# How can I tell if my puppy has peed?



## BlueDaisy (Feb 3, 2010)

We brought Oliver home today (8 week old male shih-poo) and we've been bringing him outside to go potty all day. 

How can I tell if he has peed? We're in upstate NY so there's snow on the ground, but we cleared out an area for him to go. It's cold here (in the 30s and 40s for this weekend) and within a minute, he's shivering. We wait about 5 minutes but ... I know this sounds stupid ... we can't tell if he's peed! The one time he managed to pee was on our carpet and he squatted so I been looking for that same kind of squat outside. Sometimes we think he squats but we're not sure - how in the world am I supposed to know if he has actually peed? He's so tiny and low to the ground. Am I supposed to praise him/give him a treat whether he pees or not?

We tried putting him on the actual snow thinking we'd at least be able to see the pee, but he's so cold just on the grass - putting him on the snow is worse. And all of our snow is supposed to melt by Sunday.


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## Jax (Feb 14, 2010)

Well, theres no way at 8 weeks hes held it all day, so he's definitely peed more than once, whether it was outside or somewhere hidden in your house.

I hate to sound weird but - you can't SEE that he's peed or not? Like, a wet spot, or the actual pee itself coming out of him if you're standing there with him?

Most dogs will squat to pee, but if hes very uncomfortable/cold he may not and try to keep moving. Most of the time though, so yes, definitely watch for this. 

You can't give him the treat if he hasn't gone, or else he'll thing the treat is just for going outside, not *going* outside.


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## BlueDaisy (Feb 3, 2010)

Jax said:


> I hate to sound weird but - you can't SEE that he's peed or not? Like, a wet spot, or the actual pee itself coming out of him if you're standing there with him?


I know it's weird, but no, we can't! He's tiny and so low to the ground, there's absolutely no clearance to even see pee coming out - and we had our heads right there, trying to see - even though we read that we aren't supposed to stare at him while he pees, but we didn't know what else to do. And, since it's on wet, matted down grass (because of our snowy weather), there's no way to even see if there's any pee on it.

We just took him out and as far as we could tell, he didn't pee. Not two minutes later, he peed on our dining room floor as the kids were petting him. If we had waited outside longer, maybe he would have gone outside.

This is my first day ever potty training and I totally feel like I'm an idiot.


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## Jax (Feb 14, 2010)

Some dogs dont get it until you catch them in the house - but thats the thing. If hes out of the crate you have to WATCH like a HAWK. Notify the kids. If he STARTS to go you have to stop it. DO NOT let him finish in the house, or its majorly rewarding. Don't scream at him or freak out, just "interrupt" - a sharp clap, a ACH! or ah ah! or whatever, should startle him enough that he stops long enough that you can scoop him up and make a run for the door. Most dogs will NOT keep peeing on you as you go. As you take him to the door say outside! out! or whatever it is you're using as your go outside word. This should be a happy, excited tone, as opposed to your interrupt. If he's started to go and he wasn't allowed to finish, you KNOW he's got more in him, and you;ve just got to wait until he finishes up and then lather on the praise and treat. 

Your only choices are really either to watch, constantly, or crate him when you can't. He'll probably need to be taken out every 30 minutes for the first couple of days. Then you can try for an hour. I know it sucks, especially when it's cold and nasty. Some people recommend putting him back in the crate if he doesn't go, but since you can't TELL if he's going outside or not, I'd hold out on that or it may just confuse him more. 

I don't usually think its a good idea, but if he's a small dog with a single coat, which im guessing he is, and he continues to not want to go outside, you may try putting some newspaper or something dry down on the ground. If he's been raised inside he may be really sensitive to cold wet mucky ground. The newspaper would also allow you to see if he's performed or not. But I'd give it a little longer trying to get him to go without this.


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## BlueDaisy (Feb 3, 2010)

We've had him home since 2:00 which is five hours. In that time, he's peed twice in the house but we've taken him out almost every 1/2 hour so I'm thinking he's definitely peed at some point outside, but we didn't praise or treat him because we couldn't tell.  I hope I'm not negating any potential progress by having misses opportunities to praise and/or treat.

