Why does my puppy pee indoors right when I come home?
Puppies often have accidents indoors immediately after returning inside or when a specific owner comes home from work, leading to a sudden spike in daily accidents. This unpredictable behavior leaves owners feeling overwhelmed and stressed when trying to manage house training.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1Keep track of potty schedules using an Excel spreadsheet or tracking apps
- 2Pick the pup up mid-pee and put them on the patch to finish
- 3Use enzymatic cleaners on indoor accidents
- 4Ignore demand barking until the puppy stops to reward calm behavior
In their words
Unedited, most upvoted first, each linked to the thread it came from.
“Meanwhile, he keeps having pee accidents inside right after coming back in, often with zero warning. We’re already at 4–5 pee accidents in \~24 hours, and reading about puppies with "only 2 accidents ever" is stressing us out!”source ↗
“Since then, I'm the last 90 mins or so, he's peed and on the floor three times. And even pooped.”source ↗
“He's fine all day with everyone else. Then is an arsehole when I'm home.”source ↗
“We're lost. Also, we don't get mad at him. He's just a puppy. But, how do I break him like that.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 3House-trained dog won't go to the bathroom outside after moving
- 3Why does my puppy pee in their crate during the day?
- 10Puppy suddenly won't use indoor patches and pees in apartment hallways
- 9How to handle puppy night potty breaks in a two story house
- 2Why does my dog carry water in their mouth and spill it everywhere?
- 13Why does my puppy keep peeing on the sofa and bed?