15 week old puppy who still can't "hold it"

by Kara
(Massachusetts)

I have a 15 week old Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier. I have been crate training him since 9 weeks old and am having a very hard time with it. He eats 1 large meal a day now (2 meals a day weren't working) which he eats at around 6 pm.

He goes outside to go #2 twice before bed then wakes up between 2-4 to go again. Once I get up at 6 am he goes outside and goes again. I leave for work at 6:15 am and come home at 3:45 PM and he has already gone in his crate. I feel like he should be big enough now to "hold it" for longer periods of time but he does not seem to be making any progress. I have a roommate who is sometimes home during the day and she will let him out. For instance she let him out yesterday at 11:30 am and by the time I got home at 3:45 he had gone #2 in his crate twice.

When will he be able to "hold it" for longer than a few hours? Are there any training tips I can try to correct this?



Hi Kara
There's no 'one size fits all' rule about how old a pup needs to be to have good bladder/bowel control - they're all different I'm afraid. Smaller breeds also seem to have more trouble with this due to their fast metabolisms and small tummies/bladders.

At 15 weeks, most pups would be able to 'hold it' for 3 - 4 hours, some maybe longer, but not the 8 1/2 hours you're expecting. It's way too long for such a young pup. He should have been able to hold it for the just over 4 hours between 11:30 when your room-mate let him out and the 3:45 when you came home, but by now he's probably in the habit of eliminating in his crate which is also part of the problem

The first thing I'd suggest is to make sure that his crate isn't too big. It needs to be just big enough for him to sit down, lie down, turn around and stand up without touching the sides, no bigger.

Secondly, I'd recommend that for the next month at least, you find someone who can come to your home around 11am and let him out to eliminate and get some exercise. Either a friend, relative or neighbor, or even a petsitter if necessary. You need to break him of the habit of eliminating in his crate asap, and giving him more opportunities to go outdoors will definitely help.

If he's just getting one meal a day I'd try moving it forward a little, maybe feeding him around 5pm and just giving him one or two small dog biscuits about 10pm to prevent him being too empty overnight.

I'd also think about changing his food, but make any change-over very gradual so as not to cause puppy diarrhea. It could be that he's sensitive or even allergic to one or more ingredients in his current food. Dog food allergies can cause more frequent, loose stools, and if he can't properly digest all the food he will eliminate more.

Also, be sure you're giving him a high quality food (check out my 10 Best Dog Food Choices page for a selection of the top foods). Better quality food is more nutrient dense and doesn't contain all the chemicals, additives, and fillers that cheaper foods do. This results in smaller, firmer and less frequent stools.

If none of this seems to help, I'd recommend talking to your veterinarian and asking for some advice. A dog behaviorist or trainer may also be able to help some more.

I wish you the best of luck and hope you get this situation improved soon.