted area for a few weeks. Off topic but related to peeing, after 7 pm I limited the amount of water she could drink so that she could more easily get used to sleeping through the night. But when she did need to go out in the middle of the night I couldn't help but also offer her a couple of ounces of water. I can't get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom without having a drink of water too.

[Debb, Lucy & Oscar]

I have a couple thoughts on this. I was told when Oscar had his one and only UTI, that dogs don't always empty their bladders, so just because a dog goes pee doesn't mean they're completely empty. My 2nd thought is, it's possible Howard (love that name for a dog!) has a UTI. Frequent peeing and excessive drinking are signs of a UTI, as is inappropriate peeing, all of which Howard is exhibiting. I would be taking him to a vet to get it checked. You don't want to be restricting his water intake, especially if he has a UTI. My last thought is that any time you take your puppy out of it's crate you should go immediately outside. Whenever puppies go from a small space to a larger space it sets off an urge to relieve themselves, and if Howard has a UTI, it will be an especially strong urge.

[Debb, Lucy & Oscar]

I forgot to mention another symptom of a UTI is frequent peeing of very small amounts. Sounds like Howard has all the symptoms.

[Elizabeth Boychuk]

Thanks! I read a bit more about UTIs and they seem fairly common so I'm going to try to get Howard in today to get checked out. I'll keep you posted!

[Sue S]

I have an 18 week old mini GoldenDoodle who is doing something similar, makes us crazy!!
She dribbles when she is super excited, during & after playing with her older sister. They are pretty rough with the wrestling and chasing. Bristol (the puppy) also drinks like mad during their rough & tumble sessions. Yesterday, she peed 6+ times on our floor and twice on the sofa (never has she before) in less than 1.5 hrs. Everyone is telling me UTI, and I will get it ruled out, but I reallly think it is a puppy excitement thing. My breeder told me to limit her water consumption, especially when the two of them get crazy. I did that today and she did not dribble once in the house. She never pees when we let her out of her day crate, when she's greeted by people and never has accidents or asks to go out during the night. It's only when she plays with her sister that the dribbling starts.
I hope limiting Howard's water consumption helps.

[Tara]

Tangential, I know, but the trainer who hosts the puppy social we attend mentioned that dogs will use the water bowl as a break from the play.   Stopping to take a drink sends a "give me a little space" signal to the other dogs.  Maybe the puppy is also getting a bit overwhelmed by the play and drinking excessively just to get a break?

[Gracie, Jade, & Barkley]

I just had this happen tonight. Gracie just tinkled on my floor two times. One she tried to get to the door, but couldn't wait for me to get my boots on. She finished outside though. Then just a little bit after that she tinkled on the floor w/o going to the door. She's a bit wound up tonight and I'm sure she's super tired. I took her for a long walk this morning because I needed to get some things done. Well, she didn't sleep the whole time I was doing my chores. Which she usually would do if I were just sitting on the couch. She just whined and cried to be let out of the crate. Anyway, I think in her case she was/is super tired. We just crated her and she zonked out in less than a min.

[Michele Kiss]

At that age, this sounds like "excitement tinkles" to me. Fenway has done that since the beginning. If someone came over he was happy to see, or you just riled him up a bit too much, he would piddle. He's a year old now and he STILL does it sometimes (but far less and his "excitement threshold" is much higher now.) I was told it's very common with doodles and improves as their bladder grows stronger. (Which has been true in our case.)

(I have also heard the same as others, that puppies don't totally empty their bladders - they leave a little in case they need to mark, thus it still makes sense that they can excitement pee right after going.)

I agree with always checking with a vet if there might be something wrong, but excitement pee while playing doesn't sound unusual! And I wouldn't withhold water during play.... Honestly I think you might need to just let him outgrow this. He's only 9 weeks...