Louis, I agree with the posters who suggested no hard activity in the night hours - that way your pup won't need the water to cool off. Later when the pup is older and is housetrained it won't be such a problem, although for sure he'd have to go out to pee after drinking.

The trickling running after a toy or just sitting on the ottoman has me a little concerned - it doesn't sound like submissive urination in those instances. It may be something harmless like a normal puppy bladder but I'd still ask for a blood test at the next vet visit. There's no harm in ruling out any infection, etc by doing a simple test. I'd give the pup the advantage by giving the test. Pups may pee when excited or submissive but the trickling here and there warrants an exam, IMO. There's no harm in testing him.

Also, everything is forgiven with a 15 week old pup and the fact that he isn't alerting you to have to go out is not at all unusual for such a young puppy. In fact, if he did it twice already, I'm impressed! That's amazing actually. But certainly not something to "expect" from him.

He's a cute little tyke, what a doll he is!

thanks sandy.

no more trickling yesterday. i think that he is getting better with his need to relieve himself outside.

he woke us both up 2x last night @ 1:30am and at 3:55am. Both times to tinkle a little and drink more water....lol....i know that he had some roundworms that i think that he got from his breeder, and they are probably the reason that he has been drinking so much water...but they are passing dead now. he has had 2 sets of shots since i brought him home....so i am sure that they will do the trick.

although i was tired this morning, i am glad that he woke us up to go outside to do his business rather than use the puppy pad that is on the carpet......he is growing up everyday...!!

Jsut STOP giving him water at night! That will solve so many of your problems- Everyone has said limit his activity and limit his water. That's the solution.
Roundworms don't cause him to be more thirsty.
Your dog should live around YOUR schedule. You're not his slave, you're his master. His leader. He needs to learn to control himself and calm down in the evening. Make a new schedule for him.
After he's checked for a probelm by his vet and is healthy, he needs to learn to drink earlier or get thirsty. It's not that hard for pup to learn.
I couldn't imagine waking up at 1 & 4 in the morning to take my pup out! (That was ok when it was to tend my infant, lol)

Alison Voore

By the way...I didn't mean to imply that just because my 15 week old was so easy to housetrain that it meant that yours is off-schedule. I hope you didn't think I meant that, believe me, I know I'm lucky!!

 Quote: Alison Voore

Jsut STOP giving him water at night! That will solve so many of your problems- Everyone has said limit his activity and limit his water. That's the solution.
Roundworms don't cause him to be more thirsty.
Your dog should live around YOUR schedule. You're not his slave, you're his master. His leader. He needs to learn to control himself and calm down in the evening. Make a new schedule for him.
After he's checked for a probelm by his vet and is healthy, he needs to learn to drink earlier or get thirsty. It's not that hard for pup to learn.
I couldn't imagine waking up at 1 & 4 in the morning to take my pup out! (That was ok when it was to tend my infant, lol)

Alison Voore

i understand the limiting of th ewater intake. but what do you suppose i do when @ 8 or so in the evening i pick up the water, and then at 1am like last night he is whailing and whimpering at the gate to get out.....he did not need to pee, he just wanted a drink of water....and not i did not get up at the 1st whimper, but after about 30 minutes o fit....

i will have him checked while at the vet in a week, and until then, i will continue to schedule his food and water intake.

however, i must add that we have totally different time tables than most and are not able to put food down @ 5 and pick it up @ 6 or even close....but hey, we are working on it.....and overall, i think that he is doing fine.

and as far as controlling himself, i want my puppy to be a puppy, not a robot. it just sucks for me that he is lazy for the 1st few hours in the AM and in the PM whne we get home. he likes to eat later and play afterwards....he wants to be around us since we are gone during the day. and i guess that is why he eats later...he spends all his time @ my side once out of his kennel...and i think that we are still getting used to one another...relationships are not made/formed overnite.....

thanks again for all the useful info...

I don't think the pup waking up twice last night to alert to potty is a big deal, especially if the pup's owner is OK with it. For me, taking care of a very young puppy is very much like taking care of an infant. He's obviously still learning the ropes of housetraining and I'd give him some latitude. He's still a baby. He's still trying to figure out when to go, what's the schedule, alerting. That's a lot for a little guy.

Louis, although my 7 mo old GSD won't go potty in the house ever, he isn't alerting me to potty even now. Although he'll go to the back door, it's not always for potty; I just take him outside at regular intervals and if he has to go, he'll go. So a true alert has never been necessary, except when he was a young guy like yours, he would whine a certain whine from the crate at night when he had to pee.

Yes, it's true that it's a common misconception that most dogs will whine or scratch at the dog to go outside. While some do, it's been my personal experience that most don't. With most of my dogs, it's either been just plain bugging me...or else sitting by the door.

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i understand the limiting of th ewater intake. but what do you suppose i do when @ 8 or so in the evening i pick up the water, and then at 1am like last night he is whailing and whimpering at the gate to get out.....he did not need to pee, he just wanted a drink of water....and not i did not get up at the 1st whimper, but after about 30 minutes o fit....

I find it unusual that a puppy would whimper to drink water so often and persistently at night. Tell the vet all these things he does to drink to make sure thay check him thorougly. If he's healthy, I'd let him wimper and go back to sleep- yes for 30 min. When he whines and then you take him out to drink then he learns to whine longer the next time. If the whining is annoying then let him sleep in another room.(mention of my infant earlier is no reflection of how I would handle the situation with a infant)
You could just put a water bottle like they use in rabbit cages in there with a small amount of water to wet his mouth. The ball in the dispenser can be noisy though.
I am not trying to give you a hard time. It can be hard to make the necessary structure for a young pup who pulls at your heartsstrings. These little phases will pass. I worked third shift for a year or so when I had my female gad, who was very needy, so I know the weird schedules that can occur. Imagine playing tug with your dog at 4:30 in the morning! lol! ohhhh those were horrible mornings(my night)! sooo tired!