Potty Training Regression.....help!

[Guest KEWood]

We've had our almost-3-year-old for a little over 2 months, and with the exception of two poops in the house (our fault), he has had no pee accidents until this past week. He sleeps upstairs in our room each night, and up until recently, has waited until close to 6am to starting whining to go out. He mastered the stairs a few weeks ago, so he can now go down whenever he wants while we sleep. 2 mornings this past week, he woke us up whining a little and pacing, and I was like "no way, get back in your bed". I heard him go downstairs, then come back up shortly thereafter, but he continued to whine off and on, mostly because he wants his breakfast. both of those mornings, he did not pee when i took him out around 6am. I did not realized the yellow stains in the playroom were pee until the 2nd day, I thought they were cat puke (a regular occurance in our house). Our early morning routine has been: bedtime at 9:30 or 10, goes out and usually pees and poops at that time. Up between 5:30-6am (he wakes us up), out for pee, then in and has breakfast, then he goes back to bed. The past week, it's been that he wakes up whining at 4am, goes downstairs, and I am assuming, that's when he's peed in the playroom. The past two days, I've followed him down at 4:15 and just took him out to avoid an accident.

 

Question is, why the sudden change in needing to go out earlier? (we are pulling his water up at 7pm), and how do i get him to go back to what he'd been doing and hold it until at least 5:30? I am not going to cater to his 4am needs. Should we block off the stairs so he can't go down there? Ugh, help.

[Feisty49]

The first thing that crossed my mind is a UTI. A sudden change in pee habits would indicate that.

 

Also, If he really has to go, which apparently he does because he's peeing in the house, he'll just pee upstairs if he can't go down. If there is no medical reason for his peeing at that early hour, I have no advice as to how to break him but I do know that to avoid the peeing in the house with the eventual smell and stains, I'd let him out when he starts to whine, toss him a small treat to satisfy hunger and go back to bed.

Edited May 19, 2015 by Feisty49

[locket]

Because you haven't had him for a long time, my guess is that he is holding a reserve for marking. At first mine would pee once and be fine but as time advanced, he started to hold more and more to mark. Therefore, a turnout in the yard is not enough for him to completly empty out. Try doing a short walk before bedtime and let him mark a few times. We have no problem sleeping in with this routine Keep us posted!

Edited May 19, 2015 by locket

[GeorgeofNE]

It's really not a good idea to take water away from a dog in the summer.

 

I would suggest that you close him into your bedroom. If he starts up whining, take him outside on a leash. Don't talk to him. Don't play with him. Do not give him a treat. Give him a minute, and if he doesn't pee march him right back up stairs and go back to bed.

 

You can't ignore the whining entirely, because clearly he DID have to go. But you don't want to let him call the shots either. If he understands that nothing fun comes of extra early rising, he will most likely give up.

[Guest KEWood]

Thanks for the advice. We gated him in our room last night so he couldn't wander, and he woke up around 5, whimpered for a minute, then got back into his bed when I told him to. Stayed there until I got up at 5:40! That's what he's been doing since we got him, with the exception of this past week. Guess we'll be gating him in for a while. It's just a sign for us that he's not quite ready to be uncrated during the day. In time....

[3greytjoys]

It's really not a good idea to take water away...

 

I would suggest that you close him into your bedroom. If he starts up whining, take him outside on a leash. Don't talk to him. Don't play with him. Do not give him a treat. Give him a minute, and if he doesn't pee march him right back up stairs and go back to bed.

 

You can't ignore the whining entirely, because clearly he DID have to go.

 

Agree with all posters above, especially this quoted post.

Yes, helpful to keep a watchful eye open for a UTI (just in case).

 

Another suggestion is to feed a small snack at bedtime. (Okay to reduce kibble dinner intake by a small amount to offer at bedtime.) We give 1/4 to 1/3 cup of slightly moistened kibble at bedtime just to keep something in their tummies until breakfast. This helps reduce pre-dawn awakenings due to hunger, and reduces bile build-up.