Housebreaking a 10 week old puppy

Question
Hi Kristen,

We have a 10 week old black lab.He eats Pedigree puppy food two times a day.He spends most of his time inside when we are not home and most of his time outside when we are.Lately when we take him out to pee he will go,but then will come right back inside and go again.we usually see him and scold him while he is doing it and he will run and hide under the couch.I am wondering why he is going as soon as he comes in.
Also,we both work full time and dont have anyone to let him out during the day so he is sometimes left in for 8hrs(I feel terrible about this). We put him in to bed around 10pm,let him out around 5am,then back out around 8am,then in until we get home from work,each time we go to let him out there is a mess to clean up.He is left in a large room and I feel this is bad but my husband doesn't see a problem with it. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you,
Christy

Answer
Hi, Christy. At 10 weeks of age, you are right when you say that 8 hours is too long to expect him to be able to 'hold it.' The rule with puppies is that during the day they should be taken outside to potty at LEAST however many hours they are old in months. At 10 weeks of age, your puppy is only 2 1/2 months old, so at the bare minimum he should be taken outside every 2-3 hours during the day to potty. Since you cannot do this, would it be possible for you to put him in a doggie daycare during the day until he's old enough (which is usually around 7-8 months) to go all day without needing to potty? If that's not available where you live, you may want to consider putting up a small outdoor kennel with a roof that he can stay in during the day so he isn't constantly pottying in your house. The more he does it, the harder it's going to be to teach him not to, even though he's only doing it because he can't physically help it right now. If you go the outdoor kennel route, make sure you put it in the shade, and make sure it has a sturdy roof in case it rains. Putting a dog house in there is also a good idea. Also make sure he has fresh water each day out there.

You are also right in that leaving him loose in a large room is not a good idea at this point, mainly because it allows him to potty in the house and that's exactly what you're trying to prevent. As I said a minute ago, the more times he is allowed to potty in the house, the more difficult it's going to be to make him stop, because it's self gratifying for him. Pottying in the house alleviates his feeling of needing to potty, so he's essentially rewarding himself each and every time he does it. Once he's old enough to go all day without needing to be let out, you should crate him when you are gone, just to reinforce that pottying indoors is not allowed. You can then gradually allow him more and more freedom as he starts to understand that when he needs to potty he needs to let you know to let him outside. Start out by giving him freedom at night, and then gradually increase his freedom to the whole house during the day as well.  

When you are home, keep an eye on him so that IF he starts looking like he needs to potty, you can take him outside. Also, when you take him outside, you should take him on leash rather than just letting him out. Taking him out on leash ensures that you see him potty, allows you to praise him immediately when he does potty, and lets him know that it's time to potty and not time to play or sniff things, or whatever. If you want, you can let him drag the leash when he's inside, to make it easier for you to quickly get him outside if you need to. Again, he should be taken out at LEAST every couple of hours, and you should always always praise him once he's pottied outside. Then play with him out there for a little while if you want, so he associates pottying outside with fun and good things!

When you take him back in, he shouldn't potty again, but since he will have his leash on, you will be able to whisk him back out the door as soon as he starts to squat inside. Say "NO. Potty OUTSIDE," and take him back out again if this happens.

Good luck and please let me know if there's anything else I can help you with!

Kristen