potty troubles

    • Puppy

    potty troubles

    Hello All! Im new here and i have newly become Coopers mom! Cooper is approx 12 weeks old (not sure of his bday) and is a Lab/ Plott hound mix. or so we think. anyway he has only been in our family for 3 weeks now so we are still getting to know each other. the first week was good no problems with the crate and only a few accidents in the house. all to be expected. then he started potting in the house alot. like 10 minutes after coming in form going outside. now he has taken to going in his crate also. hes not left in there any longer than "they" say should be ok and i take up the water before he has to go in there. in my search for answers i keep coming across possible uriniary infections. so my question to you all is does this sound like a behavior issue or health issue? thanks so much in advance!

    • Moderators
    • Gold Top Dog

    Hi I would check with your vet to rule out any kind of urinary tract infection, going that often doesn't seem normal. If they rule out any kind of infection, then beings Cooper is so new to the family it will take time to adjust. The key is consistency! Take him out especially as soon as he wakes up or get done eating. When Cooper goes tons of praise! It will take time but it will get better. The most important thing at the moment is to make sure there is nothing medially going on. Please keep us posted.

    • Gold Top Dog

    @Michele68

    Hi I would check with your vet to rule out any kind of urinary tract infection, going that often doesn't seem normal. If they rule out any kind of infection, then beings Cooper is so new to the family it will take time to adjust. The key is consistency! Take him out especially as soon as he wakes up or get done eating. When Cooper goes tons of praise! It will take time but it will get better. The most important thing at the moment is to make sure there is nothing medially going on. Please keep us posted.

    Yes, I agree with Michele. It's always good to make sure there's not a urinary tract infection going on.  When you take him outside to potty, make sure he goes. :)  Puppies are easily distracted and many will play and chase leaves and never think to eliminate. Then they come inside and realize they do need to go. To a puppy, inside is as good as outside. That is until you make going outside very rewarding, using treats and praise.  Clean up any accidents sites with an enzymatic type cleaner like Nature's Miracle. He'll get it if you reward when he goes outside and do as Michele suggests and take him out immediately after he wakes up from a nap, after playtime and any time he seems to be wandering around sniffing.  

    With puppies this age, I take up their water around 8 PM.  Keeping to a schedule for eating and drinking helps get them used to going at certain times of day.

    When he's had an accident in the crate, how long was he in the crate?  Most puppies this age can't go the entire night without needing to go out at least once, maybe twice.