Nightime Potty Training
What should we do? We don't want to be inhumane but we're getting sleep deprived and don't want to carry on this way if it's not necessary! |
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| My feeling is that your puppy will soon transition to less potty trips thru the night. Every puppy is different. One thing that may make a big difference for you is to limit water at night. What we did is pick up her water bowl at 8:00 p.m. At 9:00 she got ice chips (about 4 or 5 TBS worth). At 11:00 she went out for her last potty trip. With this arrangement, at two months old she would need a middle of the night potty trip about 4 nights out of the week. Every month your OES gets older you will have less and less night time potty trips. I def. agree with your vet friend that potty trips should not be a reward. Don't make them fun. On leash, potty in same area, voice cue ("do your business" or whatever) combined with minimal praise. Then straight back into crate or her nighttime area. |
| Some puppies can make it through the night right away but others just can't. I had one that was pretty good almost from the day we bought him home and one that would pee all over himself every three hours if we didn't take him out. I would go with what works for your dog and not worry about what she "should" do-- some just take a little longer. Sometimes it's just easier to run them outside to go than to worry about cleaning up pee in the middle of the night, too! When you do take her out when she cries, is she actually going right away or does she just want to play and run around? If it's the latter, then you might consider trying to let her cry it out a little but if she's going every time, she may have to go. As she gets older, you can gradually pull the time back in between outs until she's going the whole night. |
| To avoid accidentally "rewarding" Izzie for crying or wanting to play in the middle of the night I set the overnight potty schedule. I set my alarm to go off twice during the night and then early in the morning. I moved the time back by five or ten minute increments every few days...eventually cutting down to once during the night and so on. When the alarm would go off I would get up. Get Iz out of her crate or gated area. We went out front and I kept telling her to "go potty" until she did. She got praise or a treat and then we went directly back inside to bed. No playing or distractions. I gave no response when she would cry or move around during the night. She quickly realized what the alarm meant, and had no problem holding it until it would go off again. To this day, at 5 1/2 years old, she almost literally will pee on command. It comes in handy when it is really cold outside or raining  |
Having a new puppy is like having an infant child. You will lose sleep for awhile. As they grow they will start to sleep through the night more, just like a baby. If she needs to go out its good she is already telling you this, means she is already learning. We also take water up about 9pm and take them out about 11, but it took Ryleigh a few months to be able to hold it all night and she was 7 months when we got her. Dont give up, it will get better.  |
Macy wrote: My husband and I just got an oes puppy, Macy (9 1/2 weeks old). We're working hard on potty training, but we're not sure about what to do during the night. She cries about 3 times a night, and we get up and take her outside to do her business. We thought this was probably normal since her bladder is still growing. However, it was recently suggested to us be a friend (who is a vet) that she should be able to hold it throughout the night, and we should not be encouraging her crying. What should we do? We don't want to be inhumane but we're getting sleep deprived and don't want to carry on this way if it's not necessary! As others have said here, every puppy is different. We got our puppy last summer and we never did middle of the night potty breaks. In fact, I'd never ever heard of such a thing until I found this message board. From the very beginning, we took our puppy out one last time at about midnight, then went to bed and next took her out at about 5:30 or 6 am. She never cried in her crate, though, and after the first two nights didn't pee in her crate either. If I were you, I would try ignoring her crying for two or three nights and see if it goes away. She may just be lonely and trying to get attention. That's the advice I got from a trainer for my last puppy (not an OES) who cried a lot at night like yours is doing. Since it's wintertime, I wouldn't worry so much about water. I would take it away at 9 pm. You might also want to really tire her out before bed. Play with her until she's tired (get her a Kong Snugga Wubba--our puppy loved this toy, and took it in the crate at night), then take her out to potty at midnight (or as late as possible), then right in to the crate. Turn the light out and go to bed. I predict she will cry the first two nights, then stop. She can hold it all night at this point I bet. |
| Chauncey is one that never minded going in his crate ( a VERY difficult puppy ). He didn't cue us to when it was time, but we had had puppy experience and set the alarm to get him up & out.... we weren't always on the same schedule. My suggestion is if she cries take her out, she is her best voice. It will get better. I believe that taking her out when she alerts you that she has the need to go, you are re-inforcing her good behavior by taking her out. |
| When Bailee was a pup our Trainer told us that a "Rule of Thumb" was a puppy should be able to "hold it" about an hour for each month of age. that meant 2 to 3 hours for us and I got up every 2 to 3 hours took him out, praised him when he did his thing and he was at least 99% housebroken within TWO weeks. I am not exaggerating, it was in only TWO weeks. |
| We also have a 9 1/2 week old OES puppy. She also cried for the first 2 nights until we discovered that she was not accustomed to being locked in a crate. For 3 nights I pulled the kennel up to our bed and left the door open a crack and that seemed to satisfy her. The following night I closed the door to the crate and she slept all night and continues to for the most part. On occasion she will whine to go out if one of us gets up in the night but generally she sleeps through. Its surprising how quickly things can turn around so its just a matter of time for your pup. Nancy |
| Thanks to everyone for the replies. Macy is only waking us up once a night now (around 4 am), but has started wetting her crate (without barking or crying loudly to be let out). During the day time she has been getting better at letting us know when she has to go out, and doing her business right away. Hopefully things will get better at night once her bladder grows a little bigger! |
Macy wrote: Thanks to everyone for the replies. Macy is only waking us up once a night now (around 4 am), but has started wetting her crate (without barking or crying loudly to be let out). During the day time she has been getting better at letting us know when she has to go out, and doing her business right away. Hopefully things will get better at night once her bladder grows a little bigger! Try setting your alarm for every few hours and then just start setting it further and further apart as she starts sleeping through the night. It's easier to wake her up to make her pee a little early than to wake up to a pee soaked dog! |
| Ditto what everyone else suggested. 9 1/2 weeks is an infant. They really don't have much control until at least 12 weeks. We also limited the water at night before bed and did the ice chip thing. Last potty was about eleven or midnight and I got up about 4 for the morning. Same as everyone else...pee, reward...back to crate...I would try to break the habit of pee in the crate as once they get used to doing that, its a hard thing to correct. Unfortunately sleep and new puppies don't go together! But it will get much easier and you will get your sleep again soon! Both our dogs were hosuebroken within a few weeks by folliwing the out to pee every hour on the hour with reward...and the above schedule at night. Good luck...its worth it. Hang in there! |
| I forgot to mention that we didn't allow outside play until Chauncey was well along in his potty training. We wanted him to associate outside with potty first. We took him out on leash, walked him around the yard, then rewarded him when he got the job done. We would play with him inside and kept an eye out for clues constantly so that we could get him out quickly to make him more sucessful. When I posted before that " Chaunce didn't mind going in his crate ", I really ment he didn't mind going potty in the crate  ( he wasn't too fond of going into the crate ). |
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