night time potty training

[puppy#1]

Hi everyone. i have a question about taking my pup out at night to potty. He is now almost 4 months old and we still have to take him out through the night. He is usually good for 4-5 hours before he becomes really restless in his crate (he doesn't bark or whine). The one or two times we have slept through his restlessness (was about 6 hours), he did have an accident in his crate. There are times that I wake up before he starts rustling around and take note of the time and if close to 4-5 hours, I will take him out if he is awake, which he always seems to be. At what age do puppies start being able to make it through the night. He is fine during the day in the house, very few accidents in the last month and never in his crate when he has to spend time in it.

[missjenneygirl]

Starting at 7 weeks of age, at the 9pm bed time, the pups get lifted to an outside x-pen for their last spin in the grass. Then the puppies go into crates (veri-kennel 100 size). They go two, to a crate on a small old towel for the first week. Then at 8 weeks, they go into the crate by themselves. At 9 weeks, they go to their new homes.They quickly get the routine of outside, then right off to bed. I get them up about 6-6:30am, carrying them out to the xpen. It all works very well. Sometimes the towel will be damp, and they don't like it either. It doesn't take long for them to figure out not to wet through the night. Any pup we are keeping to show, just joins the adult routine of 9pm bedtime.

The problem with having to get up in the middle of the night to take out a puppy, is when owners have the crate in the room with them. The puppy stirs at any sound the person makes, and knowing their owner is with them, will start to whine, whimper or cry. Then what are you going to do? You have to take them out.

[corbinam]

I allowed my puppy to get me up in the middle of the night for the first week. After that, I started noticing a pattern (she would usually get me up at 4, for example), so I started pushing it a few minutes every few days.

So if at first she would wake up at 4, I made her wait until 4:30 before I took her out. Then, 5 am, etc..etc..until we were getting up at a much more reasonable hour!

I would also recommend taking your puppy's water away around 8 or 9 pm before bedtime so you know there isn't much in her bladder at night.

[dawns2shelties]

I got Hartley at 8 weeks and the only time I had to take him out in the middle of the night was a week after I got him when he had the runs. He has always made it through the night and I have always kept a bowl of water in his crate. He goes out for the last time at 11 pm and we are up around 7 or so.

If your pup is getting you up I would definitely take Ashley's advice and push it a further each day until he sleeps through the night. Good luck!

[Cindy]

Another suggestion is to take up the pup's water bowl at least 2 hours before bedtime.

[Jaynie]

My most recent potty training experiences have been with adult dogs, but when I have a puppy to train, I usually don't put them to bed until around 10 pm, with a potty break directly beforehand. Then it's into the crate with the second half of dinner. After the first week, Neechee always slept through the night, and he was exceptionally tiny (under a pound) when I first got him.

I have no fenced yard, so my girls (and the boys when I had them) were all walked on long Flexi's. I always walk out onto the back deck, and they run out into the yard. (Criticize if you like, but I am disabled and this is the way I have my dogs trained.) They are trained to go on command (go, go, go!) so they know it's not time for playing.

A consistent schedule of potty breaks is essential to training. Mine go out between 7 and 9 am (with breakfast afterwards), between 12 and 1 pm, between 4 and 5 pm (after which they get half their dinner), and between 10 and 11 pm (after which they get the other half or a treat). Then it's off to bed. I keep the crates in the bedroom. They eat and sleep in the crates, and are in there any time we are out of the house. I've never had a problem with puppies waking up and whining in the night because they know I'm nearby.

Could be because we keep the TV or radio on all night due to hubby's severe tinnitis that keeps him awake without some kind of noise going. As a result, my girls can sleep through a train wreck!

Consistency is the big thing, as is taking careful note of your individual pup's timing. Some dogs really need to go after eating, though mine seem to not need to.

[Gracesmum]

We had Grace from 4 months old, and after the first week she went through the night.

The first week I slept downstairs with her, and I do think my presence disturbed her sleep as much as her presence disturbed mine.

Once we got into a routine we found she could go from around 11pm to 7am without waking up.

We would remove water from 9pm and take her out for last potty at 11pm. Then we would put her in her crate and go upstairs to bed. At 7am we would come down and she would go straight outside for a wee.

I think removing the water early helps, but Grace does have a really good bladder and seems to be able to go from 11pm to 9am on occasion with no trouble.

I would as corbinam suggests try to extend gradually the amount of time you allow her to wait before taking her outside. If she has an accident you know then she is at her limit and you can take the time back a little and try to extend it again a few days later. It will be a bit of trial and error possibly until you get it right.