The first couple of days after bringing a puppy home can pass in magical bliss. You have this wonderfully cute bundle of fur that brings such joy and happiness. But often, after a day or two, certain issues can arise – none more common than pee and poop! If your puppy is peeing a lot, we will look into why and what you can do about it.
It is extremely common for a puppy to have accidents and to pee around the home. It may have been that in his breeder’s house, where he peed did not matter. It will almost definitely be that he is a baby who cannot hold his pee or isn’t aware that he is supposed to.
There are many questions you may ask when you have a puppy for the first time, and some things can come as a huge surprise. Such as, how do puppies sleep so much? At Canine Weekly, we try to make all aspects of dog ownership more straightforward. And this post is about one of the major surprises that come with puppies – the amount of pee!
Most puppies won’t have full bladder control until they reach between four and six months of age, so if you get your puppy at the usual two months, this is a long road. But, there is light at the end of the tunnel, and with a bit of patience, you will be able to stop your puppy peeing in the house.
How Much is Too Much?
If you feel that your puppy is peeing in the house more than he should be doing, then there may be a medical or psychological reason as to why. An experienced puppy owner should expect frequent accidents, but if you feel they are more than the average, this can be a warning you would be wise not to ignore.
Why is Your Puppy Peeing a Lot?
If your puppy is peeing more than once per hour per month of age, this could mean a urinary tract infection. This can usually be fixed in a short space of time by a veterinarian.
Often medical problems that would require more extensive medical help include:
- Diabetes – Diabetes in dogs can be environmental and due to lifestyle; predominantly diet, or it can be genetic, meaning that puppies are born with it. Some breeds are more prone to diabetes, including Poodles, Bichon Frize, Schnauzers, Beagles, and Pugs.
- Kidney Disease – It can be devastating to receive the news that your puppy has Kidney Disease, but it doesn’t always mean a life-limiting condition. Often, with medications, a specialized diet, and therapies, a dog can maintain a good quality of life.
- Incontinence – A birth defect could mean that your puppy is incontinent, and no amount of training can fix this. A vet may advise for therapies, medication, or even surgery, depending on the severity of the problem.
- Cushing’s Disease – Rare in puppies and young dogs, but not unheard of is a condition called Cushing’s Disease. This can range from mild to fatal and will require life-long medication.
- Cancers – Bladder cancer is one of the most common cancers in dogs, with roughly 80,000 dogs being diagnosed in America annually. Like all cancers, this could be remedied efficiently and quickly, or it may be a fatal disease.
These more severe conditions will come with a number of symptoms, as well as excessive peeing, which could include:
- Fever
- Lethargy
- Loss of Appetite
- Grumpiness / Low Mood
- Hard Belly
- Blood in Stools
- Exhaustion
Frequent peeing could also be due to behavioral reasons, such as simple attention-seeking or possibly anxiety. Again, these problems will likely have one or more additional symptom, which could be:
- Restlessness
- Barking / Howling
- Chewing
- Crying
- Whining
Common Behavioral Reasons Dogs Pee More Than Normal
As an owner continues to care for the pet, they tend to get knowledgeable about every single thing about the dog, including its urination schedule.
Generally, dogs tend to urinate 4 to 5 times in 4 to 8 hours. However, puppies perform the same for 6-10, which is nearly twofold for having vestigial urinary bladders.
Occasionally, a dog starts to pee more in quantity and frequently than its usual schedule. This can be a case of the disease Polyuria. Besides that, there can be some problems regarding the dog’s behavior.
Urinating is a natural phenomenon in an animal’s life, and every natural activity has some common problems. The owner must look for those at first instances and consult the vet.
Behavioral Reasons For Peeing More
The causes for frequent urination can delve from physical to physiological to psychological. In this section, let us find out more about this behavior among dogs.
To Mark Its Territory
Marking is a very natural and instinctive behavior for dogs who are not still desexed. They specifically use their odor to entice the opposite sex for breeding purposes. This can work with neutered animals too.
One might also keep in mind that urinating is also a process of communication rather than a simple act of excretion. Their movements can reveal their hobbies, their state of mind, and any signs they want to convey behind. So, you may find that your dog takes much more time urinating than it usually does!
Anxiety or stress
Every pet loves its master’s undivided attention. Even a small act of negligence from the owner’s end can make the pet anxious. Taking urinating as their way to divulge information about themselves, they often tend to show their negative temper and nervousness.
