puppy peeing in the house but goes all night long from 9 pm - 5 am fine in his kennel

by Kathy
(Pennsylvania)

Got him at 8 weeks old was doing going to the door when he had to potty. He is now 15 weeks old, the past two days he is just peeing everywhere with out running to the door to let me know he has to go. I don't know what do, with him. I put his nose down where he went to let him smell what he did tell him bad potty and put him outside and tell him potty outside. when he goes outside i tell him good potty. really praise him for it. I clean up his mess by absorbing it with a paper towel and than i spray it really good with natures miracle.

Now i can put him in his kennel at 9pm and I get up at 5am every morn. he doesn't potty in his kennel at all any more he did for like the first two weeks. I just washed his rugs with natures miracle and detergent and he just stopped going in there. And all of a sudden he just started and it seems to be as soon as the old man gets home from work. I don't understand it.

He pees if i leave the room or steals something he knows he can't have like my nicknacks. The stealing things i can handle i know it's just for attention but the peeing i can't take it i feel like i am doing something wrong. But i have a six year old dog that i trained the same way and he was house broke in two weeks. Is it the breed they are both mixes the 6 yr. old is a st. bernard and rottweiler mix. the puppy is a golden lab and australian cattle mix. Any suggestions?


Sincerely,
Kathy






Hi Kathy
Puppies often go through a kind of 'regression' once they've settled into their new homes and especially when they begin to leave the real 'puppy' stage and enter adolescence.

They're really like human 'tweens and teens' and will test their boundaries and act out, it's just part of their development - not necessarily something you are doing wrong.

It's not that your puppy CAN'T hold his pee for more than 10 minutes during the daytime, just that he really hasn't totally understood that he NEEDS to. His bladder is more empty at night, but he's still showing excellent control to be able to keep his crate clean and dry for 8 hours straight.

I would suggest checking out my Crate Training page and going back to keeping him crated more until you can break this bad habit of messing indoors. You need to help him to 'forget' about doing his business in the house and replace this habit with always going outside - with no opportunity to do otherwise.

It will take consistency and patience, but he will get it in time. I don't think it's so much to do with the breeds, as the individual dog. Some are just quicker to catch on than others.

As for him acting out when your husband gets home and peeing when you leave the room etc., it may be that your pup is a bit anxious around him. Perhaps he doesn't spend much time with him, or is afraid of his size/voice etc. The peeing maybe submissive urination in that case, a way that your puppy is trying to show your husband that he recognizes his position as 'alpha' in the home. The best thing to do in that case is to ignore the behavior. Drawing attention to it or correcting him for it will only make it worse. As your pup matures and gains confidence, and his relationship with your husband develops, he will feel more secure and this should stop, or at least diminish considerably.


Best of luck with your pup.