Potty training issues

[Scotty]

OK so were having a real hard time getting our 16 week old potty trained. He is incredibly reliable with #2's, we haven't had a poop accident in weeks. Our problem is peeing, he seems to understand to go when we go out, the problem seems to be he's not going to hold it.

We both work during the day so he's in his kennel for about 4 hours at a time during the day (I come home at lunch to feed/water him & let him out) & we have really only had one accident in the kennel. So he seems to be able to hold it at least when he's confined & not moving around. A lot of the accidents seem to be what I call trail peeing, where he's walking & pee is just coming out as he goes. So maybe it's just the activity that is causing it & when he's just laying in his kennel he has more control.

Also not sure if I'm maybe doing something wrong regarding his drinking water. Again he's in the kennel most of the day so he doesn't have access to water other than when I let him out for lunch. His water & food bowls (his kennel as well) are in a room I don't let him access most of the time. I just allow him in every couple hours to get a drink. (plus when he eats he gets to drink as well) A lot of times in the evening he has rapid fire accidents where he pees multiple time 15ish minutes apart where short of just staying outside there's almost no way to take him out often enough to prevent the accidents. I'm wondering if maybe he's overdrinking at one time because he doesn't always have access to the water, causing him to pee a lot.

So should I stop limiting his access to water & move his feeding & drinking area into one of the rooms he has access to so he can drink at will? (he has an automatic waterer so there's always water in the bowl) Should I get him a bowl that goes on the kennel so he has water in there? Get rid of the automatic waterer (is that even a word?) & just get him a bowl of water at specific times so he can't overdrink? Just looking for some advice.

[Stacy]

The first thing I would do, if I was in your shoes is to make sure your puppy doesn't have a UTI. The "trail peeing" and the frequency of accidents doesn't sound normal to me. I also don't think I would limit his water intake. But before I tried to address the potty training problem, I would make sure there isn't some physical reason for what is going on. 

[sandy b]

I agree with Stacy,  that doesn’t seem normal. I wouldn’t allow water while he’s crated but he should have access out of crate. You just really need to watch him and take him out immediately after he drinks. I would take him out every 1/2 hour and use a command word or phrase (we use “get busy”) and he will eventually go on command. Good luck and please get a vet check.

[Scotty]

OK well I have moved the feeding & watering area out into the main living area where the dog is always allowed. I will see if that helps as I really do think that is the problem. He doesn't show any other signs of a UTI & the issue only seems to occur when he is out of his crate about an hour after he's been allowed a drink.

Last night we had his training class & when we got home he drank obsessively for an extremely long time to the point he was noticeably fatter. Then he started having issues about 45 minutes after that. Which I expected & was attempting to take him out more, but obviously not enough. If things don't improve by tomorrow I will take him back to the vet (he was actually just in for a puppy check/boosters a week ago but they didn't test specifically for a UTI)

And he's actually very good about going outside. I wouldn't say on command but that's mainly because I don't really have to give him a command, as soon as his paws hit grass he's at least trying to pee. The issue seems to be that he hasn't associated anything other than his kennel as his home & a place he shouldn't potty. Which I've also read feeding them in the area where accidents happen can help them associate that area as living space.

Thanks for the advice.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

He’s still such a baby. It’s harder for him to hold his pee. When you let him out of the crate CARRY him outside immediately to pee. Do not talk to him in a way to cause excitement when you know he has to go. Take him out every 30-40 minutes. Using a command helps in the future. When he successfully pees outside, praise, praise, praise. Also, some dogs don’t fully eliminate the first time, so when he’s outside give him time to sniff around and pee more than once. 

[Scotty]

Just wanted to update on how things are going. Things seem to have improved since moving his water to where he has constant access. He seems to be drinking in smaller increments throughout the day which seems to have helped a lot. We only had one accident yesterday & honestly it was really my fault. I got in the middle of making a Valentines box for my son (which turned out awesome by the way) & lost track of time & didn't get him taken out in time.

And thanks again to everyone for the advise. It's been so long since I had a puppy I think I forgot how hard it is LOL. 

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

I’m so glad things are better. Puppies ARE hard - I don’t know if I’m up for one again :-}. Sometimes we just need a reminder that it’s all ‘normal’ and each phase will pass. 

[Jolene, Sassparilla & Josie]

Maisie is testing my patience with the peeing in the house!

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Maybe Maisie is more average in her learning, maybe your mom was more active in helping you with Sassy and Josie than you remember? Maybe she has a UTI as Wendy found with Myla? Maybe she just needs more supervision than some doggies and you have lots more pets than you used to. Maybe Kirstie isn’t as active a helper as she used to be or maybe you expectations of her assistance have increased, but her assisting hasn’t.  I know she knows how to use the dog door but maybe she’s not confined to an area within easy access to it. At that age, Ned was in the den/kitchen area and we were still taking him out— we had him use the dog door but we went out with him. We took him out the usual schedule, but I remember that he had a strong bladder even then. He was with us specifically or he was crated if we couldn’t keep an eye on him (like when we showered). It’s a thought but what if you set up an ex-pen with a piece of linoleum or even a heavy tarp under that set her up right by the doggy door?

[Jolene, Sassparilla & Josie]

Well you know Kirstie so you know what help she provides! Josie came to us at 4 mths of age so she was already trained. Sassy was 10 weeks but I had Thanksgiving break to work with her and she nailed it right away, in all honesty everything about Sassy has been easy except this shoulder injury but then she was an awesome patient so I guess she was easy considering. Wait her separation anxiety is her biggest weakness but we've worked through it. Maisie gets it but wants to play non stop so I think in the heat of playing she ignores the initial urge until it's too late? If it doesn't improve we'll definitely have her checked for the uti.

[Wendy and Myla]

I have read that everything is going better but I just wanted to tell you that we had problems with Myla when she was much younger than 16 weeks and I did not believe it could be a UTI because she could go for a long time at night time in her crate but during the day, we would take her outside and she would  pee but as soon as we brought her in, she would go to her bed and pee again - this went on for three weeks and finally I brought her to the vet and she did have a UTI.  As soon as we put her on the antibiotics, she was fine and has not had an accident since that time (she is six years old).  I honestly believed that she couldn't have a UTI because she went so long at night time but when I discovered that she did have a UTI I felt so guilty that I didn't bring her in earlier.  Please make sure that this is not the case as it can be so easy to fix!!! 

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

What good advice, Wendy.