It’s normal for a puppy to have a few accidents here and there, just as you would expect from a newborn baby learning how to go to the bathroom. But you may wonder why your 10-month-old puppy is still having accidents.
There are several possible reasons. It could be that the puppy needs more time, has a tiny bladder owing to his small breed, does not have a proper schedule, or is not properly trained for bathroom breaks yet.
Keep reading below as we describe these reasons in more detail and what to do next.
Before reading this guide, “Why Is My 10-Month-Old Puppy Still Having Accidents,” check out: Why Is My Puppy Peeing So Much? (2023) and How to Potty Train a Labradoodle Puppy! (2023).
Why Is My 10-Month-Old Puppy Still Having Accidents?
Following are some reasons why your 10-month-old puppy may still be having accidents.
He Requires More Time
Puppies, like people, all develop at different rates. A puppy that begins potty training at 12 weeks of age usually reaches complete proficiency by 10 months of age, but this may not be the case for your dog.
Allow your puppy some more time. Keep up with the toilet training. You need to supervise him, ensure he makes regular trips to the bathroom, and prevent any accidents from occurring.
He is a Small Dog Breed
A small dog also has a small bladder. He consumes food and water at a rate similar to that of a large dog. He has to take frequent bathroom breaks. Small dogs reach sexual maturity and full muscular development at a later age than larger breeds.
These factors make it more challenging to housebreak a small dog. They need more time before they have the ability to delay urination for long periods of time.
If you have a small-breed puppy that is now 10 months old, you should continue to give him more regular potty breaks and allow him a couple more months.
Poor Toilet Training Techniques
The lack of a competent trainer is the leading cause of untrained dog companions.
A trainer’s own education comes first. It’s surprising how many minor nuances and strategies people overlook. If you’re having trouble toilet training your puppy, there is a plethora of resources online.
There Is No Set Schedule for Your Puppy
When housebreaking a puppy, consistency is key. Keeping a written routine is highly recommended. Write down all you can remember about your puppy’s accidents, his potty pattern, and the cues he gives you when he has to go potty.
Keeping track of everything on paper will make spotting patterns and maintaining a routine much simpler.
The most important thing is to teach your puppy not to urinate inappropriately. You need to be familiar with his habits so you can get him to the designated bathroom area before any accidents occur within the house.
Other Factors
There could be a number of reasons why your 10-month-old puppy still has accidents in the house, apart from an insufficient amount of time spent on potty training.
Urine Marking
Puppies can be seen marking their territory with urine as early as three months of age. Dogs have an innate need to declare their territory. It’s more likely that your dog is marking his territory than having accidents in the house if he elevates his leg while urinating.
Regression
It’s a natural part of a dog’s cognitive development to temporarily forget what they’ve learned. You must spend time with him. Your only option is to continue training consistently. Make sure there are no accidents happening at home by taking him for regular potty breaks.
Urine Odor
If you’ve been using a planner to keep track of your puppy’s bathroom habits, and you’ve seen that he tends to have accidents in one particular room, it’s likely that he associates the smell of urine with that space.
Turn out the lights, grab a UV flashlight, and do a sweep of your home. Urine stains require special treatment with an enzyme cleanser.
Sickness
Do you think your puppy is weak and sluggish? Take him to the vet. Your puppy may have bladder control issues if he contracts one of the many common urinary tract infections found in dogs and puppies.
When Should I Take My Puppy Outside to Pee?
Like human infants, young puppies don’t have a lot of control over their bladder. However, as pups mature, their bladder control increases, and they are able to retain their urine for significantly longer periods of time.
During the first few weeks at home, you should take your new puppy out every 30 minutes to an hour. This will help the puppy learn that he should use the outdoor bathroom and reduce the likelihood that he will soil the house.
Puppies can usually hold their urine for an amount of time proportional to their age (in months) plus one. As a result, a puppy of two months’ age has the potential to hold their urine for around three hours.
Between the ages of four and six months, your puppy will have complete control of their bladder (and you should be able to resume sleeping through the night). Even after your puppy learns to manage her bladder, she needs to go outside to use the bathroom multiple times a day — anywhere from three to five times.
How to Prevent Accidents
Follow the tips below to prevent any accidents around the house.
Keep an Eye on Your Puppy
Keep an eye on your puppy when they are inside so they don’t have a chance to soil the house. If you’re not working on training or playing with your puppy, keep it tethered to you or a nearby piece of furniture using a leash no longer than six feet. Your dog will let you know when it needs to go outside.
