Strange Potty Behavior

[iammike]

Charlie is almost 4 months now but I'm having some difficulty with potty training. Some is my own fault and some I just don't get.

I am a first time dog owner so I'm learning as I go here and that has led me to make some mistakes. I trained him on a Puppy Pad from about 2 months old until about a week ago. My logic was that he had not had all of his shots and I didn't have a yard and could only take him where other dogs had regular access. I live in Tokyo so even finding some grass to let him go in is difficult plus I'm on the 3rd floor. lol

Anyway, I certainly don't expect him to make the adjustment to outdoors in one week but I'm having a strange issue. For example, this is what happened tonight...

When I got home from work I took him out and he pee'd right away. I brought him inside for about 15 minutes to separate the potty time from the play time then we went out on the walkway in front of my apartment and threw the tennis ball around for about 20 minutes. He also ate after play time.

About 10 minutes after eating I took him out again. He pee'd and poo'd and we walked for about 10 minutes.

All seems great so far but when we got home, I put him in his kennel so I could take a quick shower. In the 10 minutes I was gone, he ended up pee'ing himself in the kennel which he has rarely ever done.

In fact, before switching to outside potty, he had a couple of accidents in the kennel but only if work had kept me more than 4 hours or so. Since switching to outside potty, he's had 2 of these accidents where he just did the deed outside and then pee'd in the kennel within 5 minutes.

Just looking for some thoughts and also any tips anyone might have for someone who has to worry about 3 flights of stairs before getting outside plus having no grass to help him differentiate from the hardwood floors inside.

[Tanya]

it can be hard to make anything out of a single accident. may have been a fluke, just a one time accident or it can be something else. I would just go on with your routine as though it didn't happen (other than properly washing the crate).if it happens again maybe it means he is not peeing enough in your outing just before crating.

[Samson]

How big is the kennel ? A kennel of the correct size may discourage him !

[iammike]

Kennel isn't too much bigger than he is. I don't have the exact size right on me. He's got room to move and lay down but, for example, if he starts wagging his tail excitedly, it'll be slapping the sides like a drum. lol

[Samson]

Sounds OK to sizewise me ! Just a thought !

Dylan had accidents in the house up to a year old so I wouldn't worry too much .....as long as you have washable surfaces of course !

[tammyhuffman]

I don't think I would worry that much, he is still a baby and you are re-training him where he can go. I would expect that you are going to have some accidents during this time. Just continue to be consistent about going outside, don't go back and forth between puppy pads and outside, you will confuse him even further. It will just take some patience and time on your part, make sure you praise, praise, praise him when he does go outside IMMEDIATELY after he has done his business. Because you are re-training him to outside I would suggest you try some high value treats, given with the praise immediately after he is done. Try using a treat that you will only give him for this purpose, something really yummy! Just a thought...

[SharonaZamboni]

He is still young, so accidents are likely. Also, water is a by-product of metabolism, so he may have to pee a little while after running around even if he went before. You can also teach him to potty on command, so you can have him pee one last time before going back inside. It's helpful when you don't have time to wait around. I can tell Bean "potty, because you're going to be in the crate". He knows that it will be a while before he gets the chance to go outside again.