# Puppy seems oblivious to peeing



## aussiepuppy (Sep 17, 2010)

My new toy aussie shepherd is about 15 weeks old and I can tell she is very smart. She picked up on going "potty" outside right away and even though we try to take her out every hour when we are home, she still is having problems inside.

I used to have a Shih tzu and vaguely remember training him and while he would have accidents they were generally in one spot and he was good at letting me know when he had to go outside.

With my Aussie she pees in her kennel, pees anywhere inside (even while walking) and has even peed in my bed a few times! Not to mention the time she peed on my boyfriend and myself. She seems to not even realize she is doing it. I don't know what we are missing or not doing. 

I have been scolding her immediately after she does it and them promptly taking her outside and praising her using key words. I also checked forums that say not to let her see me clean her mess up so I am doing that. She has no regard for the puppy pads or the "pee" spray attractant. 

Is this normal? Help!


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## surftb15 (Dec 23, 2009)

Don't scold her. Creates fear in the dog.
Is she fixed yet?
Toy. Aussie. My two most hated words


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## Cracker (May 25, 2009)

At fifteen weeks and being a toy breed she simply may not be physically mature enough in the bladder sphincter to be able to control her urination. Sometimes there is a physical abnormality that can make this happen as well, but since she is not fully developed I would not assume this yet. Have you considered whether the urinating on you and your boyfriend and on your bed could be submissive urination combined with the lack of physical control? 

You should NOT be punishing this. She has no physical control over and it would be akin to punishing a six month old infant for soiling a diaper. All you end up with then is a pup that will not go anywhere near you, will likely hide to pee (anywhere you are not, inside or out) and who will likely never tell you she has to go. There is fallout involved in punishment of puppies. Even balanced trainers who use punishment in their training regimes go full on R+ and management for puppies until they are at least six months old. You mess with their temperament adding punishment too early.

Taking her out every hour is good, but you also should be ensuring that she is taken outside before and after playing, sleeping, meals and ANY excitement or physical activity. About her kennel, how big is it? Does it have bedding in it? Sometimes if the kennel is too roomy or has bedding the pup is able to pee and not be 'in it', so the natural advantage of the kennel being a confined space is lost.

You should also be sure to REWARD the pup when she does go outside. Each and every time. Praise just doesn't cut it. Think of it this way. Peeing is self rewarding to an extent because it is RELIEVING and this occurs whether it is inside or outside..making sure pup is rewarded with a special and yummy treat when she does it in the RIGHT place ensures that there is a marked difference in reward level.

If you are going to use puppy pads (which I do not recommend in 90 percent of the cases) the same applies. Put puppy on pad and wait for pee and REWARD. Puppy pads, IMO, can confuse a pup between inside and outside training. BUT, they can be used as long as pup is in an xpen or something similar with crate, pad and very little else or room for anything else. 

As for peeing in the house supervision is key and pup earns freedom as her housebreaking improves. Remember this is not only dependent on training and learning but on her physical ability to comply.


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## wentouch (Aug 22, 2010)

I agree with Cracker in that there is an actual physical control component and awareness in addition to a learned, trained habit.

My 16 week old pup but is already almost house trained but sometimes he justs wees randomly. He has both an indoor dog potty for when we are away and also goes outdoors naturally. One time he was just sitting on a bunch of sweaters then suddenly began peeing while he was still sitting. It was kinda funny. He was all looking at me like he didn' even know what was going on. Another few times at night, I pick him up and place him down and he pees if its dark, like he doesn't know where he is. This happened on both the couch and bed. This is in part also because we pick him up in the morning to go wee and he does so.

First couple of weeks were a nightmare but he is a pup and they need to learn which takes time. Fortunately, my new pup has been learning fast almost as if he wants to make us happy. Good dog that we are lucky to have.

Good luck.


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