Help! Totally Baffled by Puppy's Peeing Habits!!!

[MrsGreene]

I think DIane might have a good idea with the x=pen. It is possible she associates the crate with separation and it causes her to be stressed. Do you have her on a very regular feeding schedule? THe more regular it is, the easier it is to predict when she will need to go outside. Since you are home, could you perhaps set a timer, the oven timer maybe, and take her out say every hour, or even half hour at first....at 15 weeks, it is entirely possible that she gets so wrapped up in what she is inerested in that she does not notice she needs to go until wooop...there it is. And if you do use the crate, blocking off part of it is a good idea. She should only have enough room to lay down, at least until she is more reliable. I too would be confused about the crate, unless she has decided it is the negative place and shows her anxiety by peeing there. Are you using nature's miracle or some other form of enzymatic treatment to remove the urine smell? Their little sniffers are so much more powerful than ours.

[MrsGreene]

Oh, and have you tried taking her out on a leash instead of letting her run outside on her own? For my stubborn dogs in the past, that was a reminder to them that it was time for business, and not fun. THen after they went, I would let them off lead and zip around, its own form of reward.

[mss]

Hi! Sorry for the silence after all of your great responses. I have to tell you that Frida has not peed in her crate since I issued my desperate plea for help! I never called the Vet about a possible UTI because I thought I should try some of the suggested measures first; I'm pretty convinced it is/was behavioral, not medical. Her crate is already pretty small (a plastic traveling crate for small breeds) so it never before occurred to me to put in a divider/make it any smaller. After reading the posts, I decided to give the divider a go AND to take out the super comfy blanket bedding and just put in a thin towel to cover the plastic. I think it's working! I basically built a wall out of cardboard and divided the crate in half. Now if she were to pee in there, she would have to basically lie right in it...truly. At first I felt bad because it looked a little tight, but if it keeps her from peeing in there, then we're sticking with it for now!