Normal "accidents"?

[corbinam]

I am starting to get concerned with Lexi's peeing accidents in the house. We were doing really well until the end of last week, and now I feel like we are back to square one. She is 17 weeks old, and still seems to have no idea that she shouldn't pee in the house. That being said, she NEVER poops in the house, and always tells us when she needs to poop.

Here's an example of what's been typical of her. She went out about an hour ago, and hasn't had water since then. We were all in the bedroom and she was up on the bed with me and Bentley. She had basically just jumped up (presumably to bother Bentley) and all of a sudden she was peeing on the bed RIGHT next to me. We stopped her, and took her out, and she finished outside.

It just seems so odd that she would pee on the bed. And it was a lot, not just a tiny pee. She has peed in the house 3 times today, and we've been watching her and been right there each time. She gets praised and treated every time she goes outside. Also, we take her out at least every 1.5-2 hours.

Is this just puppy learning? Or does she have another UTI?

 

[Chris]

I am starting to get concerned with Lexi's peeing accidents in the house. We were doing really well until the end of last week, and now I feel like we are back to square one. She is 17 weeks old, and still seems to have no idea that she shouldn't pee in the house. That being said, she NEVER poops in the house, and always tells us when she needs to poop.

Here's an example of what's been typical of her. She went out about an hour ago, and hasn't had water since then. We were all in the bedroom and she was up on the bed with me and Bentley. She had basically just jumped up (presumably to bother Bentley) and all of a sudden she was peeing on the bed RIGHT next to me. We stopped her, and took her out, and she finished outside.

It just seems so odd that she would pee on the bed. And it was a lot, not just a tiny pee. She has peed in the house 3 times today, and we've been watching her and been right there each time. She gets praised and treated every time she goes outside. Also, we take her out at least every 1.5-2 hours.

Is this just puppy learning? Or does she have another UTI?

It's puppy learning. Beckon did the exact same thing -- got so excited he peed all over the bed. Remember, they're still learning placement AND control.

 

[take4roll10]

It's so hard to tell if they have a UTI or if it's just a behavioral issue. There's only one way to find out and that's with a urine test.

when Bailey had UTI's she peed on my bed a few times. Since she's been better, no more peeing on the bed. She knew to ring the bell to go out, but with no signal, she would just pee anywhere. She was also peeing every 20-45 minutes.

 

[corbinam]

It's puppy learning. Beckon did the exact same thing -- got so excited he peed all over the bed. Remember, they're still learning placement AND control.

Thanks for the reassurance. I haven't housetrained a puppy in so long that I don't really know what to expect. When we got Bentley at 6 months, he peed in the house twice and never again. I feel like we're a long way from that, but maybe those two months are the critical learning period!

I don't want to expect too much from her, but I also don't want to overlook any possible health issues.

She also squats several times outside...but I know this can be a marking thing, too. She has pretty much always done that.

 

[SheltieChe]

my vote for UTI and I would def check it out. Lots of girls seems to have this problems. I would also try to implement strict 1 hr or so rule to go out potty... just like in the beginning... I find that teaching pup to potty on cue word is very very helpful... we could potty before entering the buildings for classes or friend's houses... works like a charm...

 

[corbinam]

my vote for UTI and I would def check it out. Lots of girls seems to have this problems. I would also try to implement strict 1 hr or so rule to go out potty... just like in the beginning... I find that teaching pup to potty on cue word is very very helpful... we could potty before entering the buildings for classes or friend's houses... works like a charm...

Yes, we are definitely teaching her to go on command. And she goes EVERY time we take her out immediately...so that's very nice.

We have some leftover antibiotics from her UTI she had a couple weeks ago, so I think we'll get her back on that. It can't hurt.

 

[Diana]

She also squats several times outside...but I know this can be a marking thing, too. She has pretty much always done that.

I do think you should get her checked for a UTI. Buffy never exhibited any "marking" behavior except when she had a UTI - the two things are easy to mix up. The first time Buffy had a UTI I thought she was marking...

Here's the method we followed for housetraining.

http://www.dogstardaily.com/training/errorless-housetraining

It involves a lot of short-term confinement. Basically, the first few weeks we had her, Buffy was either in the crate or her pen when she was inside. (We lined her pen with rubber mats.) We would only let her play inside and not in the pen right after she came back in from going pee or poo.

She was rewarded with a freeze dried liver treat and an indoor play session if she peed or pooed outside. Other than that, she was in the crate or pen. She did spend a lot of time sleeping during those first few weeks. We did catch her in the act a few times, but those became few and far between quite quickly. I would say she was pretty reliable by about 4.5 or 5 months, and completely reliable by 7 months.

Also - a note - make sure you are cleaning up her pee immediately, with a good cleaner that erases the scent of the pee. We use Urine-Off, but there are a few similar products out there. Regular cleaners don't get rid of all the residue and the dog can still smell the pee.

Good luck! I know house training is time-consuming at first, but I am sure Lexi will get there!