Puppy doing lots of small wees - normal?

[Lavenderhues]

We brought home our little poodle pup on Saturday. She's doing brilliantly with the house training - goes almost as soon as we take her outside and only about 4 accidents over the last 3 days including nights and our own stupidity!
My question is - she doesn't seem to do very big wees. She's done one big puddle on the floor but the others have been very small. Similarly - outside she will do one wee and then a few minutes later another. Sometimes even another after another few minutes! She doesn't do that inside though so definitely a choice she's making and not involuntary iyswim. Is that normal? Just worried she might have a puppy uti or something!
She hates going out in the rain (which it has done solidly here for 2 days!) and the cold so if I make her go out she runs to the grass does a quick wee and then runs back to the door ASAP! I sympathise with her - but worrying she's not properly emptying her bladder.

Next thing: she keeps nipping ds2 who is nearly 3. She's very stimulated by him walking and wants to chase and then bite (quite hard) and pull at his clothes.
Ds has been very good - he stops still ignores her and will try to distract her or I do. But it's getting a bit much - today I put her on the lead when we were playing in th garden for a bit so when she ran at him I could pull her off before hand. Is that the right solution or can I scold her when she nips? Ignoring doesn't seem to bother her at all and whilst it is normal it's very very targeted at ds2 which i think is beginning to annoy him. Help a newbie please

I'm not an expert but it sounds like your puppy is marking. Mine does this and it's usually sniffing a spot and then specifically peeing on it throughout the walk.

Again, not an expert, but I would try and keep your son and puppy as separate as possible for now and get your dog into a puppy training class. Once you start to have success with that maybe your son can join the training session. (I imagine a trainer would be able to help you with both issues).

She hasn't had a second set of vacs yet so we are a way off her being able to do puppy training (3 weeks minimum) though we definitely will do that ASAP.

It could be marking but I thought they had to be a bit older for that? She's only 8 weeks. I don't know! Also - she doesn't seem to ever do "big wees" but I suppose she could just be using it all up marking!

Yes having her on lead is good

The other thing you can try is olbas oil or oil of clover put it on a bit of kitchen roll and dab it on DS2 clothes where he gets bitten

Puppies usually hate the smell so it might work

He should deffo stand still with his arms folded and turn his back to puppy deffo not run away but your DS is quite young

If it is his feet that puppy likes let him wear wellie boots in house to protect him

Good luck

Btw put smells out of sight in case it stains clothes

Test smell first t see puppy reaction cos if don't like it it should work

As in hold kitchen roll at puppy height and if puppy backs away then continue if not then try other smell

I am NOT expert btw

Maybe see if a trainer can come to you?

I would start training to sit, down etc at home now anyway. If nothing else it gives a bit of mental stimulation. Her reaction and over excitement to your son could also be out of boredom. You can get toys that dispense treats or kibble but the dog has to work to get them out.

Also try to start teaching the puppy to be gentle with her mouth during play. Ie. If playing and her teeth touch you hand, say 'ouch' and end the game.

Some puppies just are too excited by life to fully empty their bladder unless they are really, really full. My current foster is like this - he just takes the edge off and is then ready to bounce off again.
I use ah-ah to stop unwanted behaviour - its totally unacceptable for them to put their teeth on people or clothes, so you interrupt and immediatly offer something they can chew and play with.

My puppy is 18 weeks and I also have a three year old. What is working for us is putting DS and puppy on different sides of baby gate. Once puppy sitting calmly let DS in but as soon as puppy gets excited DS goes back other side and repeat. I do that a couple of times a day in addition to other training. Once the puppy got that we built up to DS doing training with the puppy and stroking him. What I was finding was that although DS was good at standing still crossing his arms puppy still nipped or occasionally knocked him over which of course got an exciting reaction. The baby gate meant that reaction was minimised. To reduce the chase element DS stayed close to the gate at all times. At other points I kept our puppy on a lead or behind a gate. He is not perfect but he has improved and if he gets excited I can now generally get him to sit before getting to DS.

Another thing I found really helpful was impulse training. It provides mental stimulation, teaches good manners around food and I find really gets my puppy's focus when trying to get him to learn new things. Again once I got to a certain level I've got DS to do some of this with him. If you are interested put 'Its yer choice' into YouTube and you should find a really good video by Cindy Briggs. It is also really useful to calm and focus an over excited puppy in classes.

Regarding the weeing I found mine was similar to start with. But once he got the hang of toilet training and started sitting by the back door he did bigger wees with the occasional but of marking.

Sounds like we have similar puppies nothoughts!
Impulse training sounds good - I'll have a look at this!
I think she is beginning to understand that she shouldn't nip ds - several times today she has run at him as if to nip and then either diverted herself at the last minute or sniffed / licked him instead which is great progress! Just frustrating when you think you're making progress and then she chases him or nips him hard - I need to remember how normal this is!
It's not helping that my DS seems to be going through a particularly uncooperative phase at the moment any request is met with defiance and a declaration of "fine well I just won't be in your family any more" followed by him stomping off - this isn't helping with it as he won't do as I ask to keep her calm / away from him etc!
Thanks for all the help and advice all - it's nice to talk to other puppy owners and realise you're not alone, feeling slightly overwhelmed today!

Ooh thanks! Will look at that one - we already have "the perfect puppy" by Gwen bailey which is pretty good. Have been following that but on the nipping is very "distract with a toy" type advice which she just completely ignores!!

They do sound similar although I think as others have said it is all pretty normal puppy behaviour. I can totally emphasise with your feelings of frustration and being overwhelmed. Some days I just want to tear my hair put but I look back at where he was at 8 weeks and how much he has improved and realise we are both doing pretty well. Good luck!