puppy peeing

Question
Brought home from pound January 7,2007. Was there 5 days.
Info: 11 week old female black lab, 13 pounds.
Crate training in progress: Sleeps in crate in Tv room at night.Goes down to bed at 10PM.In crate in morning 9-10:30AM and afternoon 3PM-4:30Pm
Exercise:Have been waking her once around 3AM to take out to pee.Settles down quickly.  
Training: Walks on a leash 1/4-1/2 mile. Sits on command, learning lie down, and does come 90 of the time- sits and expects treat.
Pee issues: I gave her a treat everytime she peed outside all last week and praised her. Now for the last 2 days she is peeing every 2-7 minutes in the house- expecting a treat. I do not look at her and have my husband watch her outside while I clean up with order removing cleaner. So now I have resorted to having her in her crate and taking her out play a little then back in crate. (still walking her as well)Also today when we went outside she squatted to pee- and NOTHING came out- my take is she knows we go out to pee.

I am quite sure she is now confused somehow and the peeing happened in the house about 30 times yesterday- so that is why she is in her crate- she does not pee in there- and holds it just fine for 1-3 hours during the day and 5 hours at night.

I know she has only been here a week and is very young- but I really feel I am doing something wrong here. She love to do sit and stay exercises - She will sit and wait for a treat for close to a minute. I thought the sit thing would take alot longer - do I need to teach her more stuff- we are sliding down from the sit position into a laying position. And I am sure tomorrow she will stay in that position too-
All these exercises are great- but I would really like to   help her get the pee thing right-

Thanks-
Teri

Answer
Dear Teri,
Thanks for writing. I can help. You are doing lots of things right. The first thing to do is to measure how much water she drinks in a day; record how many times she pees in a day and then take her immediately to your vet. It's best to rule out medical problems and what you describe screams "medical issue".

I am confident your vet will find some minor medical condition(s). Just tell her or him -

"peeing happened in the house about 30 times yesterday"
"she squatted to pee- and NOTHING came out"

You are doing great with her training. She's ahead of the pack! She's too young to "hold" a sit. She's only good for a puppy sit because her muscles are not developed. Also, is the floor carpeted or slick?

Good luck, Thanks for writing. Don't forget to make that vet appointment.

Alan J Turner, SATS LL1

http://howsbentley.com