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Continuous pee-ing

9K views 49 replies 13 participants last post by  jenhardy 
#1 ·
We are very frustrated with house-training Bella, now 5 months old. She pees and poops when we take her out, and we take her out frequently, and always wait until she goes before taking her back in the house, and reward her outside, but she just keeps pee-ing in the house, often only a few minutes after being outside. And then again and again, often less than half an hour later. It really seems like more is coming out than is going in. Someone suggested we take up the newspaper because we had initially been praising her for going on the paper, so we did that, but then she just pees on the tile floor. If we put the paper down again, she pees on the paper. Should we stop putting paper down altogether and shout at her if we catch her pee-ing inside? Also, we aren't shouting at her if we catch her pooping inside, because we're trying to stop her eating her poop (tried everything suggested and nothing worked) and we're afraid if we shout at her, she'll just work faster to "hide" the evidence. But maybe it's time to start reprimanding her for pee-ing and pooping in the house? Any suggestions?
 
#2 ·
First thing I would do is take a urine sample to the vet if you have not done so yet. It almost sounds like she has a urinary infection. My female beagles tend to get them more than my males did. If she is not sick, then yes, I would pick up the papers and clean that area with a special cleaner just for pet urine. If she still goes there don't make a HUGE deal about it but correct her and take her right out and say "pp outside" or whatever term you use.
 
#3 ·
If there is no urinary infection you can expect this for awhile longer as puppies have small bladders. I was pretty much at my wits end like you. At 9 months (YES I SAID 9 MONTHS) she suddenly consistently peed only outside. I do have one thing in my favor is that she has free access to the patio and can come and go as needed. She will stop playing and run outsie to pee and poop. It takes a lot of patience but it will happen. The most frustrating thing is when you read "how to house break your puppy in one week"...yaaaah riiiight! I can't tell you how many rolls of paper towels I went through. we had stacks of paper towels in the garage-my husband thought I was nuts and said we have enough for a flood--well he was right...lol

One thing I did was use a clicker each time she peed and pooped outside with a tiny treat..no treat when done inside. make sure you clean the pee scent with something like nature's miracle or vinegar and water (nothing that contains amonia
 
#4 ·
I agree with Cheryl. A vet check is definitely in order to rule out a UTI. Definitely pick up the newspapers. That is confusing to Bella. I adopted my puppy from a shelter in October. He was about 4 months old. I'd like to say he is housebroken, but every time I think he is, he has an accident. It has been about 2 weeks, since his last accident, so fingers crossed.

"Boh" had been adopted out and returned to the shelter, before I adopted him. Apparently, his previous owner attempted to paper train him. Not knowing that, I put paper in his crate. He would actually go into his crate to pee. OOPS. No more paper.

When I can't watch Boh, he is confined to his crate, which is in the kitchen. When I am sitting here, I leave his crate open and he has access to the tiled kitchen. I have a baby gate blocking access to the rest of the house. He has three bowel movements a day - morning, after breakfast, and after dinner. I keep him on a leash to go potty - even in the yard. He is learning to go in his designated area. I am able to make sure he goes and clean up quickly.

Is Bella being confined to a small area? She should have very limited access inside the home. You can tether her to you, so she is always by your side. If she starts to go potty inside, you can say, "no" and take her outside quickly. When she goes outside....Praise, praise, praise. Reprimanding Belle will only cause harm. She may hold back from eliminating, increase eating her feces, and start submissive urination.
 