The Growing Age
The urinary bladder size changes from breed to breed according to their size. Thus, it is natural that the bladder keeps on getting mature as a puppy starts growing. However, after a point, age starts showing its effects. The dogs tend to lose control of the bladder.
Two urinary sphincters help aged dogs contain their pee. As dogs begin to age, the muscles tend to weaken, and they have more difficulty controlling their physiological processes.
These urinary sphincters, which regulate urine ejection through the urethra, deteriorate with age.
Consider The Seasonal Change
During the start of spring, your dog may start to urinate more frequently for an utterly safe reason.
Your dog must consume enough water to keep himself hydrated during the summertime. Dogs poop to control their body temperature, and since they lack sweat glands, they cannot evaporate extra moisture through the pores. As a result, a puppy will urinate more frequently instead.
In the opposite season, a dog might even pee more frequently because a dog’s body restricts blood circulation to the skin to preserve its body warm. To decrease blood circulation and let the extra fluid out through the dog’s bladder, the kidney filters the excess fluid out of the blood.
You have desexed your dog
After performing the surgeries for desex, the hormonal changes often cause a disbalance in a dog’s body. This often leads the dog to urinate more often. However, after some time, as the body coordination resurrects, the problem gets solved itself.
Some Effects Due To Medication
Dogs are often prescribed diuretics and steroids for other physical reasons. These drugs, though, perform the required functions but often increase the amount of time and quantity of urination.
Suppose your dog is peeing more frequently just after you visit the vet. In that case, it will likely be the result of the administration of the prescribed drugs. In that case, it would be wise to pay another visit to the vet.
Disproportion Of Electrolytes
Electrolytes are minerals that contain charge (positive or negative). Just like humans, dogs also need electrolytes to function properly.
Some of them, like Sodium, are highly crucial in a dog’s body. It is an integral part of the extracellular fluid because it is an active cation (a positively charged ion).
It controls the modulation of the membrane potential of cells as well as the volume of extracellular fluid. However, a high sodium content diet can easily affect the urination procedure.
Are You Doing it Right?
To rip off the band-aid, it may be that you need to look at your training technique. Is it consistent? And, is it realistic? These are the two biggest pitfalls for new dog owners. It can be all too easy to sit back and presume the pup doesn’t need to go outside or to see the weather out and justify not wanting to go and stand in it for some time waiting for a dog to ‘go.’
It can also be that you are simply expecting too much and not being realistic with what a weeks-old puppy can achieve with training. Remember, your puppy is never trying to be naughty, and often the worst thing for a puppy to feel is that his owner is upset with him.
The nutrition we provide to puppies has a head-on impact on almost every aspect of their health and behavior. Wet foods produce more moisture, leading to more pee. Kibble can be more difficult for puppies to chew. Raw food is still in the early stages of scientific research for today’s domestic dogs. Read our guide to the best puppy foods to help with this.
Things to Do
The owner has to go through various ideas and approaches to get their pet out of the problem of excessive peeing. Some ways can help the dog better control its urinary bladder.
Provide Proper Training
Puppies will typically hold it till you allow them to leave since they are intuitively reluctant to urinate or poop close to where they sleep. Thus if you provide them with proper training, they can somewhat overcome their problem.
The main principle is that whenever you can’t immediately oversee your puppy, you should keep them in the crate where they generally sleep.
Obviously, at the very beginning, you’ll be required to allow them out to use the lavatory facilities every hour or so. Still, with experience, you’ll be able to progressively increase the interval between visits.
If your dog seems to have an upset in his crate, make sure you properly clean it to remove any remaining odors that can encourage him to commit the same offense again.
Using the diapers
If your tiny sprinkler is not urinating so frequently for signs of disease, you may need to reduce your losses. One of the easiest methods is using a diaper or a belly band for male dogs (for females). Although these gadgets won’t stop cats from peeing, they will lessen the mess once they have.
Handcrafted dog diapers are yet another alternative if you’re creative. Still, we predict that people will often prefer to purchase a pack of puppy nappies.
Work On The Potty Breaks Of The Dog
A dog’s time between two potty or pee sessions is extremely important. However, you can stretch the time gap to have a perfect solution to check excessive peeing.
You can easily stretch the time if your puppy has developed a habit of urinating just after heading back home from the strolling session. A little more lengthy walking session will make it obliged to hold pee.
Allow him a couple more occasions to experience the temptation to urinate and thus more fully release his bladder. This will assist if you use it with crate training, but you can also let your dog roam the home.
