I have a 5 months old puppy. We got him at 2 months, and started potty training him right away. We would bring him outside every couple of hours and he would also sit by the door and whine when he needs to go. He has been behaving pretty consistently, and rarely had any accidents inside.
And a week ago, all of a sudden he just stopped peeing outside, and instead pees in the house. He also started to hold his pee for a long time. Before, he would go every couple of hours, and always first thing in the morning. Now, he would hold it from midnight to some time the next afternoon. We started taking him out numerous times throughout the day telling him to 'go potty', and he just sits there. And sometimes as soon as we bring him back inside, he would pee. So we started to crate him (he's always had a crate, we just use it less often as he became better house trained), leaving him in the crate for half an hour when he doesn't pee outside, and then trying again. But that hasn't helped. He just whines a lot more to be let out.
I know he wants to pee, because after holding it for so long, he pees for a loooong time. And when we take him out for walks, he would sometimes go a couple of times in an hour. But for some reason, he just refuses to pee in the backyard.
I have no idea why he's doing this all of a sudden, and don't know what to try to correct it.
Any ideas would be greatly appreciated at this point.
Thanks.

He has a very good bladder, learned his lesson really well. So why do you want to find fault ? Most people would die for a five month puppy trained that well.
Count your blessings and love him all the more for being a really smart dog !

You are probably equating dog age with human age. Don't forget, he is maturing and so are his internal organs.

My Walker hound was just like that five months old. She was an amazing dog.

Tick

Do you just let him out or do you stay with him?

Could something have startled/scared him while he was using the bathroom? Any blooming flowers that may have attracted bees to where he likes to pee?

You might want to have him checked for a urinary tract infection. Something like that could make peeing uncomfortable and cause him to hold it in.

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Originally Posted by tickle

He has a very good bladder, learned his lesson really well. So why do you want to find fault ? Most people would die for a five month puppy trained that well.
Count your blessings and love him all the more for being a really smart dog !

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Tick, the pup is peeing inside the house not outside in the backyard.

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Originally Posted by Cat1864

Tick, the pup is peeing inside the house not outside in the backyard.

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Yes, I see that now. I went back and checked... mmmm, yes, urinary tract infection and a vet check would be in order, but you know cat, these people just wait too long asking us. A lovely dog and they just can't see another living breathing animal needs proper care too. Sometimes we take our lovely pets for granted.

Thanks for pointing that out.

Tick

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Cat1864

Do you just let him out or do you stay with him?

Could something have startled/scared him while he was using the bathroom? Any blooming flowers that may have attracted bees to where he likes to pee?

You might want to have him checked for a urinary tract infection. Something like that could make peeing uncomfortable and cause him to hold it in.

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I take him to the same little corner that he's always used, and stay with him while outside, repeating the phrase 'go potty'. There's nothing in that corner, and he just would just sit or lie there looking around while I repeat myself like a broken record... haha.

I thought it might be uti as well. But he has no trouble peeing while on walks or inside the house, and never seems to be in any discomfort.
Basically, if we take him out for 5 walks a day, he'll probably pee 5 times. But that's not really possible, so he'll hold it until he can't hold it anymore, and then pee inside the house.

He is a really sweet puppy. Lots of energy and affection. And when I'm busy, he would just lie down by my foot as I work and keep me company. And I can tell that he's upset that I am upset, but just doesn't understand.
When he pees inside the house, and I tell him 'No!", his tail and head would drop and he'll walk into his crate himself and look at me all sad. And he just doesn't pee enough times during the day for me to train him and get the message across the way I did when he was younger.

He started doing this last weekend, just out of the blue.

Do you think something might have spooked him and he's scared of peeing in the yard now?

Do you have coyote problems where you are. We do here, to the point where they have carted little dogs off. Who knows. They are full of energy and jumping at shadows when they are that age. Take a walk around the yard at night with him. If he smells a scent anywhere it could be another animal, racoon, whatever. He is still trying to figure everything out, you have to guide him. Take him around and tell him there is nothing to be afraid of; you have no idea how much they understand from us.

Good luck, sounds like you have a lovely friend.

Tick

I don't think its urinary tract infection, but it wouldn't hurt to find out if his odd behavior isn't medical related.

Sometimes puppies relapse during house training. They tend to "forget" to go outside and can become quite stubborn.

Do you stand out there with him? Or does he go out alone?

Something may have frightened him. He's very young and very susceptible to being frightened to the point that he won't go outside. It sounds like he's trying to be a good boy by not pottying the house, but can't hold it any longer.

You may want to try going outside with him. Play with him. Make outside a good experience. Plus, making him run around will make him need to pee. But try and make it a good experience again. Something definitely scared him.

Have you recently (in the last week or so) changed his 'walk' schedule? This may sound strange (it does to me), but I wonder if he may be trying to tell you that he wants to go on walks. He may be trying to say that he is bored with going to the backyard bathroom.

Can you leash him and walk him around the backyard at a pace fast enough that he doesn't have time to potty where you don't want him to while slowing down at his potty place? Instead of repeating 'go potty' over and over, say it when you get to the area and again when he starts going. I know you already know the whole praise part. :)

Good luck.

Pups are very skiddish at times, everything around them is so big.. and different.. My opinion would be your puppy heard something or saw something that frightened him.. Im sure the problem will solve itself, just keep putting him out.