#5 ·
Wow! You are all a fantastic resource. (And I notice you are the same folks responding to my other post about how much to feed, so thanks again!) Based on your comments, we are going to speak with the vet Monday about getting Bella checked for a UTI. In reply to the question about Bella's space-- she is confined to the kitchen, and has both bed and crate, but the kitchen is big and is unfortunately open to the sitting room, which has no door, just a large archway. I went today to order an extra-wide gate to keep Bella out of the sitting room. It's her favorite place to go pee and poop (and eat it) because I am normally in the kitchen and can't see her in part of the sitting room. So that's a problem. Fortunately, it's all tile. I have started crating her whenever I leave the room, because of the poop eating. She's happy in her crate. I also crate her when we have to leave the house. The longest she's been in during the day was just over three hours, and she stays clean and dry then so I didn't consider a UTI. She stays dry at night for about 6-7 hours. She goes to her crate voluntarily around 9pm, but we take her out of the crate around midnight and put her on a paper to pee, otherwise she wets herself before we wake her at 7am for first walk. But it's really like she's sleepwalking when we wake her to pee; it's so funny and cute, and then she just staggers back into her crate and immediately sleeps. Last night, she wet herself in the crate after only 2 1/2 hours, which was unusual. It's difficult to rush her outside if she starts to go in the house, because we're on the third floor. Also, we're at the base of a mountain on a dead-end street surrounded by forest, and there are rabbits and foxes (fox and hound, haha!), so lots of reasons not to pop down there with Bella at midnight or 3am as I read that some folks are doing with the puppies. There are big balconies we can let her out on, but thus far she's declined to pee or poop on paper on the balcony; much more interested in investigating the potted plants, etc. So, we'll see what the vet says. Meantime, we'll keep up the wildly enthusiastic praise and treats when Bella gets it right outside, and we'll only look disappointedly in her direction when she gets it wrong inside. And I'll look into clicker training. Sure will cut down on the number of healthful home-baked puppy treats we're going through at present. Happy new year to all of you and your hounds!
 
#6 ·
I feel your pain. I began the thread HOUSEBREAKING BLUES.

My dog is much older, like 2 or 3 and is not housebroken. He, too, goes outside regularly on a schedule and is often very successful. But, we, too, get the random pee in odd places, different places and at odd times.

He can go through the night, from 11 to 6:30. But, he, too, will pee in his crate and on his dog beds and just lay in it. Everyone says dogs won't do that, but they do. My dog does not poop in the house, thank goodness.

One thing funny about Jesse is that he HATES to get up in the morning (although he needs to.) I have to drag him out of bed, and drag him downstairs and outside. Once out, he goes right away, so I know he needs to go. If I let us sleep in, even a little bit, until 7am or so-too late. He pees the bed.

I think housebreaking is much harder and takes much longer than people say. I remember trying to house train my lab years ago. It took months and everyone was surprised. I thought she had a learning disability. Treats worked for her. But treats don't work for Jesse as he refuses them about half the time. Weird, isn't it? A beagle that refuses food!
 
#7 ·
Sounds like your going though the same insane frustration as me. Fingers crossed they will pick it up soon, Millie also likes to eat her own poop but she is either growing our if it or has gone off it a bit because she doesn't eat the poop outside anymore.
 
#8 ·
Frustrating isn't it?

My four month old Max pees like ten times a day it seems, poos at least three to four times a day, and only a fraction of those outside. We got him a week ago and thought were making progress, as the frequency of going outside bettered the use of wee wee pads, but since moving him downstairs in the kitchen he started doing his business inside and more frequently. Sometimes we go outside and stay as long as is bearable (cold and he gets bored) and he pees as soon as he runs into the house often to the dumbfounded response: "are you kidding me?"

He seems extremely frustrated with the gates too, whining and pushing on them whenever anyone is in the house which didn't seem to happen upstairs. But he needs to learn that his place will be in the kitchen.

Hopefully it doesn't take too long for him to learn.
 
#9 ·
Walk her.
Dont jut take her outside to pee, reward her with a walk.
Walk her about 15 mnutes after she pees.

Paper in the house is telling her it's ok to pee in the house. If you want he to pee outside it has to be outside or nothing.

Take her out every 20 minutes around the clock and adjust as needed for no accidents.

If she has time to eat her poop then it's n the ground too long.

