Frequent Urination Help!

[moorerobert904]

5 month old mini Bernedoodle with potty training type of issues. She asks to go out every hour or so, and if we dont get her out once at the door she will pee right at the door. She is sleeping 9 hrs at night in crate. She Can hold it in crate during day 4-5 hours if needed. But when out and roaming through house she will tell us she needs to go about every 60-90 mins. Very few accidents in the house but just seems like way too frequent to ask to go out and pee, and online says she should go an hour per month old which would be 5 hours! Our vet has checked UTI, diabetes, X-rays, and has said she hopes for our sake it’s behavioral and not anything even more serious heath-wise. We are starting to limit her water to when feeding meals and after walks, and we also now crate her after an hour of being out of the crate. Then she stays in crate so that 3-4 hours have elapsed since last pee. Overall, We want her to be able to be out and about in our house for 4-5 hours and then tell us she needs to go out. My wife is worried sick and feels we will need to rehome her if she has to go out every hour like this. Any help or reassurance would be awesome!

 

[haasrecht]

@moorerobert904 Sorry but a puppy peeing often shouldn't make anyone think about rehoming it. This is normal at that age and annoyances are part of raising puppies. You can use potty pads as a last resort but it'd be a lot better to just stick to taking her outside. You're going to deal with much more annoying things with a bernedoodle, not the mix for anyone that can't handle high maintenance.

 

[legend28]

@moorerobert904 How old is she? It honestly sounds like she's going at a very normal frequency. How often do you go to the bathroom? And how big are you; your bladder is much bigger than hers. The duration they can hold it depends on age, size (small dog = small bladder), activity (more active = going more). DO NOT LIMIT WATER!!! If you limit water, she will chug when she does get access. Limiting water can cause behavioral and physical problems. Never, ever limit water.

 

[moorerobert904]

@legend28 She is 5 months old. Still normal?

 

[legend28]

@moorerobert904 During teething I've noticed they tend to potty more. If she's fairly active I would expect her to need to go out frequently, yes. Movement and activity moves things along.

 

[iamthankful]

@moorerobert904 Honestly, that's still very young. I've had pups get potty training down at 10 wks and others slip up to 14 months.

 

[moorerobert904]

@legend28 I will go back to normal water usage I think. We just want her to be ok first and foremost and secondly cannot have her if she needs to go out every hour.

 

[jfozzy]

@moorerobert904 I had a similar issue with my bernedoodle. She seemed to understand potty training (going to the door, waiting) around 16 weeks. However, she was still having frequent accidents, and I needed to take her out every 1-2 hours during the day. She would also pee very frequently when playing outside. At night she could hold it for 10+ hours. She did have a UTI, but even after treatment the frequent urination continued. She had a big work up with an ultrasound and cystoscopy and everything was anatomically normal. She was put on Proin to help her urinary tract muscles. I found that this gave her about an extra hour, but she still had accidents. Around seven months everything changed. She suddenly could go 5-6 hours during the day while awake and playing. She likely can go longer, but I don’t want to push it. She will go once or twice when outside playing for an hour or two. She is now three months without an accident and on a very normal dog schedule! I think she was maybe just slower to develop that bladder control. Just give your mini more time! It sounds like you are doing everything right, including keeping your vet in the loop.

 

[moorerobert904]

@jfozzy Thanks for the info!!