Why does my young puppy need to potty so often, especially at night?

You can reasonably expect a puppy to hold its bladder and bowels for as many hours as they are months old. Keep your puppy on a consistent daily feeding schedule and remove food between meals. Keep the puppy on a consistent schedule. Puppies should be taken out every hour, as well as shortly after meals, play and naps. All puppies should go out first thing in the morning, last thing at night and before being confined or left alone. Know where your puppy is inside at all times. Watch for early signs that he needs to eliminate so you can prevent accidents. These signs include pacing, whining, circling, sniffing or leaving the room. If you see any of these, take your puppy outside as quickly as possible. If you can’t watch your puppy, he must be confined to a crate or a small room, door closed or with a baby gate. Gradually give more freedom, starting with a small area, and gradually increase it. If he eliminates outside, give him some free time in the house (about 15 to 20 minutes to start), and then put him back in his crate or small room. If all goes well, gradually increase the amount of time he can spend out of confinement. Accompany your puppy outside and reward him whenever he eliminates outdoors with praise, treats, or play. Take your puppy to the same place each time because the smells often prompt puppies to eliminate. If you catch your puppy in the act of eliminating inside, clap sharply twice, just enough to startle but not scare him. Immediately run with him outside, encouraging him to come with you the whole way. Allow your pup to finish eliminating outside, and then reward him with happy praise and a treat. If he has nothing to eliminate when he gets outside, don’t worry. Just be more watchful of him inside. If your puppy has an accident but you don’t catch him in the act and only find the accident afterward, do not punish him. He cannot connect the punishment with something he did minutes, let alone hours ago.

You can try warming his puppy food slightly or mixing in some warm water. This could stimulate his appetite. Depending on his age, he may still need to go out in the middle of the night to use the bathroom. The rule of thumb regarding maximum crate time before a potty break is 1 hour for each month of age plus 1 hour. So, if he is 3 months old, that would be a maximum of 4 hours crated before having a break.

You've listed Grizzly as 2 months old, and this is still WAY too young to be holding it that young. Puppies do not have developed bladders that can hold their urine that long until they are about 8-9 months of age. The rule of thumb is one hour for every month old your pup is so Grizzly should be going out at a minimum of every two hours. Puppies generally also need to go potty about 15 minutes after waking up, playing, eating, or drinking, so you can use that to start timing his outings and make it a success. Since he is very young, he will also likely need to go out to go potty 1-2 times in the night, even if crate training. I do not recommend withholding water at all as this can lead to health issues.

He is very young and defecation will get more regular with age. From the third month you can take him out only and just after every meal. This usually helps and dogs get used to it very quickly. Please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further.

Keep in mind that no method is full proof, and it can takes weeks to months to fully potty train a puppy. It requires time and patience, and I can give you my recommended method for potty training a puppy. 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. You might want to consider crate training as part of her house training. It allows you to keep an eye on her for signs that she has to go potty, and will teach her to hold it until you put her outdoors. The crate needs to be big enough for her to stand up, turn around, and lie down, but it should not be big enough for her to go potty in.

Some dogs have their own schedules and they are pretty stubborn about it! You could try going on a long walk 30 minutes after eating, sometimes that will stimulate the bowels. But otherwise, he probably just needs some more time to adjust. Make sure when you take him out in the middle of the night, that it is "boring" for Walter. Let him out, then take him back to bed. No talking or playing or treats.

She is still very young and it will take her some time to learn to sleep through the night. You could try to put her crate next to your bed and see if that helps. You could also try an Adaptil Collar or Diffuser and Solliquin chews. https://www.adaptil.com/us/ http://www.solliquin.com/#page-top