My puppy keeps peeing in the house all of a sudden. What is the cause and treatment?

Original Question: Good morning. We have two questions for you. We got a retriever (Labrador) puppy at 7 weeks old (he is now almost 15 weeks old). Up until this weekend, he was basically housebroken. He had a few accidents here and there as expected with a puppy. But for the most part he knew to go to the door and bark when he wanted to go outside. This weekend from Friday until current day (Tuesday) he has not been able to stop peeing when he is out of his crate. Even in times when he is not excited (i.e. relaxing on the couch walking around the house etc.). He will be walking and peeing (to the point where it’s almost as if he doesn’t realize he is peeing). There are also times when he knows he is peeing or has peed and knows it is wrong (tail between legs lowered head). His water consumption has not increased and his urine is a normal colour based on the time of day (dark yellow in the morning clearer as the day goes on) and he has been given lots of opportunities to go and do his business outside. We took him to the vet and provided a urine sample (which they indicated they tested on site within about 5 mins) and they didn’t see anything wrong with him, ”he’s just a puppy”. What is going on here? Why the behavior change all of a sudden? And if it is him “just being a puppy” how do we course correct? - Darryl & Nakita

Apr 26, 2018

Hi Darryl & Nakita,

Thanks for your question.

More testing is needed because like you, I’m suspicious something could be wrong here. I would recommend that you perform a urinalysis and a ‘culture and sensitivity test’. These should be done at the lab. This will determine whether the urine is pH balanced, if there are crystals, abnormal cells or bacteria present. The culture and sensitivity test is highly sensitive for infection and will also indicate the antibiotics needed to resolve the infection if one is present.

If this is all negative, I would recommend performing bladder radiographs and blood work. There are multiple conditions that can cause increased drinking and urinating that can only be found by testing the blood. The radiographs may reveal an abnormal anatomical issue or a stone or growth of some kind in the bladder that is unlikely but still a possible cause.

Lastly, I would then recommend a water deprivation test only if all results are normal, your veterinarian agrees and if excessive drinking and urinating is present.