puppy urination problem

Question
I have a new male putbull puppy that is approx. 11 weeks old.  I also have a 3 year old Boxer.  My boxer was very easy to housetrain, but we are having difficulty with the new puppy.  We take him outside and he will urinate 3-4 times (sometimes squatting for several seconds but with no excretion result) and then he goes inside and will pee on the floor anywhere from 1-3 times within 5-10 minutes.  I am concerned of a health issue, but he doesn't seem to strain or experience any pain and there is no blood that I can see.  Is this normal for a puppy, and if it is-how can I curb this?


Answer
Your puppy is very young.  Acquisition of house training skills depends on repetition with reward and praise and occurs after time (weeks, months). Additionally, the speed at which a puppy acquires house training skill is directly associated with the cleanliness of the whelping area (where pups are confined with their dams (mothers) after birth and for the first few weeks) and the condition of the dam herself.  The dam will (if mature enough and well kept) clean her puppies as neonates (newborns) and then begin to nudge them away from the immediate whelping area, thereby teaching them to keep their immediate living space clean (which translates into much easier house training for humans.)  If the dam is underfed, too young, overwhelmed by too many puppies, or kept in a dirty whelping area, she will be unable to instruct her pups and those pups will be harder to house train.  IGNORE your puppy's "mistakes".  Instead, praise lavishly and reward his appropriate elimination outdoors.  Take him out every 90 minutes (even if he doesn't produce every time) and increase this slowly as he gets older.  By 4 months, (a mere five weeks from now) he should have gotten the idea that eliminating outdoors is REWARDING and pleases you and that he will be given every fair opportunity to go outdoors.  Persistence, patience, reward and fair leadership will produce a solidly house trained dog of your new puppy, even if it takes a few weeks more than it did for your older dog.