Puppy not making any progress with toileting

[47greenbottleshanging]

My puppy is 13 weeks so still very young. From his first few days with us (we got him at 8 weeks), he has been good at going on command for his poops and wees. However he continues to have an accident or two a day, as well as a wee overnight in the crate. I know this is fairy normal but there just doesn't seem to have been any progress.

I still take him out at least every hour. Yet still the odd accident.

Any ideas on what I can do?

[SistersOfPercy]

Patience is probably the key, he's young yet.

Our boy came to us the day before Xmas. He was small and our large garden is a bit of a wind tunnel so he was spun around as soon as he went out and was terrified. I took the decision to pad train to the back door over winter. When he was five months, bigger and the weather warmer I opened the door and out the pad out and he picked it up almost instantly.

He's six months now and even now occasionally he still has the odd overnight accident but he's getting there.
13 weeks is still little I think. Everyone has different methods of training, what works for some doesn't always work for others. Just keep taking him out and praising. It will click eventually I'm sure.

[Isthatwhatdemonsdo]

Patience is the key. Our little one is 11 weeks. She dtill has the odd wee accident and sometimes in front of me!
Just keep up with what your doing. It will get better.

[lulalullabye]

I agree. We have a 13wk old guide dog puppy. He still has the odd accident, usually in as shop. The key for us is persistence, regular toileting and we do this on a lead so he doesn't wander round the garden for hours looking to wee, he just does it where he is told. As for night time, we had this problem and he would cry in the morning but by the time we got there he had weed. we then started running really fast at the first sound, took him for a wee then put him back in. We then extended the amount of time we took to get to him and he is now very dry.

[basildonbond]

Hang on in there - he's still v little. I posted something along the same lines when dpup was 15 weeks old. Almost immediately afterwards it clicked for him and he's been reliably dry and clean ever since

Just keep watching him and keep taking him out

This phase feels like it's going on for ever but it's amazing how quickly they progress and you no longer need to watch their every move

[daisydotandgertie]

Your puppy has only been alive for 13 weeks. That's no time at all.

He's only been able to poo and wee without his mother stimulating him for 10 of those weeks.

Voluntary control of bowel and bladder begins to be possible from about 10 weeks and can take as long as between 4 and 6 months to become perfect.

He's doing well so far. Give him time.

[47greenbottleshanging]

He seems to do a lot of little wees - could I be taking him out TOO often and making very frequent weeing a habit or not teaching him to hold it on longer?

I take him out every hour.

At night we do midnight til 7.15 and he has wee'd in the crate every morning. Today we went down at 7 to see if it made a difference but he had still wee'd.
I feel like he isn't lengthening the nights stretch at all. In fact if anything he's got slightly worse as he did have a spell of managing it. Wondering if he has lost inhibitions about weeing in the crate.

Should we take water away after a certain time?

[BabeRuthless]

There'll be someone a lot wiser than me along soon but I've read a few times that you should never withhold water from a dog. They will get there, our pup was doing really well but has shown a real aversion to doing her business in the rain (fair enough I guess) and has slipped back a bit. It's frustrating but I have to have the confidence that we'll get there.

[daisydotandgertie]

No! Don't ever take his water away.

Your expectations are unrealistic. You need to adjust them so that they are appropriate for a puppy.

His bladder is tiny. He is a puppy and they produce significantly more urine than an adult dog. He physically can't last all night so to try and stop him weeing in his crate, try going down halfway through the night. Similarly, he needs to go out every hour at least while he is tiny. It's to do with the size of his bladder, the ability to control his muscles and the volume of fluid a puppy produces.

[Claybury]

This won't be what you wish to hear but -we- DH took ours out for a quick wee at 2 am (ish) until she was 5 months old. She was dry overnight ( 11pm to 6.30am) with the regime. 7 hours is probably too long at this stage. Tbh I am not sure I would have bothered but DH is neurotic about toilet training. -wishing he took other aspects of training seriously too-

I doubt you could be taking him out too often, I do know what you are saying, but I think they need taking out really often ! Puppies grow really fast, his bladder will grow quickly too. He will be able to hold on longer with maturity.

[47greenbottleshanging]

Thanks. That makes sense.
Just me this week and I am going to be so tired doing it on my own but there we go.

When do they manage to go longer usually?

[Isthatwhatdemonsdo]

Do you shut him in his crate at night? I put a puppy pad down in the kitchen at night pup is not shut in her crate. She pees on the pad at night and sometimes on the floor.
It is a pain in the arse but I know she will get better as she gets older.

[SistersOfPercy]

Thats how I did nights as well itsthat. Didn't fancy 3am garden trips and he isn't crated. We have a tiled kitchen floor so I just popped the pad down. When I thought he had enough bladder control to hold overnight I stopped putting the pads down and he is mostly dry now all barring the odd accident. I found if he had the pad he'd do his best to wee on it as he got bigger, but if the pad wasn't there he'd hold it until morning.

[PeanutPatty]

I'd say set your alarm for 6 and take him out to the loo and see if he's dry/wet then.

Never take the water away!

[47greenbottleshanging]

Water is back and reinstated.

I got up at 6.35 this morning (as early as I could stand!) and he had done a big wee and then ran straight out to poo.

Our trainer said today to be fair 6 hours is all that can be expected at this age. Hoping he will go longer soon as I am tired without a dp around to do one or the other loo trip. It's like baby feeds all over again!

[PeanutPatty]

Puppies are worse than newborns. Honestly. It will get better. In fact it will get better and you won't even realise and then all of a sudden you will think "Oooh I missed the alarm and it's 730 and no wee!" Or similar.

[lulalullabye]

We took our out every 20 mins, after every snooze and meal for about a month. He can go at least a couple of hours now during the day and all night in his crate.

[47greenbottleshanging]

Lula how old is he now?
I have been doing the very frequent trips for 6 weeks and he is 13 weeks and it isn't getting any better.

[47greenbottleshanging]

Sorry seen now lower on the thread that he is 13 weeks so the same age.
I feel like the mum whose dc isn't potty trained when all the others at playgroup are

[MimsyBorogroves]

Yes, sorry - you're going to have to get up in the night to "break" him out of the habit of weeing in the crate. Wash all of his blankets in biological wash powder and clean all of his crate in diluted biological wash powder too as if breaks down the urine smell properly.

I found housebreaking a nightmare until 17 weeks, then something clicked in my pup's head. Though he's now 7 months and still does the "WOW, I AM SO PLEASED TO SEE YOU, I THOUGHT YOU HAD GONE FOREVER" wee when we arrive home

[lulalullabye]

He is way better now. We have to be super strict as he is a guide dog puppy, so he has to wee on his lead etc. He now wees and poos when asked as I need to make sure he is not going to do it in a shop or a restaurant