Lynne Brushett asked during yesterday’s Facebook Live about what to do when there are lots of accidents in the resting zone (on beds or in crates).

Accidents are common, there are lots of reasons why puppies might relieve themselves outside of the litter box, and most of these are caused, I think, when puppies wake up and need to relieve themselves within moments. So they just don’t have time to go to the litter box, they just wake up and pee.

However, I have also found that occasionally I find enough wet spots on the resting area that I think the puppies may be voiding there deliberately. That is something I want to prevent becoming a habit at all costs.

If this is occurring in the whelping box (when the puppies are under 4 weeks old and barely mobile) I won’t worry about this at all. They are too young to be doing much deliberate pottying.

Once I move the puppies into the weaning pen I’m going to be more proactive. Here are some things that work for me.

If there are crates set up and puppies are relieving themselves on the crate pads. In this case I will turn the crates 180 degrees, or close the door if your crates have doors, so the puppies cannot enter them. If only one has been soiled, I will remove the bedding for laundering, clean the crate very well with an enzymatic cleaner, and then flip it around so the puppies cannot enter it. I leave it this way for 24 hours. If there are multiple soiled crates I will do the same with every soiled crated.
If the resting area is made up of beds without crates. I will remove the soiled bedding for laundering. Then, if it’s just a single accident I will watch over the next 24 hours and see if more happen. If I find several urine spots, or poop, I will remove the resting area completely and decrease the size of my pen by completely fencing off the resting zone. After 24 hours I will reopen the resting zone, replace the now clean bedding, and try again.

I don’t usually concern myself with an occasional accident in the resting zone, because these are very young puppies. But I do concern myself with multiple accidents in the resting zone that might indicate that one or more puppies are developing a habit of voiding there.

My main way of preventing this habit from forming is to prevent access to the resting zone for 24 hours, and then opening it up again. Repeat as needed, but so far, I’ve not had to block off crates or the resting zone more than a few times over the course of the 9 to 10 weeks the puppies are with me.

Accidents in the resting zone.