# Dog training dilemma **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 6, 2017, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-training-dilemma/800907 "2017-11-06T19:29:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dauerbach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c2a13f/32.png) [@dauerbach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dauerbach)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2017, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-training-dilemma/800907/1 "2017-11-06T19:29:21Z")
So, our 13 week old puppy is ALMOST totally housebroken. However, every couple of days she will pee on the doormat in front of the door to the outside. The timing is the strange thing. She will stop to do this as we are accompanying her to the door to let her out. She will stop to squat and pee on the way out. I know she is a dog, but this is just peculiar. She does not have a UTI, she has been to the vet a couple of times for normal shots and such, last time a couple days ago. My thought is to wash the mat, start to use it for her food bowel mat so she will associate the smell of the clean mat with food, and replace the soft mat with something rough, at least for the time being. Is this demented or a good idea? Any training tips for this specific peculiar behavior? ---
**Author:** ![JcWoman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jcwoman/32/2889_2.png) [@JcWoman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JcWoman)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2017, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-training-dilemma/800907/2 "2017-11-06T19:36:09Z")
How often do you take her out to potty? It’s possible you’re just not taking her out often enough - she’s trying to hold it but just can’t… quite make it. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2017, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-training-dilemma/800907/3 "2017-11-06T19:38:50Z")
Yeah, 13 weeks is kind of young. As she gets older and bigger, she should be able to hold it in for longer periods of time without the urgency. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2017, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-training-dilemma/800907/4 "2017-11-06T19:43:49Z")
Maybe the mat smells like out side to her, because it has tracked in dirt on it. Wash it and pick her up as you exit. She will soon get it. Of course it’s gonna matter as to how big she is. I have 7lb.yorkie and potty trained her this way. She just couldn’t hold it very long when she was a baby. Tiny little dog=tiny little bladder. IDK it worked for us. ---
**Author:** ![dauerbach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c2a13f/32.png) [@dauerbach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dauerbach)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2017, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-training-dilemma/800907/5 "2017-11-06T20:18:19Z")
It’s not a matter of not taking her out enough. This has occurred 30 minutes after we have taken her outside to potty. She sleeps in our bed and can hold it 5 or 6 hours, no problem. The whole smell thing sounds reasonable. It likely smells at least as much outside as it does inside. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2017, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-training-dilemma/800907/6 "2017-11-06T21:14:54Z")
13 weeks is too young to complete training. She’s probably confused in some way. Take her out a different way for now to break the habit. Make sure that mat is cleaned (replaced is better) and the floor underneath it scrubbed clean so there’s no odor left that she can pick up on. When does this happen, the same time of day every time? Did she signal that she needed to go out before hand, is that why you’re letting her out? At her age she won’t have the timing all worked out yet. She may also have the idea you want to see her pee, that’s why you have to change things up and retrain her to make sure she understands you want her to pee outside. Dogs don’t always see the big picture or connect all the dots. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2017, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-training-dilemma/800907/7 "2017-11-06T21:20:10Z")
I’ll go with the mat seeming like the outdoors to her, either by smell or texture or both. I remember housebreaking my Bernese Mountain Dog puppy. He was a very bright boy and learned in almost no time to ask to go out. After I was sure he was thoroughly housebroken, I put away his crate and removed the child gate that blocked access to the living room. The living room has a thick deep-pile area rug that kind of has the texture of thick turf, like a very well maintained golf green. So he bounded into the living room, went over to the coffee table, lifted a leg, and peed on the rug, all the while looking up at me with a big smile, “Look, daddy, I’m a good boy!” :smack: Fortunately, he was bright enough to quickly understand that the living room carpet was not the outdoors. He was so sure he was doing the right thing that I think he was genuinely hurt that I was upset and throwing a string of “no! no!” at him. I don’t think he ever did it again. ---
**Author:** ![purplehearingaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@purplehearingaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehearingaid)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2017, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-training-dilemma/800907/8 "2017-11-06T21:44:43Z")
Get rid of the doormat your puppy think it’s OK to keep peeing on it b/c it smells like piss. You need to buy a dog pee remover, pets stores sell this and wash the spot the doormat was on off with it . Female dogs mark their territory too so your puppy could be doing this . Your puppy acting like a dog and doing what come natural so don’t get upset with her. What breed is your puppy ? ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2017, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-training-dilemma/800907/9 "2017-11-06T23:26:10Z")
> [@purplehearingaid](#): > > Get rid of the doormat your puppy think it’s OK to keep peeing on it b/c it smells like piss. You need to buy a dog pee remover, pets stores sell this and wash the spot the doormat was on off with it . Female dogs mark their territory too so your puppy could be doing this . Your puppy acting like a dog and doing what come natural so don’t get upset with her. What breed is your puppy ? Right, the mat smells like pee, so puppy thinks “good place to pee” … try putting the mat outside … 13 weeks is _young_, that’s like 2 in dog years … patience and she’ll get it soon enough … What’s she been chewing on? … all puppies need to chew on something … better a piece of rawhide than your 17th Century Queen Anne curio cabinet … ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2017, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-training-dilemma/800907/10 "2017-11-07T02:14:09Z")
Another possibility beyond the smell bit: the excited piddle. Our pup, just a week younger, will also pee _right after_ going outside, if excited by people coming in the house. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2017, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-training-dilemma/800907/11 "2017-11-07T02:31:14Z")
I think three things are going on. One is that 13 weeks is just too young to expect full house-breaking, two is that she gets so excited when she sees you coming with the leash, that she pees, and the last is that the carpet smells like pee. If you are not attached to this carpet, throw it away. If you are, launder it thoroughly, then put it away some place until she is completely house-broken. Put puppy pads by the door, and every time she pees on one, you can just toss it. Take her out on a schedule-- don’t not take her out if she asks, but still take her out something like every two hours even if she has not asked. That will eliminate some of the excited peeing. (I once had a vet tell me that a dog can be expected to hold it one hour for every month of age-- a little longer maybe at night, and a little less for small breeds. You don’t say what breed she is.) And just be patient. I had a dog that was in the slow group at obedience school, and wasn’t fully house-broken until 11 months, which is to say, she had maybe two accidents at 10 months, and finally, none. Eventually, though, she was one of the most obedient dogs I ever knew who wasn’t a K9 or a service dog or something. She would heel off leash, do tricks, and once held her bladder for 15 hours when we went out of town, and got stuck in construction traffic, and were gone longer than expected. But at 13 weeks, I had to crate her even when I was there sometimes. ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2017, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-training-dilemma/800907/12 "2017-11-07T14:52:27Z")
Another thing that I haven’t seen mentioned is to carry her outside. When it’s time to go potty pick her up and carry her outside instead of letting her walk. There’s a name for this training, but I can’t remember what it is! It works - we did it with both of our dogs. Altho, Luca the boxer/mastiff mix was getting a little heavy by the time he was fully trained! Also give her a treat as soon as she pees or poops. We’d say, “go potty (pee)” or “go poop” and gave them a small treat as soon as they went. Potty training was a breeze. At 4 years old they will still go on command if we need them to. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2017, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-training-dilemma/800907/13 "2017-11-07T18:37:52Z")
When you’re NOT sleeping, puppies that young often go every 30 minutes anyway. My rule last time I housetrained someone was, “If at _any point_ I find myself comfortable, GET UP and take the dog out again.”