Reasons Why You Shouldnt Wake Your Puppy Up
If your little friend has now grown past 5 months, then they can hold their bladder until morning hours.
Waking your 5 months old puppy up for a potty break might not be a good idea. At this age, the bladder is huge enough to make it for a whole night, if theyre healthy.
Some puppies might however take longer than usual to hold pee overnight. Others will equally take less than 5 months to mature.
Allowing your puppy to sleep throughout the night enables them to create a habit. This schedule is good for their health.
Waking your puppy up to check if they need a bathroom break will also disrupt their sleeping cycle. Some will find it difficult to resume their sleep after waking up. They may resort to playing at night.
Problems And Proofing Behavior
The biggest error puppy owners make when trying to housetrain their dogs is yelling at or hitting the dog for having an accident. This makes the puppy associate its elimination with punishment, and since dogs want to please people, negative reinforcement teaches puppies to go when you’re not watching or to hide deposits from you.
Frustrating as it might be, try not to get annoyed at your puppy as it’s learning where and when to go.
Timing is key when teaching cause and effect. The dog won’t understand your anger has anything to do with the deposit it created five minutes ago. Unless caught in the act or pointed out within about 90 seconds, verbally correcting the puppy won’t work.
People are more motivated to work for a bonus than a threat of reprimand, and so are dogs. Once the puppy learns it will be rewarded for going in the right spot, it will work to avoid accidents partly to please you.
When And How Often Does A Puppy Need To Go To Toilet
The times a puppy needs to relieve themselves depends a lot upon when they last ate and drank, as well as recent activities and even their own little preferences.
Some puppies need to go immediately after eating or drinking, while others cannot go until a full half hour later.
What you can rely on though is that after eating or drinking, all puppies will need to go very shortly after.
As a general rule, all puppies should be taken to their bathroom spot:
- First thing in the morning when you rise.
- Just before the last person in the house goes to sleep.
- Immediately after the puppy wakes up. This is after any nap, at any time of day.
- Within the first half an hour after eating.
- Within the first 15 minutes after drinking.
- After play or experiencing any form of excitement such as a visitor saying hello.
And because, like us, puppies and dogs need to go often throughout a day, You also want to take them to their bathroom spot on a schedule such as the following:
- 8 weeks old take them to their bathroom spot every 30 minutes.
- 10 weeks old take them to their bathroom spot every 45 minutes.
- 3 months old take them to their bathroom spot every 1 to 1.5hrs.
- 4 months old take them to their bathroom spot every 2hrs or so.
- 5 months old take them to their bathroom spot every 3 hours.
The above times are approximate, and they have to be because as I repeatedly say ) every puppy is unique and will have their own pattern.
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Dont Give Your Puppy Too Much Freedom Too Soon
Supervision is also important as you allow your puppy more freedom in the house. Dogs dont generalize well. They may understand that the kitchen isnt a toilet area, but that isnt going to automatically translate to the rest of the house. You need to teach your puppy how to behave one room at a time.
Allow your puppy to learn potty behavior in only one or two rooms at first. Keep the rest of the house off limits. Then once your puppy is no longer having accidents in those first rooms, you can start giving them access to a few more places. A great indicator that your puppy is ready for more freedom is when they start to tell you they want to go outside. They might bark or run to the door. You can even teach them to ring a bell hanging from the doorknob to let you know they need a bathroom break.
How To Treat Accidents Indoors
I know there’s tons of advice on house training a puppy that states “if followed correctly, your pup won’t have any mistakes in the house” but to be honest, that usually means keeping your dog crated for most of their time indoors. Which can work, but can also lead to more challenging problems if your pup decides to use his crate as a bathroom.
So lets assume your little fur-baby is going to have some mistakes and accept that a) its not the end of the world and b) it doesn’t mean that you’ll have an adult dog that uses your house as a bathroom either.
If your puppy does go to the bathroom indoors. Just ignore it, don’t say or do anything, other than clean it up. If you are lucky enough to get to them just as they are about to do the deed, then by all means get them outside…fast! But don’t shout or cause a fuss otherwise you may cause them to believe that going to the bathroom in front of you is bad!
