Potty Training.... HELP??

Hi Everyone,

Jackson is now 4 and a half, almost 5 months old. He was starting to become housebroken until recently, as in the past week, he has been peeing a lot in his crate.

Today, I went out after a power nap from work to check on him and felt that he was really wet, so I knew he had peed and (laid in and licked his pee) in his crate! He has been consistently peeing at least once, yesterday twice, in his crate for the last couple of days.

I am starting to get worried... is this normal? Is he getting too excited and peeing in his crate as a result? Im really confused and worried, please help! Thanks in advance!

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Permalink Reply by Beth on October 9, 2009 at 7:06am

How long is he in his crate before he pees? Is he given ample chance to relieve himself before being confined? Males, especially, start learning to hold part of their urine for marking, so a male puppy (any puppy, really, but especially a male) who has peed once outside then been brought right back in might not have an empty bladder. Five months is a little young for that, but Jack started lifting his leg by 6 months.

Urinary tract infections are much more common in females than males (just like people) but I suppose it's a possibility.

The other option is the crate may be too big for him. He should have room to stretch out and turn around, and that's it. If you have a crate big enough for your eventual full-sized Corgi, then it should still have some sort of divider in it. And if he was forced to pee in it once or twice because of one of the above reasons (too long confinement, insufficient opportunity to empty his bladder) he may have sort of gotten used to it. An awake five month old puppy can only hold it for about 5 hours, tops.

Personally, I only crated at night and used an exercise pen in the day, with newspapers down, because I was gone to work for 4.5 hours at a time and would come home at lunch, and it was too long for my pup to hold it. I didn't want him peeing in the crate, so I did the ex-pen thing.

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Permalink Reply by Alice on October 9, 2009 at 4:05pm

It could just be a stage. Finnigan did something similar. He peed in the house all the time when we first got him and it was hard to catch him before he peed because he would just pee as he walked and leave a zig zag trail on the carpet. He would also pee while lying down on his bed sometimes. He started to get better and we would go longer between potty break then he stopped having accidents until he was about 9 months at which time he randomly started dribbling in the house again. He had already been neutered but his does not mean rule out marking. I know he marks outside. he will pee a good 3 or 4 times before his bladder is empty. Male dogs tend to not empty all at once for the purpose of marking. My first concern though was a bladder infection but it was not. It lasted a couple weeks then stopped and has not happened since and he is now a year old and accident free in our house. he will however pee in other people's houses. It's hard to get it through that thick male skull that it's not ok to pee inside EVER.

He never peed in his crate but when we used to leave him in a playpen during the day he would always pee in it, which is why we opted for the crate instead. He even sleeps in his crate and does fine. Do you notice anything unusual about the urine such as a strong odor or dark, cloudy color? If it persists I would take him to the vet to rule out an infection.