Clean Up The Odor Immediately
First, people need to understand why they opt for the locations they execute. Dogs rely heavily on their noses in considering which direction to take. Still, they frequently prefer to visit a spot that has been visited earlier. They accomplish this by using their sharp nose to sniff out the remnants of previous excrement or urine.
Be careful to clear away every mishap, and I mean entirely. Be using a top-notch odor-neutralizer to assist in the elimination of the scent when you’ve already fully dissolved the puddle. This is crucial when the incident occurs on the carpet.
Your dog’s nose is significantly more effective than yours is, so you’ll need to go “far and beyond.” First, tidy it till you do not detect any leftover stench (even though your nose is closest to the ground), and afterward, wash it once or twice more.
Give Them Ample Time
If the excessive peeing is mainly due to anxiety and stress, the best way out is to give them proper time. Every pet, especially dogs, loves to spend time with its masters.
They love to play with you and cuddle with you. They will always seek your attention over them. Give your time to them, and they will all be good.
Your attention will give them much-needed assurance and convey that you love them dearly. Sometimes this simple step is good enough to solve the problem.
Visit The Vet
If nothing works out, then it is better to visit your vet. Specifically, suppose your dog has started to pee more only after administering some new drugs prescribed by the veterinary doctor. In that case, only the vet can confirm whether it is due to the new drug.
Things Not to Do
- Never get angry with your puppy this will adversely affect any puppy training goal and only make the situation worse. If your dog becomes afraid of you, his response to training will be fear induced, which is not a healthy way for a dog to be raised. An angry owner should possibly re-evaluate if owning a dog is the right thing for them.
- You should never punish a dog because he doesn’t understand what you want him to do. Science is clear, with more studies emerging finding that the average dog is as intelligent as a 2 year old baby. You certainly would not rub a baby’s face in an accident, so please, can we stop doing this to dogs?
- Puppies have lots of challenging behavior especially in the beginning. But every puppy will respond better to positive praise over punishment. I believe there is no such thing as over-praising a puppy for doing the right thing, a pack of puppy toys can be an affordable way to reward good behavior and be a great way to start to build that owner-dog bond.
- If you’re reluctant to keep going outside with your puppy, he will pick up on this and be unwilling to go outside too. On the scale of things, we’re talking weeks here for a dog who can give you more than a decade of love and devotion.
- Make your outdoor time fun and a positive experience for both of you – so much so that he, at least, will forget this is a chore, and when he is relaxed, so are his muscles – which includes the bladder! You could play fetch, throw a Frisbee or generally lark around and when he goes to the bathroom, out comes the praise and reward.
FAQs
Yes, it is very typical for a puppy to pee a lot. Due to a small urinary bladder, they can not hold the pee long. This is one of the primary reasons why puppies pee more often than older dogs.
Puppies tend to pee more frequently than adult dogs. But peeing every 5 minutes is abnormal.
If your puppy frequently urates for a short period, it is not that bothersome. But if such acts continue for much longer, you must take it to a specialist. This can happen with any infection in the urinary bladder, and there can be other underlying issues.
Dogs with UTIs typically make repeated efforts to pee whenever they go outside. Additionally, if it hurts your dogs when they pee, they may struggle, scream out in pain, or complain.
Even blood has been known to appear in the urine occasionally. Otherwise, if you find that your dogs are continuously sucking or licking their genitals or there is urine dripping from their genitalia, this may also be a case of a UTI.
If your dogs have bladder problems, they may moderate to excruciating pain during peeing. This is because they may also have blood in their urine. Besides, in some cases, they may need to urinate repeatedly but in extremely small quantities.
Other problems include licking or sucking on one’s genitalia, flu, highly elevated thirst, insufficient stamina, and decreased urine production.
Yes, even an eight-week-old puppy can have a Urinary tract infection.
Puppies pee a lot more than adults due to having a small urinary bladder. However, as stated by the Animal Humane Society, a typical youngster may retain his pee for approximately as many hours as his age in months plus one.
An 8-week-old puppy, therefore, will pee roughly every three hours. So an 8-week-old puppy will generally pee 8-10 times daily.
No, in most cases, issues like UTIs do not go away on their own in puppies.
Most of the time, these disorders are treatable and rarely result in long-term harm.
Yes, you can surely test your dog for UTI at home.
One may perform a dog pee test on their own rather than visiting your dog to the vet by getting a dog pee sample. Then, after having discussed the findings with your veterinarian, you may receive the proper care and prescription.
Things Not to Do
Never get angry with your puppy; this will adversely affect any puppy training goal and only make the situation worse. If your dog becomes afraid of you, his response to training will be fear-induced, which is not a healthy way for a dog to be raised. An angry owner should possibly re-evaluate if owning a dog is the right thing for them.
