Why would my 15 week old setter puppy regress on her potty training?

My 15 week old red and white setter appears to be regressing with potty training (pee only). We’ve had her since she was almost 9 weeks old and she had little to no accidents in the house until recently (she was even beginning to signal when she needed to go). But for the last week or so she is having more and more accidents. When in the house she is either tethered to me or gated off in our small kitchen (it acts as her X-pen). She has no problem sleeping 9 hours thru the night without potty breaks. During the day I am taking her outside every 1-2 hours (closer to every 1 than every 2) and after every meal.

The only change recently is that we just started taking her on walks thru the neighborhood. Maybe she’s drinking more water now and she’s having trouble controlling her bladder? Any help you can provide would be appreciated.

Cindy's Answer:

The first thing I would suggest is to have the vet check a urine sample to rule out a bladder infection or some sort of UTI. It's not that uncommon for puppies to have a UTI and that may be the issue.

If she is having accidents in the kitchen when she's gated off, I might take away that option for now while you sort this out. Keep her with you or in the crate. If she doesn't have a UTI, then it may be that she's drinking more and with the larger area of the kitchen just goes when she feels like it.

But, first thing to do is rule out a medical problem. I hope this helps.