My new Cairn Terrier Puppy is a Pee Machine!! He will go potty in the kitchen even if he'd been out recently. Any advise will be greatly appreciated!

Question

Dear Mr. Frawley!

    I hope you can help me with a problem I am having - your advise on your web site. to new puppy owners has been excellent and seemed to help others very much.

    We have an adorable 3-1/2 month old cairn terrier puppy that we got at age 9 weeks old from a wonderful breeder who really took amazing care of her dogs. Our puppy has been doing very well but seems to have a problem with peeing in the kitchen where he is confined during his play time. I am home with him all day and take him outside quite often, crate him in his crate in the kitchen when I have to do chores outside the kitchen or go out during the day. Finnley is very good in the crate and no accidents or crying while in the crate, sleeps all night without a problem. The problem is that I take him outside for regular pee breaks and yet he will still pee in the kitchen, sometimes just after I bring him in from outside where he has made his pee there. I do leave a water dish down on the floor as we live in Alabama and it's very hot here in the summer, after a walk outside and some playtime in the back yard the dog is usually hot and thirsty so I allow him to have a drink. A short time later he will be playing in the kitchen with our older lab dog and just stand and pee... even though I have taken him outside a short time before. If I take him outside right after catching him pee... he will pee again outside. Needless to say I am very confused over this, especially since he is getting the idea that if he goes to the back door he is letting me know he wants to go outside.

    He seems very bright and other than this I have no problems with him, just can't understand why he is peeing so much and seems to think it's great to pee both inside and out! Should I only put down the water dish for a short time during his meals and take it up in-between then??

    Any advise you can give would be greatly appreciated! Oh, and Finnley also seems to know that he should "go" outside as I give him a tiny piece of puppy cookie after each outside break and he even sits now to wait for the treat! He's not stupid... just seems to be a pee machine! Help!

    Thanks so much,
Joan

Accepted Answer

The problem is how you are living with the dog.

We don’t allow pups free time in the house unless we just bring him in and then only for a few minutes while we actually are with the dog. The more exercise when we bring them back inside the more they will pee – so if we play with them it's done outside. The majority of time spent with our pups (for months) is done outside – when in the house the dog is in the crate.
We don’t allow our pups to play with our other dogs – in my opinion it’s a HUGE mistake – pups need to bond with the family not the family dog. Pups need to think the center of their universe is the family not the family dog (who can easily be more fun or dangerous)
You need my DVDs YOUR PUPPY 8 WEEKS to 8 MONTHS and BASIC DOG OBEDIENCE.