When cleaning up accidents indoors, don’t use normal detergent, carpet shampoos, or cleaners, you need to use one that is specifically designed to handle pet stains. These solutions break down the urine enzymes to prevent your puppy from using the same spot over and over.
My favorite solution is Rocco & Roxie Odor Eliminator. It’s a professional strength enzyme-powered stain remover that also eliminates odors.
You can also buy a urine cleaner in most pet stores, just make sure the label states that it’s an enzymatic cleaner that cleans protein-based stains.
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Clean Up Accidents Correctly
Make sure to clean up areas soiled with pee with an enzyme-based cleaner such as Nature’s Miracle. Enzyme-based cleaners help remove odors that may encourage your puppy to pee on the same areas over and over. Avoid ammonia-based products as they remind dogs of pee and may encourage undesirable peeing.
At around 5 months, your puppy should be able to hold it overnight and give you signs of wanting to go outside to potty
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When To Begin House Training Puppy
Experts recommend that you begin house training your puppy when they are between 12 weeks and 16 weeks old. At that point, they have enough control of their bladder and bowel movements to learn to hold it.
If your puppy is older than 12 weeks when you bring them home and have been eliminating in a cage , house training may take longer. You will have to reshape the dogâs behavior — with encouragement and reward.
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How To Potty Train Your Puppy With Pee Pads
This method requires a little more thought on your part, but could help to reduce the number of full-blown accidents as your puppy learns the ropes. It uses pee pads, or puppy pads, as an intermediate step between peeing anywhere they like and learning to only pee outside. This means you can set up an area of your puppy play pen or their crate with some nice absorbent pads that reduce the mess caused by little accidents.
This is a good option if you live in a flat and have a very young puppy, as it means fewer trips up and down the stairs/in the lift until they are old enough to hold it a bit longer. If you only have shared space for exercising your pooch, use this method to limit their time in that space until they have had all of their vaccines.
So, heres how to stop your puppy peeing inside:
Dont Ask Your Puppy To Hold It For Too Long
Remember, puppies cant control their bladder until theyre about 16 weeks old. After that, in general they can only hold their bladder for the same number of hours as the number of months of their age plus one. So, a four-month-old puppy can only hold it for five hours. Expecting your puppy to wait too long for a bathroom break will lead to an accident.
You need to take your puppy to the correct toilet area at least as often as they will need to go. Otherwise they will be forced to go in the house or inside their crate or safe area. If you cant be home to take your puppy out, you can use potty pads to give them an indoor dog potty, but its possible that might delay the entire housetraining process by giving them two options instead of only one. A better solution would be to hire a pet sitter or ask a friend or neighbor to let your puppy out as often as needed while youre away.
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Limit Water Intake During Training
During the potty-training stage, you should pick up the dogâs water dish approximately two and a half hours before itâs time to go to bed. This will reduce the chance that they will need to urinate overnight.
Puppies can typically sleep for seven hours without needing to urinate. However, if your pet does, let them do their business quickly and donât make a big deal. Remember: with all training, consistency is key! This is also the truth for puppy potty training.
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Can Dogs Hold Their Pee Overnight
Dogs can go for 8 to 10 hours without urinating overnight, while sleeping. However, all dogs need to be taken out after a meal or a drink, upon waking up and after a period of play. Health: Urinary frequency in dogs will vary due to factors such as age, sex, body size and overall health.
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Can A Dog Hold It For 12 Hours At Night
Many adult dogs can hold their bladder for 12 hours during the night. Similarly to humans, certain hormones prevent the dogs from needing to go pee at night with the same frequency as during the day. Many humans would be hard-pressed to not use a bathroom for 10 hours during the day, but at night it is no problem.
Wake Your Pup Before They Wake You
What I mean by this, is that you do not want your pup to associate you getting up and giving him attention with him making a fuss by whining or scratching his crate. You want to get to your pup before he starts engaging in this behavior. For the first month or two, as much as you may not want to, you may want to set an alarm during the night to get up and let your puppy out in the middle of the night. As much as this may be a pain, nobody said that owning a puppy was going to be easy! It will be far more disruptive to your sleep if you have to listen to a crying pup all night, not knowing if hes crying because he has to go pee, or he is a little bored and wants attention! Go ahead and wake up your pup and take him outside to relieve himself.
