A new puppy is as much joy as a source of frustration. It is cute to see the puppy explore their world and play with you and learn new tricks, but a lot of your time will be spent taking your puppy out to go potty.
You may find that your puppy pees a lot more than normal. So what can cause your pup to pee so much?
Some reasons why your puppy pees more than what is normal are behavior-related and some are medical-related. Your puppy may be happy to see you, seeking attention, feeling anxious, or not be trained properly, so they pee a lot and often where they shouldn’t (aka inside the house). More serious reasons that require you to take your puppy to the vet for treatment are a urinary tract infection, kidney infection, kidney stones, bladder stones, diabetes, medication, and spinal or brain tumors.
4 Non-Serious Reasons Your Puppy Pees a Lot
Want to know why your puppy pees so much? Here are the common behavioral reasons your pup pees a lot:
Puppy Is Excited to See You
Your puppy may be peeing more if they are excited to see you. This could be early in the morning when you wake up or when you get home from work.
What can you do?
Take your puppy out to go potty as soon as you get up in the morning or when you get home. Don’t make a big fuss over your puppy so they learn to not place importance on your arrival. This will stop your puppy from peeing on the spot every time they see you.
Puppy Seeks Attention
If your puppy isn’t physically, mentally, and socially stimulated enough, they can pee to get your attention. In your pup’s mind, even negative attention like when you say “No, Rufus, don’t potty in the house!” is better than no attention.
What can you do?
Ensure your puppy gets exercise and you can play with your puppy. Get some dog puzzle toys and puppy-friendly teething toys to keep them busy. Keep your pup amused and stimulated.
Puppy Is Anxious
When a puppy gets anxious, they pee. This is especially true if you have a toy breed.
What can you do?
Increase how much exercise, socialization, and stimulation your puppy gets. You can also get your pup a dog cave bed or crate into which they can retreat to hide and feel safe.
Puppy Hasn’t Been Properly Trained
Poor training or incomplete house training could be why your puppy pees a lot. It is your job as their fur-parent to teach your puppy where they can potty.
What can you do?
How you train your puppy should be consistent. Create a regular routine when you take your puppy for a bathroom break and use positive reinforcement – lots of affection and praise – when your pup goes in the right spot.
7 Medical-Related Reasons Your Puppy Pees a Lot
There are also a few medical reasons your puppy is peeing more than is normal:
Urinary Tract Infection
A puppy that has a urinary tract infection (UTI) will feel a frequent urge to urinate. As a result of the UTI, your pup will pee a lot.
What can you do?
Take your puppy to the vet. The vet will take a urinary sample and test it. They will then prescribe the right medication to treat the UTI.
Diabetes
If your puppy has diabetes, their pancreas struggles to make enough insulin, which causes high blood sugar. This then results in the doggie’s kidneys shedding more water, so your pup would want to empty their bladder more often.
Your diabetic puppy will be thirsty and drink more water, which also causes them to pee more.
What can you do?
There is no cure for diabetes, but you should consult your vet who may prescribe treatment. It is also essential to feed your puppy food that’s diabetic-friendly.
Bladder Stones
If your puppy has bladder stones, they’ll pee more. There might also be blood in their urine.
This is a very painful condition for your pup, and it might even be life-threatening.
What can you do?
Get your puppy to the vet as soon as possible so your pup can get the treatment they need.
Kidney Infection
A kidney infection can cause similar symptoms as a UTI. So your puppy will urinate more and need more frequent bathroom breaks outside.
What can you do?
It is best to take your pup to the vet. Most often, a kidney infection is treatable with antibiotics.
Kidney Stones
Not a common cause for peeing more, but if your puppy has kidney stones, they’ll want to empty their bladder more often.
What can you do?
Like with bladder stones, you’ll want to get your puppy to see your local vet as soon as possible. Sometimes, kidney stones can obstruct your puppy’s ureter, and this can be life-threatening.
Medication
There are medications that can cause a dog, whether it is a puppy, adult, or senior dog, to pee more.
What can you do?
If your vet prescribed medication for your puppy, they’ll have told you about this side effect. So just ride it out while your puppy is on medication. Check that your puppy pees normally once they’ve finished the medicine course.
Tumors
Tumors in puppies are rare. If your puppy is the exception, they may have a spinal or brain tumor that puts pressure on the nerves that connect their brain and bladder. This means your puppy can’t control their bladder as they normally do, and so they may pee a lot.
What can you do?
Take your puppy to the vet to see if there are any treatment options. Surgery may be a possibility; but if the tumor is too malignant, you need to discuss other options with your vet.
What Is Normal Urination for a Puppy?
A puppy needs to urinate more often than older and mature dogs. A puppy that is less than six months old needs to go potty every hour or every two hours, especially if you are house training the pup.
Take your puppy out for a bathroom break:
- When they wake after nap time
- After they’ve played energetically
- Within five to ten minutes after drinking water, meal times, or eating anything
Puppy Peeing a Lot FAQs
How often should a puppy pee in a day?
Puppies urinate a lot more than adult dogs. The American Kennel Club suggests that a puppy, up till they are nine months old, can wait to go potty the number of hours as their age in months. So, if your puppy is two months old, they need to relieve themselves every two hours, and a five-month-old puppy should be able to wait five hours.
How do you tell if a puppy has a UTI?
You can tell if your puppy has a urinary tract infection (UTI) if there is blood in their urine, if your pup struggles to urinate, and if they have accidents in the house. Other symptoms are fever, licking their urinary opening, and needing to go potty more often.
Is it normal for my puppy to pee every 10 minutes?
If your puppy urinates every 10 minutes, your pup may be suffering from a urinary tract infection, kidney disease, incontinence, or diabetes. It is best to take your puppy to the vet for a check-up so your puppy can get the treatment they need.
The Last Drop
It is quite taxing and frustrating when your puppy pees more than a puppy of their age should. You constantly need to take the puppy out – if you can in time – or clean up messes.
Knowing what causes your puppy to pee so much enables you to take appropriate action:
- Find out why your puppy is anxious and eliminate the cause of their anxiety or give them a safe space.
- Give your puppy more attention and let them exercise and play with toys.
- Train your puppy consistently with a routine and lots of praise and attention.
- Or take your puppy to the vet for medication and other treatment.
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