[Lisa Moore]

Hello,

My little toy fox terrier girl is 3 1/2 pounds and almost 21 weeks old. Her breeder had started her on puppy pads. When she came home with us, it was the dead of winter, and I continued letting her use the pads. I monitor when she goes to the restroom as I always change the pad after a single use (I don't want her tracking pee or poo), and this little puppy pees, on average 12-15 times a day. No exaggeration. 12 to 15 times each day - sometimes 3 times an hour - when her metabolism gets revved up playing. She can hold it for several hours overnight and usually gets up to pee a couple of times during the night. Is this normal for a puppy her age to have to go this much? I have never had a puppy pee this much before. I took her to the vet and she had a urine test done for UTI. No bacteria was seen, but since her white blood cell count was elevated, he put her on antibiotics anyway. She finished her meds and is peeing just as much as before.

 

[Knute]

3.5 lb fox terrier that is 21 weeks old will have a bladder about the size of a thimble.

I would suggest the potty pads at night and begin outdoor training on an hourly basis. As the dog ages and grows, the bladder will grow too. The aging will solidify the training for potty outside.

Some dogs potty train in short time, others take longer. Sometimes 1 year.

 

[Shell]

Sounds normal for size and age. Are you using crate or pen to confine when not watched directly and to encourage slowly extending the time between potty breaks? I don't think its needed to change the pee pad after every small tinkle as it should absorb it to not be tracked around.

Usually young pups need to pee when they wake up, after eating and drinking, after a play session, after a nap, when excited (some dogs will pee from excitement of visitors or new activity), and generally every hour or two when awake and moving around.

After she has had a chance to pee outside, put her in a crate for 15-20 minutes of calm time. Then take her outside to pee and repeat for another 20-25 minutes. Then pee break and play time.
Gradually extend crate time to an hour. This will both give you a respite from potty trips and encourage her to learn to hold her pee as her body and brain start to mature enough to make the connections of what the feeling in her bladder means.

By adulthood, most dogs are fine during a normal work day without a pee break as long as they are not particularly active during that time or drinking a lot of water from warm weather. Roughly 6-9 hours with most just fine for 8ish hours. Overnight, like humans, their bodies slow down while asleep so they typically don't need to pee in the middle of the night IF they sleep soundly but generally need to pee immediately in the morning.