You should never punish a dog because he doesn’t understand what you want him to do. Science is clear, with more studies emerging finding that the average dog is as intelligent as a 2-year old baby. You certainly would not rub a baby’s face in an accident, so please, can we stop doing this to dogs?
Puppies have lots of challenging behavior, especially in the beginning. But every puppy will respond better to positive praise over punishment. I believe there is no such thing as over-praising a puppy for doing the right thing, a pack of puppy toys can be an affordable way to reward good behavior and be a great way to start to build that owner-dog bond.
If you’re reluctant to keep going outside with your puppy, he will pick up on this and be unwilling to go outside too. On the scale of things, we’re talking weeks here for a dog who can give you more than a decade of love and devotion.
Make your outdoor time fun and a positive experience for both of you – so much so that he, at least, will forget this is a chore, and when he is relaxed, so are his muscles – which includes the bladder! You could play fetch, throw a frisbee, or generally lark around and when he goes to the bathroom, out comes the praise and reward.
Play, pee, repeat – hourly in the early days.
Puppy Pads – Should You, or Shouldn’t You?
Often you will find a negative response in the dog world to puppy pads. Some dog experts say that these are unnecessary, expensive gimmicks that send the wrong message to the puppy – ‘peeing inside is fine if you have something soft to do it on.’
Now, I get this. But, there are also times when puppy pads are a necessity. If you have a shared garden, for example, where other – possibly inoculated – dogs frequent, it is essential that your dog does not until fully vaccinated. In this instance, you should ignore those against puppy pads – for the sake of your dog’s health and his life.
It may be that your mobility, the dog’s mobility, or your accommodation makes getting in and outside tricky. If this is the case, I have previously written a guide about indoor dog litter boxes. I have also written about the best types of artificial grass that owners often use as a training tool in place of pads.
But, if you want to try puppy pads for yourself, I recommend odor-eliminating pads to ensure that your home doesn’t start to smell like a doggy toilet! The American Kennel Club has also introduced a range of different scented puppy pads you may want to try.
Crate, Should You or Shouldn’t You?
Crating a puppy while you’re at work is a great way to keep him safe. The home can be full of harmful substances and equipment, such as cleaning products, wires, and electricals. Often people opt to keep a puppy in a crate at night for the same reasons. The Humane Society suggests that puppies under 6-months of age should spend no longer than four hours in a crate.
Crates keep puppies safe, are excellent training tools, and have lots of other positive qualities, too – such as providing a quiet space for a pup to take five from a busy household. If you do decide to use a crate for your puppy, then you should expect some accidents, especially if they’re in there for more than an hour or so.
I would advise lining the crate with an absorbent, washable mat and selecting a small crate water dish to try and reduce the amount of liquid intake. It would be great if you could have a friend or neighbor come in and give the puppy a bathroom break, but if this isn’t feasible, then the puppy will pick up on your behavior when you return – lots of praise and rewards for a dry crate, and totally ignoring an accident.
Anxiety plays a massive role in puppies’ toileting. A fantastic product to try in a crate is a Snuggle Heartbeat Plush Dog Toy; this provides the warmth and sounds reminiscent of an owner of the mamma dog that will soothe the puppy and hopefully reduce his anxiety-related peeing.
What Should You Do Now?
The internet can be a wonderful place to seek information and answers to questions. But, it can also be a very conflicting place to find advice. What one expert suggests, another will slam down. It is always best to look to reputable sources for guidance, such as Canine Weekly!
It may be that your puppy is just not grasping the housebreaking rules and that training should be tweaked, or more patience is needed. I have previously written a guide on potty training a puppy fast, which may help speed up the process.
If you still believe that the amount of pee your puppy is releasing is too much, then seek veterinarian advice. Often a puppy will be eligible for a free health check, where you can discuss any concerns with a veterinarian who could perform diagnostic tests or simply put your mind at ease.
The Humane Society has provided some tips to get more affordable veterinarian care in your area here.
Hi, I’m Walter,
I live in Oklahoma City, USA, and have extensive dog caring and grooming expertise. In addition, I provide dog training tips and tricks through my blogs in Canine Weekly. I have a Dog Behavior and Training diploma and have previously worked as a Dog Trainer at ROC Animal Training and Behavior and Tip Top K9 of OKC Dog Training.
Apart from writing on Canine Weekly, I share my views on Twitter and Linkedin.