Puppy Won't Stop Peeing -- Help!

[nomadmom]

I have a 10 wk old Staffordshire Bull Terrier (male) who has been w/ us for exactly 2 weeks. He is gated in the kitchen, and taken outside very frequently. He pees every time we take him out. Nevertheless, he pees all over the kitchen. I don't see how it can be a health issue because he goes 7-8 hours at night without a potty break. Is he marking, and, if so, what can we do about it? We spray the area w/ a pet odor neutraliser, and I mop the whole floor w/ hot water and vinegar most nights. Sometimes he will pee on the floor literally a minute after coming in from peeing outside, and often it's just a tiny amount. Any ideas?

[Mirzam]

I don't know if you have seen this thread on house training, it has lots of great advice.

Do you have him in a crate? If not I highly recommend getting one it makes life and house training so much easier.

Congrats on your new puppy.

[stardogs]

A puppy given the space to potty in one area and sleep in another generally will not have any inhibition about pottying indoors, so using a crate when you're around to let him out every 2 hours or so may help.

Your puppy is also very young - he does not have full bladder/bowel control, so pottying every 10-15 minutes or so when active, after drinking or eating, and after waking up is *very* normal. Some puppies also need to potty twice to fully empty.

I do recommend that if you have noticed an increase in his urination frequency recently that you have him checked for a UTI - UTIs will make housetraining next to impossible.

[nomadmom]

I did see the thread on house training, but will go back and read it more thoroughly as I thought it was more about a specific issue (not peeing in the rain) rather than general tips. Funnily enough, our puppy also was not happy about going in the rain at first, but he needed to get over that in a hurry since we live in England -- no escape from rain here! He still doesn't like it, but does go.

We have had to back track because we gave him way too much freedom at first. He isn't in a crate, but is in a pen. It folds all different ways and sizes. During the day, we've used it to block the stairs and an area of the kitchen where we don't want him to go. At night, we fold it down to a small square. I guess we're going to have to back track some more and keep him in the smaller pen during the day when we can't watch him.

It's more obvious when he needs a poop, and he sometimes even goes to the door and whines, so that part has been pretty easy. He hasn't pooped in the house in over a week.

I don't think he has a uti (he goes all night w/o peeing), but he goes to the vet next Tuesday so I will ask them to check.

[Ola_]

When you say he gets taken outside very frequently, how often is that?

At his age it's really just a matter of taking him out on a schedule to prevent accidents, he won't be able to control his bladder for a while yet.

[nomadmom]

Originally Posted by Ola_

When you say he gets taken outside very frequently, how often is that?

Immediately upon waking, within a few minutes of drinking. Because we know he pees a lot, we take him out probably every 20 minutes unless he's in his pen (before today, he only went in his pen when he needed a nap). It seems like whenever someone's not directly engaged with him, he pees. He will go outside and pee, then come back in and go on the floor 10 minutes later, even if he's been outside for half an hour and peed multiple times. If we leave him alone in the kitchen even for a few minutes, we almost always find a puddle when we come back (and this includes when he peed outside immediately prior to being left in the kitchen).

From today, I am going to try to keep him in his pen when we can't directly supervise rather than giving him access to the entire kitchen.

[Alyantavid]

I'd get a crate. Our puppy would pee anywhere at that age, but not her crate. I also always kept her with me (although she's a Weim, so she always sticks with me). That way I could catch her in the act or get her outside if she needed to go before she actually went.

Keep your schedule with him as much the same as possible. Always first thing in the morning, about 10-15 minutes after eating, and always let him go out about the same amount of time from the last outing. I found with our puppy, consistency helped her alot.

But give it time. It takes awhile for them to figure the whole thing out and be able to have some control.

[stardogs]

For a 10.5 wo pup, needing to go out every 10 minutes when actively playing would not be unusual, nor would peeing at the beginning of their outside time and forgetting to go before heading back indoors. It's a pain in the rear at times, but not unusual.

Does he tank up on water when he comes inside after being out? That's another biggie I see when someone is having trouble with accidents.

[nomadmom]

Originally Posted by stardogs

Does he tank up on water when he comes inside after being out?

If he's had a good run around, yes. But then we're aware that he's full of water and try to keep an eye and get him back out within 10-15 minutes. Sometimes we do get distracted, though, and that's when he goes. I suppose it's like doing EC with a baby -- it's up to the parent to catch the signals until they actually have control themselves.

I'm not going to buy a crate because we already spent money on the pen. It can serve the same purpose, though. It folds down to a small square that's the same size a crate would be. He's been sleeping in it from day 1, and now he is getting used to being in there when we're not able to watch him.

Thanks for all the advice.

[vtechmom]

I don't know how practical it is for you but I also tethered my pups. You put them on a leash, attach the leash to your waist, and go about your business. It helps the pup bond to the family and it means they can't run off and pee without you noticing. If my pups weren't tethered to me they were in a crate or outside playing. I got some great advice from my training guru once "Take your puppy outside 1,000,000 times each day." No, not actually possible, but you get as close as you can . Also make sure lots of treats are involved everytime pup goes outside to potty.

Also an important note about male dogs in particular is that they won't necessarily empty their entire bladder in one go. It's not really about marking at that age but it is the physical ability that eventually enables marking (being able to stop and then go again shortly after). You might want to put going potty on a cue. Each time he goes outside to potty and you see him going, repeat a word or phrase (I just use "go potty!") then give lots of treats and praise. It doesn't take long until you can get them to potty on command and then you can make sure he has truly emptied his bladder before coming back inside.

[nomadmom]

Originally Posted by vtechmom

Also an important note about male dogs in particular is that they won't necessarily empty their entire bladder in one go.

I didn't know that, but it would certainly explain things! We went to the vet yesterday, and he does not have a uti, so we'll just have to deal with it until he learns.