Potty Training Your Dog and How to Handle Accidents in The House - Whole Dog Journal Article
 
#10 ·
We are rewarding her with a walk. Maybe I didn't say that. We go out to her spot, and once she goes there (which happens immediately on the first morning walk at 7:15, both pee and poop) we go for a long walk, at least 20 minutes and often up to 45 or even an hour. She gets to run around in the woods (on her lead), meet other dogs, see birds and people. Usually she will pee another time. Back in the house, no paper on the floor, she will sometimes immediately pee again. After about two hours, we go out again, same routine, but sometimes she will immediately go and sometimes we will be in her spot for 15 minutes or more and she gets progressively more frustrated and stubborn, pulling on the lead to go somewhere else, and she will not pee, so we go on a walk for at least 15 minutes, then back to her spot, which sometimes works and sometimes doesn't. As for the poop-eating, she only does it in the house now, no longer attempts to eat it outside, so that's progress! Thank goodness she never went for other dogs' poop outside, only her own. As for it being down too long in the house, I am with her nearly continuously, and crate her when I'm not. (She never poops in the crate.) I clean up immediately, but she is very, very fast and eats it the moment it hits the floor. There have been a couple of times that I watched her poop and then just walk away and never look back, and I thought we were making progress, but the next time, she ate it. I can't figure out why she does or doesn't do it. Right now, we're focused on trying to figure out her schedule so we can adjust the walks accordingly.
 
#11 ·
Ugh 1BH, I feel for you! So frustrating!

I hope your dog begins to "get with the program" eventually. One poster here said that I should walk my dog every two hours until I learn which walks are necessary.

My dog, Jesse, is doing better, and hasn't had an accident since last Wednesday-knock wood. Interestingly, that's when the new crate came AND when I began pulling up his food after 15 minutes in the morning and evening. I'm not sure how the food and peeing are related, but I'm happy it's working.

I'm worried, though, that tomorrow is STELLA day, our cleaning lady comes. I'm wondering if Jesse is afraid of the vacuum and that's why he peed last week and then that set his schedule all off. Hopefully he'll feel safe in his new crate. We'll see. Wish us luck tomorrow!

And good luck to you, 1BH. I have to say, with my lab who was impossible to house train, in the end I did have to yell at her when she had accidents after weeks and weeks, WHILE rewarding her for success outside. I DO think dogs need to know what is NOT OKAY for us. Just like kids...
 
#12 ·
Be patient! It will happen! My dog took a long time to train. She was 2 or so when I got her and had been an outdoor dog all her life til then. She very rarely has an accident now...it just took time and praise.
Also, to jenhardy, my dog also peed in her crate. I think she did it because she realized she could come out of it while it was cleaned. Beagles are smart!
Weirdly, she did much better housetraining after I took the crate away. I know it's not for everyone, but I can leave her alone for several hours by herself and she will not have any accidents. I was putting her in the crate for 20 minutes and she would have an accident. Who knows, maybe she is just an oddball!
 
#15 ·
Bella is only 5 months. It is probably a maturity thing. I know beagles are notorious for being hard to housebreak. Be consistent and patient. It will happen.

I had high hopes there for a while. We made it TWO WEEKS, with no pee accidents. Natty Boh never has an accident overnight and never has a poo accident. I even went to a party Saturday and was gone for six hours. No accident. My buttons were bursting.

Sunday, I went downstairs to watch the football game and he peed in his crate. Starting over. Back at day 3. Whatchagonna do? SIGH!
 
#16 ·
Ha ha, we are so funny! Counting the days since the last accident! And, aren't the accidents RANDOM?

So, we did not make it through Stella Day. Jesse's crate was wet when I came home at 4:45. The dog walker texted that he was dry at noon, so, I don't know what happened. Stella leaves by 10, the latest. The dog walker would have me think that it happened later. Maybe it did. But, I suspect it was earlier, especially since I believe the dog walker may have been later than usual...