Barking or scratching at the door, crouching, restlessness, sniffing, or circling are all obvious indicators. If you notice any of these, it’s time to get the leash and take your puppy out to the designated toilet area. Give them compliments and a treat if they go potty.
If you’re in the yard with your dog, use a leash. The yard is just another room in the house and must be treated as such during the house training process. Wait until your puppy is completely housebroken before letting him or her run free in the house and yard.
Crate Them When You Can’t Keep an Eye on Them
Puppy potty training requires constant supervision, so when you can’t be there, make sure they’re confined to an area that’s too small for them to want to use as a bathroom. Ample room for standing, lying down, and turning around is required. Using baby gates, you can use just the toilet or laundry area.
Another option is crate training your puppy. (If you intend to employ a crate as a form of confinement, educate yourself on how to do it compassionately.) After several hours of confinement, your puppy will need to go to the bathroom as soon as you bring them out.
Some Mistakes Are Inevitable
You can anticipate a few accidents from your puppy as part of the housebreaking process. Here’s what you should do if that occurs.
Take them to the outside restroom as soon as possible without making a big deal out of it. If your dog does the rest of his business there, be sure to praise and reward them.
Don’t be mad at your dog if he or she has an accident inside the house. Locate any spoiled spots and disinfect them immediately. The only thing you’ll accomplish by scolding, smacking, or otherwise humiliating a puppy for eliminating in your presence is to make them afraid of you. In this case, the punishment is worse than the crime.
Completely disinfect the dirty area. When puppies soil in an area with strong urine or feces odor, they are greatly motivated to keep soiling there.
To reduce the number of accidents, it is crucial that you use these measures of confinement and supervision. If you let your puppy go to the bathroom inside the house too often, they will become confused about where they should go, which will slow down the housebreaking process.
Plan Your Time Away
You shouldn’t get a puppy if you’ll be gone from the house for more than four or five hours a day. You should think about getting an older dog who is already housebroken and can patiently wait for your return.
When leaving a puppy alone for extended periods of time, you may want to consider the following. Get someone to take them out for potty breaks, like a reliable neighbor or an experienced pet sitter.
Alternatively, you can train them to only use a certain area of the house as a bathroom. However, keep in mind that this may make housebreaking more of a hassle overall.
If you train your puppy to defecate on newspaper, it may develop a lifetime preference for that surface and continue to do so on any newspaper that happens to be lying around the house.
If you want to paper-train your dog, you should put them in a small area with enough room for a bed, a play area, and a bathroom. Use pet pee pads, multiple layers of newspapers, or a sod container in the specified bathroom area.
Put some sod in a container, like a kid-sized plastic pool, and you’ve got yourself a sod box. Dog litter products are also available in pet stores.
If your puppy has an accident outside the assigned bathroom area, use the dirty rags or papers to clean up the mess, and then place them within the bathroom area so your puppy will associate the scent with the proper spot to do its business.
Frequently Asked Questions
Typically, a puppy with potty training should stop having accidents between four to six months.
While a 10-month-old puppy should be potty trained, don’t be dismayed if your puppy has occasional accidents — just keep up the training and reinforcement.
Puppies may not grow out of accidents on their own, so be sure to keep up with their training and good practices even if they slip up occasionally.
Conclusion for “Why Is My 10-Month-Old Puppy Still Having Accidents”
It’s inevitable for there to be a few accidents when your 10-month-old puppy is in the process of being potty trained. However, if this is becoming too frequent, then you may need to intervene and look into the underlying reason behind these accidents.
If you find this guide, “Why Is My 10-Month-Old Puppy Still Having Accidents,” helpful, check out:
- Why Does My Puppy Poop Two Hours After Eating? Is This Normal? (2023)
- Why is My Puppy Dry Heaving? (2023)
- Why is My Puppy Gagging So Much? 5 Reasons. (2023)
Learn more by watching “How To Stop Your Puppy From Peeing Indoors” down below:
Garrett loves animals and is a huge advocate for all Doodle dog breeds. He owns his own Goldendoodle named Kona. In addition, he volunteers at the Humane Society of Silicon Valley, where he fosters dogs and helps animals. Garrett enjoys writing about Doodles and believes that dogs can teach humans more about how to live than humans can teach a dog.
Why Trust We Love Doodles?
At We Love Doodles, we’re a team of writers, veterinarians, and puppy trainers that love dogs. Our team of qualified experts researches and provides reliable information on a wide range of dog topics. Our reviews are based on customer feedback, hands-on testing, and in-depth analysis. We are fully transparent and honest to our community of dog owners and future owners.