He's only had a handful of "licks" out of his water dish - no slurping or actual drinking, but a few touches with his tongue - so maybe he hasn't gotten enough liquid in him to pee very much? We're going to be taking away the water dish soon because as I understand it, you're supposed to stop access to water a few hours before bedtime to curtail accidents?

I just wish he'd pee at least once outside so I could see firsthand what it looks like and I'd know exactly what to look for. It's dark out now - we have a light outside but it's not enough so I'm out there with a flashlight on his little bottom, trying to see any pee. My neighbors must just LOVE me.


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## agility collie mom (Jan 26, 2008)

When you pick him up to take him back inside check to see if the hair on the tip of his penis is wet. That way you will know if he has gone potty.


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## momtoharley (Jan 2, 2010)

We got our Shih Tzu at 6 1/2 weeks...and I know what you mean about not being able to tell whether he has peed. At that point he was so low to the ground, and so furry, that you couldn't see anything happening--and the grass was brown and damp anyway, so you couldn't see it there. I would do as a previous poster said and actually touch the hair on his penis (there wasn't much hair at that point, and it was sometimes difficult to tell just by looking). He's 16 weeks old now, and for quite some time I've been able to tell when he pees...he's taller now and he stands with a more distinct stance when he is peeing. Sometimes he gets distracted by a car or other noise and won't pee, even if he is in the stance. If I am not sure he's peed (as I would have to either squat or turn my head upside down to see under his fur), I will look at the hair on his penis, which is now long and much easier to tell when he is wet vs. dry.


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## BlueDaisy (Feb 3, 2010)

OMG - if you ever told me a year ago that I'd be willingly examining a dog's privates, I'd have laughed in your face. 

But I guess that's the only way to be sure so we'll do it.

But ... we just took him out and he actually raised his leg a little and my daughter had the flashlight right on him and said that he peed.

I thought he was too young to raise his leg? I thought boy puppies squatted until a certain age?


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## dZilla (Sep 23, 2009)

Tail in the air is an indication with our puppy... and as many has said the squating


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## mani_labradoodle (Feb 25, 2010)

Just thinking out loud, how about putting a swimming fin on one of your feet and just sliding the front under his bottom just when he seems like going ?


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## EarthMonkey (Nov 14, 2009)

Our puppy doesn't squat but he sets his legs apart, raises his tail in the air, points his nose upwards, and gets a pensive look on his face while peeing


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## DJEtzel (Dec 28, 2009)

Have you tried listening for it? I know he's small and close to the ground, but even when Frag was little you could hear some drippy noises under there.


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## BlueDaisy (Feb 3, 2010)

mani_labradoodle said:


> Just thinking out loud, how about putting a swimming fin on one of your feet and just sliding the front under his bottom just when he seems like going ?


We don't have any swimming fins. 



DJEtzel said:


> Have you tried listening for it? I know he's small and close to the ground, but even when Frag was little you could hear some drippy noises under there.


We did try - but it's so hard to distinguish it from any other sound outside. He's a tiny thing so it's not like he has a gusher of pee - more like a silent stream - kwim? 

We'll try again tonight and check his privates to see if he peed. Today, we've taken him out 10+ times and he hasn't gone - at least, not that we think. He waits until he gets back inside and then goes two minutes later! And he peed and pooped in his crate.  I took him to the vet today just to get checked out and they told me that this is bound to happen and not to worry about it - that he might do it in his crate but that he'll quickly discover that he doesn't like it and for us just to be persistent and consistent in the training. 

They also suggested checking his privates to determine if he peed.


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## dZilla (Sep 23, 2009)

How big is his crate?


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## momtoharley (Jan 2, 2010)

Again...we have a Shih Tzu that we got at 6 1/2 weeks, and he has been housetrained since 11 or 12 weeks of age. I know that part of this is pure luck, in that he could had bladder control very early (e.g., at 7 1/2 weeks went all night (9 hours) without peeing, even when he had access to a pee area). But maybe some of what we did will be helpful for you, too.

