Our precious girl Winn is 18 weeks old now. About 1-2 times per week we still have issues with her peeing in the house. She doesn't have any problems in the crate for 8 hours at night and for 4-hour stints during the day. But, at night when she is out, she constantly has "to go" or is at least requesting to go out. There are times it is literally 5-10 minutes after the last time she went out. Last night between 6-9:30 p.m., I probably took her out at least 10 times....and she actually peed 9 of the times.

I think a major contributor to the frequency is that she doesn't completely empty her bladder when she does go. She always sits at the kitchen entrance when she needs to be let out, but there are times if we don't catch her right that exact minute, then she pees right there where she sits.

I don't know if I am missing something? It seems like she understands she needs "to go" outside because she is sitting there waiting for us to take her out and then she does her business.

I guess I am confused as to what to do and if this is just something she will outgrow. If anyone has any suggestions or ideas to fix this issue, we would so greatly appreciate it.

You could try putting her in her crate or x-pen during those times you can't keep both eyes on her. With our pup, it seemed like either me or my husband (we would trade "potty duty") would be outside with her several times an hour because each time she whined just a little bit, outside we'd go, no questions asked. In addition, we also took her out after she ate, drank, played or woke up. It is a very good sign that she sits by the door! I know people who have had good success at training the puppy to ring a set of bells hanging from the door knob to signal that it has to go out. You could probably find some good Internet resources with step-by-step on how to do this.

Based on what you're describing, I might even make a trip to the vet to rule out a urinary tract infection, although the multiple-pees in a few hours behavior doesn't seem to happen all the time. Does she pee more than one time when you do take her out?

__________________

I agree, the first thing I would rule out is a UTI. It's not normal for a dog to pee that often.

__________________

She never pees in the crate for almost 16-18 hours per day (8-9 hours during the night and 8 hours during the day when we are at work). And it only happens 1-2 times per week. I would figure that if she has a UTI that she would have issues all the time, not just when she is out playing?

She does get ice cubes as a treat when she gets back into the house, so there are a few times she does it just for treats (I am definitely onto her). Maybe I am expecting way too much from her since my other 2 goldens never had this issue before - she is a completely different dog than they were. She is definitely more stubborn. I just figured by 4-1/2 months we would have licked this issue by now.

I am having almost the exact same issues with my 18 week old pup, Watson! You're not the only one! It sounds like he has almost the same schedule as your Winn (6-7 hours with one break in crate while we're at work and then ~8 hours in crate at night). Except his frequency while out in the evening isn't quite 5-10 minutes and more around 20 or so.

I can tell he understands that he SHOULD go outside. We live on a second floor apartment. He will go sit at the top of our stairs and look and wait for me to notice. Most of the time he's really good, but if for some reason my boyfriend or I are slow on the uptake he will go right there.

I know this is our fault when this happens, but I'm trying to figure out a better system so I don't miss the signs.

I went and bought bells for the top of the stairs yesterday so we'll see how that goes. I'm not sure Watson is really taking to them. He seems a little afraid of them honestly.

I know you how you feel though. I sometimes start to feel a little frustrated, but then I remind myself that he really is still a baby. The fact that they have found a way to tell us that they need to go is already such a smart step. I'd say we just have to hang in there and be consistent. They really are so smart and we just need to set them up for success.

As everyone mentioned though, ruling out a UTI may be a good step. Then you at least no what you're really dealing with.

Good luck