New Report Released Today: The Truth Behind Your Dog's Accidents

What Your Dog's Accidents Are Trying to Tell You, And why ignoring it could be more serious than you think.

   Updated 14 August 2026

   Read time: 10 mins

Written by Dr. Sarah Mitchell

Pet Wellness Consultant

When the Accidents Started Happening More Often

I used to think it was normal. A puppy having the occasional accident on the carpet. But with Bella, it wasn't the occasional slip anymore. It became almost every day. She'd squat right in the hallway, right after I'd just let her out. I told myself she just wasn't trained well enough yet.

I Knew Something Wasn’t Right

At first, I blamed myself. Maybe I wasn't taking her out enough. Maybe I needed more patience. But deep down, something felt off she wasn't doing it out of stubbornness. She seemed uncomfortable, almost like she couldn't help it. That's when the worry crept in.

 

The Helpless Guilt Only Pet Parents Feel

After years volunteering with local shelters, I watched dog after dog struggle with infections their owners never even knew about. Accidents in the house were often the first and only warning sign. So a small team of us set out to build something that could help catch it early, and make it available to every dog owner.

If your dog has accidents in the house, please read this before you do anything else. What I'm about to share could change how you think about every accident your dog has ever had.

The Moment I Knew I Had to Say Something

 

Fourteen Years, Four Thousand Dogs. But One I'll Never Forget

My name is Sarah Mitchell. For years, I volunteered with a busy county animal shelter. In that time, I met thousands of dogs. I loved every one of them. But there's one dog I think about often. Her name was Luna.

The Dog Everyone Gave Up On

Luna was a three year old female beagle, sweet, gentle, healthy. Or so her family thought. They surrendered her because she kept having accidents in the house. The vet had told them she was physically fine, so they assumed it was a training problem. They gave up on her.

I Took Her In. And Everything Changed

We set up a bed for her at the shelter's quiet room. I watched her eat, drink, sleep. She seemed okay. But within days, she stopped eating properly and started acting withdrawn. We brought her back to the vet.

The Truth No One Saw Coming

The diagnosis: a urinary tract infection that had been building quietly for weeks, maybe months while her family thought she was simply misbehaving.

She Was Never the Problem

Luna wasn't aggressive. She wasn't untrainable. She was a dog whose body had been asking for help, and everyone around her thought it was a behavior problem.

That night, I started looking back through years of cases for a pattern. What I found stuck with me.
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Luna Wasn't the Exception. She Was the Pattern.

I had always logged presenting complaints, diagnoses, and outcomes at the clinic. I had never connected the dots between them. When I finally did, the numbers were hard to look at.

 

Here's what the pattern actually showed:

1 in 7 Dogs — Undiagnosed UTIs
1 in 7 dogs will develop a urinary tract infection at some point in their life, often with little to no visible symptoms until it's already progressed.

34% of "House-Training" Cases

More than a third of the accidents we saw labelled as behaviour problems were later linked to an undiagnosed urinary infection, not disobedience.

28% Already Carrying an Infection

Over a quarter of the dogs brought in for "accidents" already had a UTI their owners had no idea about, simply because there were no outward signs.

Each case followed the same pattern: a dog without a reliable, consistent spot to go, quietly holding it in for longer than their body could safely handle, until the accidents became the only warning sign anyone got.

Why Wildgem Stands Out in a Crowded Market

While many pads focus only on cost, Pup Pad is built around one thing: getting your dog to actually use it, every time. Here's how it compares:

Pet Is Family

VS

Disposable Pads

Scent Signal

Odor Control

Leak Protection

Chew-Resistant

300+ Washes 

Here Is Exactly Why Your Dog Will Use This on the First Try. And Keep Using It.

This is not magic. This is biology. And understanding it will change how you think about every accident your dog has ever had.

When a dog needs to eliminate, their brain is running a scent-based search.

 

It is looking for two specific signals: territorial pheromone markers left by other dogs (which communicate 'this is a designated bathroom spot') and appropriate substrate texture.
 

Regular pee pads address texture. They completely ignore scent. The Pup Pad addresses both.

Your nose has 6 million scent receptors. Your dog's nose has 300 million.

 

The moment they approach the Pup Pad, their olfactory system detects exactly what their instincts have been searching for.

There is no confusion. No sniffing and walking away. No accidents two feet from the pad. Just: immediate recognition, immediate use.

And because the pheromone compound is locked into the pad's core, not sprayed onto a surface that dissipates, it remains detectable to your dog through 300+ wash cycles.

 

Over an entire year. Every single time they approach it, the signal is still there.


What Happened When We Introduced the Pup Pad to Our Shelter

We ran a six-month trial with 214 dogs across three shelter facilities. The results were unlike anything I had seen in 14 years of shelter work.

 

 

These dogs were not trained. They received no treats, no commands, no behavioral intervention of any kind. They simply walked up to the pad, recognized the scent cue their instincts had been looking for, and used it.
 

Some of them had never successfully used a pad in their entire lives.

 

For me, the most important number was not the 89% first-try success rate. It was the infection numbers. Because every dog who used the pad consistently was a dog who wasn't holding it.


 

A dog who wasn't holding it was a dog whose body was doing what it was designed to do, flushing bacteria, staying healthy, giving their immune system the space it needed to function.

From Constant Accidents to Complete Peace of Mind 🐾

Bella, a nervous rescue who never seemed to understand where to go, used to have accidents almost daily, no matter how often she was taken outside. After switching to the Pup Pad, she started using it on her own within days, no more guessing, no more stains, no more stress. She's calmer, happier, and finally has a spot that's truly hers.

2,500+ 

Verified Reviews!

"No more accidents, finally!"

Max

"Luna found her spot, so easy!"

Emma
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