Anyway, we had gone 6 days with no accidents and today we had one. So we'll start over. You may think I'm crazy, but I'm planning to pen Jesse in the kitchen tomorrow because he's been reluctant to go into his crate. It seems awfully small for 5 hours at a time. Maybe he'll do better with it as an option but with the ability to roam the kitchen, too.

Again, wish us luck. And to all those also housebreaking, good luck to you, too!
 
#18 ·
Jesse afraid of housekeeper & doesn't like crate?

So, we did not make it through Stella Day. Jesse's crate was wet when I came home at 4:45. The dog walker texted that he was dry at noon, so, I don't know what happened. ... he's been reluctant to go into his crate. It seems awfully small for 5 hours at a time. Maybe he'll do better with it as an option but with the ability to roam the kitchen, too.
I had some thoughts on the problems you're having with Jesse. Maybe Stella is doing things -- making noise -- in a way that frightens Jesse. Bella was terrified of the vac at first, and also the garbage disposal and the hairdryer. We fixed it by showing her that we're in control of the scary noises. We let her sniff the vac and the hairdryer while they were off, and then moved her away and let her watch us turn them on/off several times. For the garbage disposal, we sat her in front of the open cabinet door where the switch is and turned it on/off a few times. Now she completely ignores all of them. I wonder if it's not that Jesse doesn't like Stella, but that perhaps Jesse feels trapped in the crate surrounded by a scary noise. Or perhaps the crate isn't comfortable? Is it the correct size for Jesse? (Bella's is a PetMate Large 350, 32 x 23 x 23 inches.) Is there a nice pad, crate pillow or old blanket/towel? Is it perhaps near something that makes Jesse uncomfortable? A draft, a noise?Is it someplace near the people? Bella loves her crate in a corner of the kitchen (I'm there most of the time) and goes in/out happily all day when the door is open, and when we need to crate her for a few hours we give her a toy or two, maybe a Kong with some snacks in it, and her water, and no problem! At night, we crate her with her favorite bit of towel, one nylabone, and her water, and again, no problem. She only wet her crate twice when we first got it. Try re-introducing Jesse to the crate with lots of "comfort" items, and maybe in a new location, and make sure Jesse has "met" Stella and all the noise-making things. Good luck!
 
#17 ·
Continuous pee-ing/house-training

Thanks everyone for your supportive comments. Hearing about your experiences is also helpful. We spoke with the vet on Monday about Bella's frequent pee-ing and she said "Don't bring me the dog. Bring me the urine specimen." She believes it is possible to get a urine collection cup, about 5 inches high, under Bella, when she is squatting 1/4 inch off the ground. I asked if I could collect the morning pee on something else, like a clean sheet of art paper, and put it in the cup and the vet said no. So we have not been able to get a urine specimen because as soon as we go near Bella mid-pee, she stops. Plus that cup-height issue. Kind of comical, really! On the good side, I think (not that the vet said so) that an infection would have worsened and we'd be seeing other symptoms; we don't, just frequency. So I continue trying to figure out a schedule. Yesterday was a good day :dance: in that Bella didn't poop in the house even once, and only peed inside twice. On the other hand, we walked her excessively and she was out of the house on errands with me for several hours. Interestingly, although given several chances to "go" in unfamiliar patches of grass, Bella didn't go at all for nearly four hours, then went immediately in familiar territory near the house. So I'm thinking she can hold it when she wants to, and her going in the house is simply a misunderstanding.
 
#19 ·
1BH,
You might be right about Stella and the scary noises. Our previous dog dreaded Stella coming, too, so much that we wondered what Stella may have been doing or saying to her. I think getting Jesse used to the vacuum is a great idea. We'll try that.
Also, I AM concerned about Jesse's crate and I even posed a picture on one of these threads about the size. We had a 36" and everyone said it was TOO big and that Jesse had room to pee and to sleep. I couldn't block it off to make it smaller, so I sold it and bought a 30", which is the size the shelter people told me to buy. It seems awfully small, but he does go in it on his own to hang out and rest. I was sensing his reluctance to go in when we were leaving for work. I think he knew that we would be gone for hours and that he would be alone and in that tiny space.

