liljaker

I have a mini poodle, Sunny, who still is unsure to have a walker take him out when I am at work (wont' go into it, but we had a bit of a scare with a walker last year.....); anyway, he is 4 years old, and is routinely home 9 to 10 hours a day without a potty break. I know that's not ideal; I think 4 to 5 hours should be max in my mind --- but until he is comfortable, he is in during the day. He gets a good hour before I go to work, and then another hour or so at night and weekends I feel like he is attached to me, so as an adult dog he does fine.....although I know the situation is not yet ideal. For a pup, don't think it would work. P.S. He also has the run of the house when I am at work.

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Pup's mom

Thanks so much for this !
Some of you have dogs with better bladders than Mine !
This was helpful.. very helpful. Love you all. C

sarahmurphy

I think I read somewhere 1 hour for each month of life, up to a point, mind you... so, a six month old pup should be able to hold it for 6 hours.

I think I have probably left Spike home alone for 4-5 hours a few times, but he can easily hold it all night, and probably is in the 8-12 hour camp at a year old. Someone is almost always home here, we go in and out all day. I take Spike with me because he is so perfectly happy to be in the crate, if it is in the car, if it's not too hot or cold.... (we don't even have one in the house - something about jail and cages, etc... a very strong opinion on the part of some of the people in my house...) (and no, I am not saying crating is wrong, or bad, just that we choose not to do it based on our own irrational emotional over-reactions to the idea of it...)

I'd say work up the the time limit you need the dog to hold it, and maybe look into not a puppy if you want to have less disruption and "tied to the house watching everything" puppy months... I could trust Spike to not potty inside from a few months, but if I left anything out when he was home alone, it became "HIS" - shoes, toys, food, papers, anything.... Some days I'd leave for an hour or less and come home and WISH he'd just have peed on the floor....

sarah

katbrat

Lexi is a spoo who will two in February. Last potty break at night is around 9-10 even if we don't go to bed straight away. She can be a lazy bones in the morning if someone is home, but most days she will go out around 7. With dh's crazy schedule and ds living at home while he is in college, the most time she spends in her kennel during the day is about four hours. We don't have scheduled times to take her out to potty because she is very vocal and will "talk" and let us know she has to go out. If things come up and nobody can be home for most of the day, my parents will come over and Lexi sit or I take her to doggy day care.

Anntig

during the day mine rarely go more than 4 hours in the crate although occasionally if I'm out for the day they'll go 6-7, at night however they're in by 7pm most nights and don't go out till 7am, I never realised it was such a long time but it never seems to bother them and they're not exactly desperate to go out in the mornings (Zeph would quite happily stay inside and 'help' everyone get ready if I let her).

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Pup's mom

Thank you everyone for your answers.. you are so thoughtful and helpful.
Tate came home with us with a nice big crate that we figured he would be in for a couple of months at least. I think he used it for a few nights, but quickly, he ended up curled up on a blanket next to my side of the bed and slept there all night, going downstairs with me in the morning and out the door to do his "business".. it seemed as if he came home with us, knowing what to do.
In all his years with us, at the end when he was so weak and sick, he never had an accident in the house.
I cannot count on ever getting a dog like him again, I will try very hard not to compare and can only hope that I do everything right from the beginning so we will all enjoy each other ..
My husband wonders if another breed of dog might be a better idea, we do consider them, but then I think of sitting and reading and reaching my hand down to the side of the chair and feeling those soft curls .. in the night, waking and dropping my hand over the side of the bed and feeling that soft curly head on the little rug by my side of the bed. I don't know if I need to be reminded or if I need to make new memories with someone completely different. Luckily, we have time for that .. but I am now armed with good advice and ideas.
Thank you as always, you are all the Best !

MaryLynn

My boys get walked every 4 hours. The last walk is usually around 12-1am (The DH works evenings right now, so we stay up a bit later than normal), and the first break is usually around 7:30-8 am.

Gryphon used to go out every 2 hours, but over the last month most of the time when I take him out like that he doesn't have to go.

cindyreef

My pup is 7 1/2 mths old and he can hold it for 6 hrs no problem. He is used to going out frequently (every 4 hrs) though so I dont think his bladder is trained for longer. I always take him out around 10 pm( even though he tries to sneak away to bed sometimes) and he holds it till 9 the next morning. But if he is left home alone during the day, he can only hold it for about 6 or 7 hrs. Go figure. I dont crate him at all.

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Please God...... everyday, help me be the person my dog thinks I am.