My puppy will pee in the house randomly? WTF

cloudymeatballs1

Hi.  My puppy is about 4 months.  We have been great about making sure he goes outside to go potty every 2 hours and he does well.  But sometimes, randomly, he will just squat and pee in the house!!!  WTF!  He knows he is doing wrong and when I look at him he runs outside and finishes.  Does anyone have any clue what the heck is going on and how to fix it  ?? I am sick of cleaning up his pee all thetime. Grrr

MrsAshleyH10

Does he have a way to tell you he has to go out? 

When we were potty training, I tied string with a bell attached to it on our door.  Every time we went outside to go potty we would take his paw or nose and hit the bell to make noise.  It took only a few days for him to understand and start using it himself.

ETA: Also, every time he eliminates outside you should be rewarding him.

chrisnjay05212010

Its just part of puppy training.  When he goes in the house, tell him no firmly and take him outside. He must receive tons of praise for going outside, including treats.  When you clean up the mess inside make sure you are using something like Nature's Miracle that really kills the smell so that he wont think to mark again there.   Consistency is key- some puppies take longer than others

cloudymeatballs1

Thanks girls.  Ya he actually has a doggy door he uses all of the time.  We do reward him all of the time when he goes.  Both my H and I.  He knows he is doing good just as he knows when he is being bad.  I do use the nature's miracle.  He goes in different spots all the time. It is just randomly.  I guess we will just keep on the little guy. He is good most of the time but he has his moments then I'm like, wth dude!!!   Thanks again. xo

Caz1221

In addition to taking him out frequently, you may want to try tethering him to you with a leash so that he can't sneak off to pee in the house and so you can spot the first sign that he needs to go (sniffing, circling, etc.) and whisk him outside.  If you do catch him in the act of peeing, clap your hands to interrupt him, and take him outside immediately.  Praise/reward if he does any peeing outside (even just a few drops).  The fewer opportunities he has to pee in the house (and the more he gets rewarded for peeing outside), the faster he will learn.

Slightly off topic, but you may want to reconsider the dog door - the puppy should be supervised any time he's outside to make sure he's safe, and other critters can use the dog door to enter your house (a while ago, someone posted photos here of the scene when a raccoon got into someone's garage through their dog door and got into a fight with their dogs - it was terrifying).

CamiSelene

I'm having a similar issue with house-training our 8 month old rescued pitbull/lab/shepherd mix. We were able to keep a close eye on him at our old place but since moving into our new house, he's been sneaking into the laundry room and pooping. We take him out every 20 mins-half an hour to prevent this but he's such a picky pooper (he won't go anywhere but in the bushes and refuses to go to the bathroom while on long walks). Once, I had to wait a good half hour before he would go. Today DH took him out 5 times in the pouring rain over the span of 2 hours and he still refused to do his thing then ended up going in the laundry room again as soon as he was inside! So frustrating!

Caz1221

CamiSelene said:

I'm having a similar issue with house-training our 8 month old rescued pitbull/lab/shepherd mix. We were able to keep a close eye on him at our old place but since moving into our new house, he's been sneaking into the laundry room and pooping. We take him out every 20 mins-half an hour to prevent this but he's such a picky pooper (he won't go anywhere but in the bushes and refuses to go to the bathroom while on long walks). Once, I had to wait a good half hour before he would go. Today DH took him out 5 times in the pouring rain over the span of 2 hours and he still refused to do his thing then ended up going in the laundry room again as soon as he was inside! So frustrating!

Have you tried tethering him to you as I described above?  That should prevent him from sneaking off.  If you can't watch him closely, tether or crate him.  Continue taking him out often, and throw a huge party any time he potties outside (praise, treats, rewards).  Also, make sure you clean up any accidents with an enzymatic cleaner (like Nature's Miracle).  Regular cleaners may cover the scent to humans, but the dog can still smell the pee/poo and may think it's ok to go in that spot again.

RedheadBaker

OP, have you had your dog checked for a UTI?