Bringing a new family addition into the home is extremely exciting! Becoming a new puppy parent comes with a ton of new joys, challenges and responsibilities. PupBox was created to help new puppy parents like yourself, by providing all of the toys, treats, accessories and training information you need, when you need it. to learn more about PupBox.
And remember, puppyhood is fast and is gone before you know it. Make sure to savor the time when your pup is young, and take lots of pictures along the way!
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Properly Reward Your Puppy
Always reward your puppy for eliminating in appropriate areas. This will require you to be prepared to anticipate when your puppy needs to go out.
When your puppy has eliminated, immediately reward them with a small treat . You can also implement clicker training at this point by marking the action with a click followed by a treat.
Time is everything. You should make sure you arent giving the reward too soon as this can disrupt and distract from the positive action youre trying to reinforce. Too late and your puppy just things youre giving out random treats.
How Often Do Puppies Poop Or Pee
New puppies will have certain potty habits that we can learn and use to save ourselves from future accidents.
Although there is no magical number of times every puppy will poop or pee during the day, there will be many telltale signs that will give you an indication. If youre aware of them, you can act appropriately.
Aside from having a proper potty training routine in place, its good to know the usual moments when a puppy needs to eliminate. Lets take a look at them below.
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Creating A Comforting Crate Space For Your Puppy
The type of crate you choose can help or hinder your puppy’s ability to fall and stay asleep. Some puppies do better with a full view of their surroundings, but I’ve found most prefer a more “den-like” crate. If you’re debating what type of crate to purchase or how to measure a dog crate , learn more in “Choosing the Best Dog Crate for Your Dog and Your Life.” In that article, you’ll see what I personally use and tricks for making a crate “grow” with your puppy.
Issues When Dog Holds Pee For Too Long
A dog that holds in his pee too long is susceptible to a number of health issues, just like what happens with people when they hold in their urine for too long. The biggest issue is that a urinary tract infection is more likely to occur when a dog holds his pee for too long. Urinary stones can develop if the urinary tract infection is not treated quickly, which occurs due to the accumulation of bacteria. Antibiotics can quickly treat urinary tract infections so its something thats easily treated by the veterinarian.
Other health issues can occur if your dog is holding in his pee too long, and veterinarians think that it can predispose a dog to develop a specific type of urinary cancer. This is potentially a deadly situation and happens most often in dogs that have recurring urinary tract infections. The belief is that the carcinogens are saying inside of the urine for too long, and then the cells become infected with these carcinogens as well.
Incontinence is another issue that can happen when a dog holds his pee too long, which occurs due to the bladder being distended from holding in the urine. The more the bladder distends, the more likely your dog will become incontinent. This often times will develop over years so holding in pee every now and then will not cause incontinence.
Disclaimer
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You Live In An Apartment
Unless you live on the first floor of an apartment with an easily accessible backyard green space, youll be facing extra obstacles when potty training your new puppy. Routines and backup plans are your best friend when you live on Floor 2 and beyond.
Puppy pee pads and doggy litter boxes are a good option when your puppy simply isnt going to make it. Dog litter boxes are synthetic grass and can be placed on a balcony or in-home like you would a cat litter box. You can DIY this or go with one of the many store-bought variations.
Its a good idea to carry your puppy in the elevator down instead of letting them wander on the ground. While theres a chance they will pee on you, theyre much more likely to hold it a bit longer if youre holding them than if theyre on the ground.
How To Deal With Accidents
Dealing with accidents starts and ends with not punishing your puppy for their mistake. No, rubbing their nose in urine isnt going to magically potty train them even if youre frustrated.
If you catch your puppy in the act of having an accident in the house, make a sudden noise to distract them . This should momentarily get them focused away from having an accident and give you time to swoop in a get them outside. Once they eliminate outside reward with a treat.
Be sure to thoroughly clean the area after an accident to remove any urine scent. Youll need a cleaner stronger than your traditional surface cleaner to completely remove the smell.
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