# How many accidents are normal for young pups?



## reboundstudent (Jan 6, 2016)

I have a 15 week old golden retriever. I got her at 7 weeks old. For about 4-5 weeks, she had a truly terrible UTI (had to break out the big antibiotics to take care of it.) She's been "clear" for about 2 weeks.

Before the UTIs, she was pretty reliably going to the door. Since the UTI, she goes to the door about every 15-20 minutes when she's active. She sleeps through the night without a potty break (10pm-5:30am), and she can stay in the crate for about 2 hours.

However, in the past two weeks, she's had roughly one accident a day, where she ran to the door (usually in the middle of playing), but then immediately went right in front of it before I can get her outside. 

I've heard folks say that accidents with puppies are very normal. But is one accident a day too frequent? The success rate of getting her outside is about 90%, but I worry constantly about her UTI* coming back, or that I'm somehow screwing up her house training. 

Is an accident a day normal for pups this age?

Thanks everyone!



*I don't think the UTI is back; she squats only once, usually for a short period of time, and then is ready to go back inside, doesn't seem to have any difficulty urinating, and I clean her daily with baby wipes.


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## Jim18655 (Dec 4, 2015)

Carry her to the door. Some refer to it as being a pet taxi. She won't have the opportunity to have an accident. Also use an odor neutralizing cleaning product where she goes. I was having trouble with my pup going in one area even though we cleaned up well. I had to use a deep cleaning carpet machine to stop him from using that area. It does get better. One day you'll realize there hasn't been an accident in weeks.


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## LynnC (Nov 14, 2015)

I have to carry my 12 week old from the crate right outside. Yesterday I carried her to the door & put her down to put my coat on. As I was zippering it I looked down and there she was squatting and peeing on the carpet! Really, I can't even put my coat on!


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## mylissyk (Feb 25, 2007)

One accident a day is really very good! Most puppies have multiple accidents a day.

Pay attention to how long in between potties she has the accident, keep on top of how long it's been and take her out in a shorter period of time than when she has accidents. In other words take her out before an accident, beat her to it and get her out before the amount of time she can easily hold it.


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## Prism Goldens (May 27, 2011)

I would not assume she does not have a UTI again, and I would cut the hair from her vulva and keep it trimmed until she has had a heat and is spayed just for GP.
Make sure that she doesn't have any chance to have an accident-


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## nolefan (Nov 6, 2009)

Get a $6 kitchen timer from target or Walmart and everytime you bring her inside from a successful trip, set it again for the approximate time period you know should work for her. If she has had water or is playing vigorously err on the shorter side. If you tighten up your management schedule for her, it will really help. Love the photo  What's her name?


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## macdougallph1 (Oct 13, 2013)

I don't think there is a magic number! Every pup trains individually! I'm by no means an expert, but I think I would want to bring her in to be sure the UTI isn't black. It seems like at 15 weeks she should prob be able to go a little longer than 15-20 minutes without urinating/having an accident. I could be completely wrong, but always better to be safe than sorry.


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## carolinehansen (Sep 16, 2015)

Ahhh, I can relate to this all too well. When I got Hank I had him completely potty trained (going to the door and whining). A few weeks after this was mastered he got a UTI and it all went out the door. I cannot tell you how many accidents he would have daily during the UTI and the weeks to follow. I just cleaned it up with natures miracle, took him outside EXCESSIVELY even when he wouldn't whine (after food, sleep, and play)... he quickly got the hang of it again.


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## Aero540T (Dec 1, 2015)

Sorry to hear about the UTI. Doesn't sound fun. Hopefully it's not back. If I had to guess I would say your pup may have gotten used to having to go and now has trouble holding it. But I'm purely guessing. Thor just turned 12 weeks on Tuesday and I'm relieved(haha) to say he hasn't had an accident in the house in a couple days so far. Though tomorrow is a new day!


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## reboundstudent (Jan 6, 2016)

Puppy's name is Penny!

And bad news-last night she went in the crate during the night (which she never does except when she's been sick.) Took her to the vet, and they found white and red blood cells in her urine. (No bacteria, but the doctor figured the UTI is still "fresh.")

The vet decided against a culture for now, and has put her on a 7 day antibiotic while they figure out the next step. 

Both vets we've seen so far suspect that the puppy's tucked-in vulva might be the issue. We wipe it down with baby wipes twice a day and trim the hair around, but apparently that wasn't enough... I'm super worried they're going to have to refer us to a specialist, which I'm not sure I could afford.

Anyone else have these experiences? Is this fairly common in golden retriever pups?


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