The dog walkers said that he was a happy dog when found in the kitchen on Thursday. Only problems with this system are 1. that they can't open the gates and have to lift him over (40 pounds) and 2. Jesse knocked one gate down on Friday.

Thanks for the suggestions, though! We'll try.
 

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#20 ·
Well, I am completely frustrated with the house-training. It seemed we were making progress -- four days of Bella not eating her poop, and peeing only 3-4 times inside (isn't it sad that "only 3-4 times" seems good?). But then she ate her poop in the house three times in two days, and today she peed in the house 7 times. Three times she peed inside within 5 minutes or less of having been outside for 20-30 minutes and doing nothing outside. At one point, she peed inside three times in under 45 minutes. The vet said she doesn't have a UTI, but she did have "a few red blood cells" in the urine specimen, which the vet said indicates irritation, probably due to her peeing so much! The vet said the situation will improve as Bella "matures as a female". I don't know if I can do 4-6 more months of this. The vet said I cannot limit Bella's water because she's on dry food; the water should be constantly available. I really am so frustrated because I think we're doing the training properly. We took up the paper in the house weeks ago. We walk her frequently, in the designated area, and she does nothing -- except for first walk of the day, when she pees and poops immediately -- so after 15 minutes in the designated area, where she indicates her boredom by chewing on every stone, tree and pinecone, we leave the designated area and walk around a bit, then return to the designated area, another 10-15 minutes, and she does nothing, then we go inside and within a minute or two, she pees inside. I only caught her peeing once, so I shouted at her then, but I cannot correct her behavior if I never catch her doing it. I have her right here with me but I can't watch her every second, and she will pee standing right near me. There doesn't seem to be a schedule, even though we feed her at pretty much the same times every day. We are praising her enormously -- treat, verbal, petting -- every time she goes outside. Even while she's peeing I'm saying "Good girl, you peed!" trying to get her to associate the word "pee" with her action, so I can take her out and tell her to pee. I really don't want to resort to keeping paper or pads on the floor all the time. I know Bella can hold it because if we crate her during the day, even for up to three hours, she doesn't pee in the crate, and at night she stays dry 9-10 hours. What can we do?
 
#21 ·
I disagree with the vet. I also feed dry food and I limit water. Years ago, I bought a show quality samoyed puppy from an excellent breeder. My puppy would drink the whole bowl of water and pee and pee and pee. My breeder told me to take the water up, after a certain time. Helped immensely. Boh currently eats Wellness Core puppy. He is not a big drinker, but once he is in his crate for the night, he has no access to water.

What are you feeding your pup? Better quality foods are more expensive, but you feed less, more is digested and there is less waste. Less poop is good. Boh poops two or three times a day - usually, when he goes out first thing in the morning, after breakfast, and after dinner.
 
#22 ·
Funny you should ask, because I just realized that we're feeding Bella too much and too often (altho' she's quite thin). Late December when Bella was 5 months, we changed from Purina Pro Puppy to Royal Canin Adult because she was too thin and the vet recommended adult food. That's a very good (expensive!) brand. We had been feeding 65 grams 3x/day so we just continued that. Bella seemed always hungry so we upped her to 70g 3x/day, and just now I realized we are not following the Royal Canin chart; we're feeding too often and too much. Tomorrow we're cutting back to 90g 2x/day, which is the chart recommendation for "high activity" dogs. I think that if she eats less often, she will poop less often, and will drink less often so theoretically she should pee less often. It may be that that's still too much food; the "low activity" amount would be 70g 2x/day, but I feel bad cutting her back that much suddenly. Also, we discovered two days ago that she has worms, although she'd been treated for them when we first got her in November. So we treated her again and will repeat treatment in 15 days. Maybe the worms are why she's so thin, poor girl. Anyway, this is just a difficult patch for us and so frustrating! I'm hoping that cutting back on the food and mealtimes will help us without making Bella uncomfortable.
 
