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My Frenchie wakes early when not crated. How to hold potty?

Updated on September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | French Bulldog | Male | neutered | 11 months and 2 days old | 25 lbs

My frenchie just turned 11 months old. He’s fully crate trained. We put him in at night around 12 and he’s in until about 9am. He doesn’t cry to wake me that he has to potty like he used to Earny on he knows I’ll come get him when I wake up. here’s the issue, I don’t want to crate him overnight his whole life so I’ve been letting him sleep on his bed in the living room - but when he has the freedom to potty he waits at the door around 5am to go when I know 100% he can hold it through the night

1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

Sara Farmer, DVM

Answered By Sara Farmer, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on March 2nd, 2018

Don’t feel bad about leaving him crates overnight - dogs like to be in an enclosed ‘den’. I think your best bet is to continue crating him through the night for another 3-6 months and then tying to give more freedom. You might want to try just leaving the door to the crate open at that point instead of changing his sleeping area which might disrupt his routine a little.
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