In regards to the crate...we kept his area in the crate very small (crate came with a divider) and put a stuffed animal that was actually larger than him in the crate as well. He had only a very small area to curl up and sleep (though when he stretched out he would lie on top of the stuffed toy). When the crate was that small, we never left him in it for more than an hour or so during the day, and about 4 hours at night (because he would wake up and we would take him out). We made the crate bigger when we knew that he could go all night without peeing, and when we stopped taking him out during the night (at about 7 1/2 to 8 weeks). If he had ever peed or pooed in the crate, I would not have made it any bigger than what he needed to lie down. 

We only took him outside to go to the bathroom--absolutely no play time outside. I would give a command ('get busy' or 'go poopy') and treat when he did this. I will tell you that we got lucky in this area as well, because the breeder had already begun to take him out to potty at times. As soon as he went potty, we went back inside--I wanted him to know that outside was for potty. We kept him in the crate or tethered to us at all times--he was never left unsupervised. He generally had accidents when playing with my boys (ages 6 and 8) because they didn't know his 'signs'. Initially, I took the dog out ALL THE TIME--sometimes 3 and 4 times within an hour. I even took him to work with me the first couple of weeks, so that I could continue to take him out very frequently. If he had an accident in the house, I cleaned it with Nature's Miracle, which supposedly takes the urine smell away, so they won't be drawn to pee their again.

Our pup is very fast at doing his business...we are literally outside less than 30 seconds if he has to pee, and no more than 2 minutes if he has to poo. I limit where he can go when we go outside...straight down the steps and to the right to pee, and then across the sidewalk to the other side of the steps to poo. 

Now that he is trained, and especially now that the weather is getting better, outside time can include long walks (for him, that's a 1/2 mile walk) and some play time (though he can't play in the grass yet, because it is so dry and sticks to him like glue--when the grass turns green in the spring, he will be allowed to play in the yard). 

I would encourage you to put the pup back in the crate if he goes outside without peeing...then take him back out again in 10 or 15 minutes to try again. Be sure to have a 'treat' and make a big deal of him peeing outside. Also...make sure the crate is not too big, or he will pee in there.

Good luck--the first few weeks are the hardest, but it does get better!


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## BlueDaisy (Feb 3, 2010)

That's what we've been doing - if he pees outside (that we can tell), then he can play in our carpeted living room and/or family room with the kids for awhile. But if he doesn't pee outside, then he goes right back into the crate for awhile until we try again and/or he must stay on our hardwoods which can be cleaned a lot easier.

We did divide our crate into two compartments but I think his compartment is a little too big, so we're going to make it smaller today and see how that works.

And we'll probably still use the flashlight tonight to determine if he's peed, as well as physically checking his privates.


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## Duckie1009 (Dec 17, 2009)

I had to buy a LED black light for pee hunting inside. It works best in complete darkness so you can use it at night.


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## lalaperson (Mar 3, 2010)

i use to put a pee pad outside and try to have him pee on that so that i could see the pee, but it didn't work for me. my puppy wants to run around and sniff everything when i take him out to pee. it might work for you since there's snow and your puppy is too cold to be interested. i just kind of pick mine up and check his hairs too.


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## didee (Oct 18, 2009)

I was just going to say, put a pee pad outside, then you'll be able to tell. Then when the snow clears and he gets a little bigger and you get more familiar with him, take it away.

But also, when he takes a nap (I assume he's napping), pick him up immediately when he wakes up, don't let his little paws touch the floor, and carry him outside and put him down. He will really have to pee after a nap, so you should be able to see what he does. Does he have a tiny little jacket?


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## MarcusDolby (Feb 3, 2010)

EarthMonkey said:


> Our puppy doesn't squat but he sets his legs apart, raises his tail in the air, points his nose upwards, and gets a pensive look on his face while peeing


This is what our shih-poo does. And, she stares at me. It's actually pretty funny. I try not too look, but she's just staring at me if I happen to be there. Also, because she goes on pads inside, I'll always wipe her area with a square of toilet paper. There's always a little bit of pee on it. And of course, you can very clearly see it on the pad. I know this can be frustrating, but at this age, you can't expect much. 

Someone else here said watch her like a HAWK. I agree.


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## BlueDaisy (Feb 3, 2010)

We've made progress! He now assumes a semi-squatting stance as he pees and I've been checking his privates for wetness afterwards. It seems to be working well.

I love the idea of a pee pad outside though! I wish I had thought of that this past weekend.


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