My puppy holds pee in crate for 6 hours, then pees inside. Is it bad?
It does sound like Bella was holding it in the whole time, and six hours is too long to leave a three month old puppy without a potty break. She needs to be let out to go potty at least once every three hours. You can still put her in the crate while you are gone, but I would come back if you can every three hours to let her out, or you can hire someone to let her out every three hours. As she grows, she won't need to be let out every three hours, and by the time she is six months old, she could hold it for up to six hours, so having someone come by is only a short term thing. Crate training is an effective way to potty train a dog, and I do recommend it. I will give you my method for potty training Bella when you are home with her:
Start by keeping your puppy on a regular feeding schedule, and taking away her food between meals. Take her out to potty first thing every morning, and once every 30 minutes to an hour. Always make sure she goes out after meals, first thing when she wakes up from a nap, last thing before bedtime at night, and right before you leave the house. Take her to the same spot each time to go potty. Her scent there will encourage her to go. Stay with her outside each time she goes to potty, at least until she is fully house trained. When she goes outside, praise her and give her a treat.
I hope this all helps :-)
Updated on September 23rd, 2025