#23 ·
Max pees way too frequently, I think I should reduce the amount of water he is given. But don't want him to get dehydrated. He does tend to drink a bunch, but nothing like a whole bowl or anything. This usually happens after he comes back from outside. Some days I counted him peeing six to ten times it seems. A lot of the time its just a small amount of pee, and typically on his wee wee pad.

I think he poops way too much also. I switched to Purina Pro Plan and have been taking him outside at 7am, 9am, 12pm, 5pm and 10pm and he poops every time. Yesterday he pooped in the house on his wee wee pad twice. Its like he forgot the whole concept of going outside. And we were doing so well over the past two weeks.
 
#24 ·
I don't know how to teach him to call us outside when he wants to do his business.

He's in the kitchen behind a baby gate and starts jumping up and down right after he has wet or pooped his wee wee pad. As if he's proud of it. How do I teach him to do it before so he can go out to do the same things?
 
#25 ·
Dog Food Analysis - Reviews of kibble

Check out this link. I copied it from the forum health and wellness section. Royal Canin is not the best. Many people think it is overpriced for what you get. It only rates 3 out of 6 stars on the links' review list.

My puppy came from the shelter eating Science Diet - not cheap either, and absolute crap. I rotated my previous dog between Orijen, Taste of the Wild, and Wellness Core - all 6 star ratings. Prices and sizes vary. Does anyone even make real 30 pound bags of dog food anymore? I'd estimate the larger sized bags of these foods range from $60 something to $70 something depending on where you purchase them.

You might want to look into a change, especially if the multiple poos continue.

Good luck!
Jan
 
#29 ·
Dog Food Analysis



Thanks for the comparison, Jan. I will look into it. When the vet recommended Royal Canin, I figured it was a reliable recommendation, as she doesn't sell it herself. And I think she told me dogs can't digest corn? RC is not at all cheap here-- about $90 for a 15-kilo bag, which I think is a lot more than it costs in the States. Anyway, I will have to compare our bag to the ingredients listed in the review, as the packaging isn't the same. More to think about...:eek:
 
#26 ·
How old is Max now? I never liked the pee pads. I think it is confusing to the dog. I would still limit his water intake. Like with 1Bealgehouse's pup, consider switching foods. Dogs cannot process corn meal and grains. That is just coming back out as waste. You can check the link above or just go to the health and wellness section of this fourm. You don't have to feed a 6 star food, but try to feed the best quality food you can afford. There are a lot of options.

Jan
 
#27 ·
Potty training

Patience is the key...I got my beagle buddy at 8 months. He came from living with his mom and sister and brother with full access to outside...I brought him to an apt. I had newspaper every where and he constantly pooped and peed everywhere and outside during his walks...I thought I would never get through it....now at ten months he has a more mature bladder he only goes in one place in the apt. On his newspaper..which I can immediately dispose of and he goes outside on his walks....things are some help better now two months later....good luck
 
#28 ·
Patience is the key...I got my beagle buddy at 8 months. He came from living with his mom and sister and brother with full access to outside...I brought him to an apt. I had newspaper every where and he constantly pooped and peed everywhere and outside during his walks...I thought I would never get through it....now at ten months he has a more mature bladder he only goes in one place in the apt. On his newspaper..which I can immediately dispose of and he goes outside on his walks....things are some help better now two months later....good luck
To each his own. Your place. If you don't mind him going to the bathroom in your home. that's your call. To me, one place "inside" the home is one place too many. I think it is much harder to transition a dog from going on paper to going outside. I'd rather train to go outside 100 percent of the time.
 
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