The puddles are driving me insane!

Hi everyone,

We brought home a golden retriever puppy (8 weeks at the time) just over a month ago. His name is Buzz, and we’re obsessed. The breeder had started to train him on the puppy pads, but obviously at such a young age he had a lot of learning to do.

We’ve ended up having to ditch the pads because he obsessively tears them to shreds the second we put them down. We didn’t mind too much, as other than a few accidents he was getting better at sitting by the door when he wanted to go out, and generally more confident peeing in the garden.

But it didn’t last! The weird thing is, he always lets us know when he needs to poop, and will go outside to do it. With his pee, however, it’s inconsistent. Sometimes he’ll scratch at the door, sometimes if the door is open he’ll take himself out, other times he’ll pee inside next to the open door, or give us no warning and we’ll find a puddle in the next room.

We open the door really regularly, and I just wanted to know what we might be doing wrong?

We reward with a small treat and positive praise when he goes to the toilet outside, but I’m wondering if this is having some potential negative effect, as on the times when he does feel like letting us know he needs to go out, he’ll go out to pee, get his treat, then ask to go out again 10 mins later and then get another treat. And then another 10/15 mins…I feel like he’s conning me 😂

Other than regularly opening the door, is there anything else we should be doing? Love this guy to bits, and he’s so good with the poops now…but the puddles are driving me mad! I just want to know if this is normal, and he’ll grow out of it with consistency on our part, or if we’re making a glaring mistake!

Also, since going on his first walk a week ago, he has NEVER peed on a walk, and only pooped a couple of times. He holds it and then immediately tries to go indoors once we get home.

Thanks so much!