Hi all - I could use some advice. I've had my five month old pup for two weeks. I adopted him from a shelter, and it's pretty clear he's had no housebreaking training before coming to us. He does well holding it in his crate - sometimes, he can go up to six hours or more at night, but usually it's around five, which is totally fine. It's during the day that's the problem. He pees all the time. I'm up on all the housebreaking guidelines, including the ones in the sticky in this forum, so I'm taking him out after every transition, and definitely after drinking, eating, playing, resting, etc. Problem is he often pees again in the house soon (maybe 10-15 minutes or so) after he has just peed (twice!) outside. This is compounded by the fact that he's a very thirsty pup (it's been hot here in Massachusetts). I don't give too much water at one time as that makes the peeing worse, maybe a cup at a time, but even that means I'm taking him out every 15 minutes, and he's still having many accidents in the house. He often doesn't give any signs; he just stops whatever he's doing and pees. He's learning "wanna go out" and is ready to go as soon as I say it, and dutifully pees outside. It's the inside that's the problem. I know I've only had him for two weeks, so I know I need to be patient, but he's peed on the couch a couple of times, as well as practically every other place you can think of. The other thing: he's not afraid of anything it seems, so trying to stop him while he's in midstream by making a lot of noise and clapping? Oh no. It has almost no effect. Any advice or stories of what you've done would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Here's a picture of him looking woeful when his water dish is empty:

He's so cute! Have you ruled out any urinary tract issues from the vet?

He was at the vet's last Thurs., and we talked about it. My vet seemed to think it was part of housebreaking, and didn't think it was a UTI, so he didn't run a culture. Maybe I should call him?

My vet thought it was a training issue too. I finally just asked if we could do a test just to rule out medical before I called my trainer back out. Yup, he had a UTI. I figure better safe than sorry. It also causes them to want to drink more.

I noticed with Frankie that it almost seemed as if he had no control over it and sometimes he didn't even realize he was doing it. He would pee while walking around the house, not stopping to pee. After a round of antibiotics, it stopped. He still goes more frequently than any other dog I have ever met, but at least it's not in the house.

Training a dog doesn't make them pee a ridiculous amount though. While it's common for a dog to go pee outside but save a little and go pee inside (when I take Rogue out, I have to stay out for a few so she pees everything out which is 2-3 times.. though I think she does this to get 2-3 treats and not only one!), peeing every few minutes isn't a potty training thing. I'd get a urinalysis. My little girl is 4 months, 2 weeks, and she either takes a long pee outside or does 2-3 little pees, and she only needs to go pee every 4-6 hours depending on if she is snoozing(with holding it from 10PM to 5AM [when we wake up] through the night).

It's often not a huge amount, so my vet thought it was a bladder control issue - figuring Winter had never had to learn to hold it when he was up and around during the day. He was first owned by people who ignored him, and he may have had a run outside (not sure about that), then he ran away with the family's other dog, and I'm not sure how long he was "on the road" before animal control picked him up, then he was in the shelter in a run with an attached pee/poop area. I've got a call in to the vet's office now about the UTI issue now; I'll keep you posted. Thanks for the input so far! Much appreciated.

If it's not a huge amount that makes me think even more a UTI. Cheyenne would leave puddles all around the house after being taken for a walk when she was younger, she had a UTI. If it was a bladder control problem you'd see urination during the night. Cheyenne could hold it most of the night or she would cry to be taken out. But when she was loose in the house during the day I was constantly wiping up pee lol

I have an appt. at the vet's tomorrow morning. I'm almost wishing he does have a UTI! Maybe that would help with the training. I'll let you know.

Winter and I are just back from the vet's office; we saw one of the associates. Winter has urethritis and is now on antibiotics for 10 days. We also got stronger medicine for the yeast infection he has in his ears, which the shelter had begun treatment for, and I've been continuing but haven't seen much improvement. Maybe things will eventually calm down even just a little bit here. I'm so grateful for all of your input - thank you so much!

Aww, poor Winter! Glad to hear you know what it is and keep us posted

poor Winter he'll be better in no time

Poor winter. I hope he gets better quickly. I am glad you know what it is and that it can be treated. It should help with the housebreaking.