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Why does my puppy only pee inside but always poop outside?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed | Female | spayed | 3 months and 10 days old | 50 lbs

For several weeks my puppy did amazing with potty training, she’d even go days without any accidents in the house. But lately she will ask to go outside to poop but when she has to pee she rarely tells me and just goes in the house around 5 or more times a day. Why would she only pee in the house and what can I do to stop this? It’s been getting worse.

2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Jessica Desrosiers

Veterinary Technician

Published on February 6th, 2019

It may be that Harley is getting a bit confused. 3 months is still extremely young, and I would not expect a puppy of this age to be potty trained. Puppies at this age can also only hold their urine about 1-2 hours, so she needs to be going out every 1-2 hours in addition to needing to go out after waking, playing, eating and drinking, etc. Taking her out more often can help ensure she has chances to go outside with success and prevent accidents in the house. Inside, she should only be in areas of the house that can be monitored and are easy to clean (such as the kitchen) in case of an accident. Here are some articles that may help as well. https://www.petcoach.co/article/top-5-tips-to-potty-train-your-dog-young-and-old/ https://www.petcoach.co/article/5-common-housetraining-mistakes/ https://www.petcoach.co/article/how-to-housetrain-your-dog-or-puppy-using-a-potty-cue/ https://www.petcoach.co/article/housetraining-tips-and-tricks/

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    Answered By Dr. Elizabeth

    Veterinarian

    Published on

    Housebreaking puppies will have both ups and downs. I do not trust most puppies to be reliably housebroken until at least six months of age. Dogs are also situational learners and just because she will poop outside does not mean that she understands her urine should do the same. I recommend going back to strict housebreaking basics. Keep her on a leash in the house so that she cannot get away from you to have an accident. Use a kennel in her house breaking as this tends to help significantly. Take her out every 1 to 2 hours, after she wakes up from a nap and about 20 minutes after she eats or drinks. Lastly, you may want to rule out a medical condition such as a urinary tract infection. Talk to your veterinarian about testing her urine just to be sure that there is not an infection present which would cause her to urinate more frequently. Best of luck and I hope this is helpful. Please feel free to post any additional questions.

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