3 month puppy suddenly peeing everywhere!

by Shawna
(Los angeles)

Why is my 3month old puppy peeing all over the house all of a sudden?

For example: she peed more than 3 times in less than a hour and they were big puddles




Hi Shawna
Unless your puppy is suddenly drinking a LOT more water than she normally does, I'm not sure why she is peeing more often.

It's perfectly possible though that she has a urinary tract infection, this can cause frequent (usually urgent) urination - although often there won't be a big puddle every time.

A UTI is fairly common in puppies, especially female puppies, and I'd strongly recommend that you take your little girl to your vet for an examination so that you can find out if this is the problem.

Left untreated a urinary tract infection can cause serious problems by spreading to the kidneys and other organs, so it's important to get a diagnosis and antibiotics if needed.

If she gets the 'all clear' in terms of health, then it's possible this is purely a developmental stage that she's going through. Puppies are like babies, and they go through a lot of 'phases and stages' as they grow and develop. At 3 months old she still has immature bladder control and it may be that as she is bigger, she can drink more and wee more!

Potty Training a puppy is an on-going process for at least 6 months, often longer, and just because a pup is relatively clean for a few weeks, that doesn't mean that she is fully housebroken yet.

A third possibility is that there's been some sort of major change or stressor in her life recently, and as a result she's 'regressed' a bit in terms of her training. For example, a house move, a new pet, a new baby, a divorce, a death in the family... anything that causes emotional upheaval or change in her family members or surroundings can cause this type of problem. It's just temporary in these situations though.

In either of the second two possibilities, you just need to continue to be patient and consistent with your housebreaking rules and procedures (using her crate a bit more if necessary while she weathers this storm is okay, . See my Crate Training A Puppy page for more help with this method), and give her time to overcome her issues.

Hope this helps, best of luck with your puppy.