I adopted a puppy a few weeks ago. I obviously did loads of research for months beforehand to make sure I was ready to welcome him in the best possible conditions! I've read pretty much everywhere that you have to get up during the night to take them out so they learn to be house-trained more quickly.
I wanted to ask today if this process is actually useful or even necessary? My pup (11 weeks old) seems to have a very tiny bladder: he wees every 45 minutes to an hour during the day, and the longest he's held it at night is 2 hours...
I’ve been getting up every 2 hours to take him out since day one, just like I was advised. I also read that puppies should soon be able to hold it for a bit longer at night and that these night-time wake-ups would only be needed for a few days or weeks.
My puppy is still doing just as many wees and can only hold it for 2 hours max at night; even then, most of the time when I come downstairs, he’s already had an accident in the living room (poos as well...). He’s starting to understand really well that he needs to go outside, because as soon as I take him out (day or night), he goes straight away in the garden. So, we're on the right track!
I’m starting to get really tired from such broken sleep. Getting up every 2 hours is becoming harder and harder to manage for my own wellbeing and exhaustion levels, and I can’t even imagine what it’ll be like when I start my classes again next week!
That’s why I was wondering if I really need to keep getting up to train him, or if it isn't actually essential in the end. I obviously know what I signed up for when I adopted my little one, so if this is truly necessary for house-training, I’ll keep doing it, no problem!
Thanks in advance for your replies 🙂
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Everyone I know has done it, and everyone I chat with on forums and social media too, so I just assumed it was the norm. Mind you, we’re hardly going to deprive him of water just to stop him needing a wee... 🤪
I’m not sure how many others do it, but I did it for Basile; I was getting up twice during the night. I’ve got a garden, though, so I just had to nip down in my pyjamas.
I don’t see what’s so mad about it to be honest, it’s just like having a baby that isn’t sleeping through the night yet – when you get a puppy, you can expect not to sleep very well for the first few weeks! ^^
At the end of the day, it’s a matter of choice. I preferred getting up to cleaning up wee and poo smeared everywhere (I’ve got two dogs and my place is small, so they’d quickly tread in it and get it all over the place), and it definitely speeds up the house-training.
Do you honestly think many people actually get up in the middle of the night to let their puppy out?
Try not to feed them too late, and the same goes for their water.
Thanks everyone for your advice and messages, they’ve really helped me get my head around house-training my puppy!
I think from now on I won’t bother getting up in the middle of the night but will set my alarm for 6am to take him out instead—fingers crossed it’s before he needs a poo! ;)
Well, no... My dog didn’t ‘learn’ that it was ‘good’ to go outside; that’s the big misunderstanding I’m talking about :-) A dog naturally prefers to go outside rather than in their own living space, simply when they're given the chance. A dog can’t function normally if they’re forced to soil themselves or their crate, that’s for sure... It’s not because they weren’t ‘taught’, but because they simply couldn't hold it!
So how do you explain the fact that, at the start, my dog was constantly going indoors even though he had the chance to go outside?
I’d put it down to their natural rate of development, quite simply. With a very young puppy, there’s almost no bladder control... which means that as soon as the pup moves around a bit or gets their system going by eating or drinking, it just happens. Then, week by week, control develops and the pup becomes increasingly able to make it outside to do their business (provided you open the door, of course).
I think Kainate summed up the process really well. Lorna too in her approach; they're basically two different ways of looking at it that aim for the same goal. In my experience, I've noticed two "stages" of house-training, if you will: a stage where the puppy understands it's better to go in the garden and will go as close to the door as possible, and the stage where they can actually hold it and ask to go out. Ulthia was house-trained in three and a half months, so around five and a half months old, but she was in a flat. Koda, on the other hand, picked it all up very quickly; by three months he’d understood perfectly, within his physical limits of course. My parents' Shih Tzu was the same—three months to really master the whole thing. As has been said, the ideal is really to maximise the chances of success, but ultimately it's up to you to see what works and what suits the two of you, because that’s what really matters. We could give you all the tips that worked for us, but they might not be right for you...
So, regarding the question of whether you need to get up during the night...
I’d say it depends on where you feel your pup is at with the "natural processes" I mentioned earlier.
If it feels like they’ve more or less got the hang of it... that they know... it’s meant to be outside, not inside, and they manage to hold it in most of the time to go outdoors... then I don't think it’s a disaster if you don’t get up in the night and the dog has the occasional accident indoors for want of a better option. It’s not going to make them "unlearn" being house-trained.
If you feel like your dog is still a bit hit-and-miss... the type to go and have a piss in their bed right after coming back from a walk, or look for little secluded spots in the house to do their business, or prefer going on the rug rather than the grass... then in my opinion, you’re better off taking them out very, very regularly so they don't pick up bad habits. It can happen so fast! And personally, I’d rather be knackered for a month or two than spend a year mopping up dog piss like I did with my first one ^^
Strangely enough, I’m not convinced that dogs have an innate instinct to go outside rather than indoors. If I’m not careful, my dog will quite happily lift his leg in the corridors of the Tube or in a shop. On the other hand, he’d never pee in a friend's flat. I think dogs don’t go indoors because they are able to conceptualise, through passive learning, what a "living space" is. They can eventually understand, for example, that a rug isn't just an absorbent surface to pee on, but a place to sleep—whether that rug is at home or at a friend's house.
That said, that urge to do their business on absorbent surfaces is really stubborn in some dogs. It’s happened once or twice, very rarely, due to a bout of explosive diarrhoea. And without fail, Léon decides to have a poo right on the sofa!! (Luckily it was covered with a throw). Even though it's one of his usual sleeping spots.
Even when he needs to be sick, he picks an absorbent surface. It’s always a delight to be woken up in the morning by a BARF-fed dog vomiting fresh, almost whole sardines onto your pillowcase...
And once he’s got his heart set on something, there’s no changing his mind. When I see him climbing onto the bed to be sick, I put him on the floor. He constantly tries to jump back up. He refuses to be sick on the floor, unless I bring him a rug!!
To sum it up, I reckon house-training ideally relies on several 'natural processes' that don't actually require active, conscious intervention from us owners:
- A biological factor: the gradual development of bladder and bowel control, which happens at different ages depending on the pup.
- Three natural impulses, which are likely mostly instinctive, perhaps reinforced slightly by the mother or other dogs? I’m not entirely sure what role 'doggy culture' plays here. These are: the instinct not to go to the toilet where they live (present from puppyhood); the instinct to go on absorbent surfaces like soil, sand... or rugs and beds! (also from puppyhood); and the instinct to mark explored territories (which kicks in during adolescence).
- Passive learning, which is basically the dog understanding that their 'living area' isn't just their bed, but also that hallway they only set paw in once a month.
If these 'natural processes' are hindered at any point, or if the owner tries to establish habits that go against them (like using an indoor litter tray, or even going in the garden—which isn't always a given for a dog who might see the garden as part of their home), then yes, active, structured training might be needed. This involves praising good behaviour, interrupting bad habits (maybe with a scolding? I’m sceptical about how well that works for house-training), and managing the environment (like taking the dog out for a walk right after a meal) to help the dog build a 'habit' instead of just following a 'natural impulse'.
You need to find the root cause of these digestive issues. If it’s down to diet—like an intolerance or puppy sensitivity—simply giving anti-diarrhoeal meds won't actually fix the underlying problem.
I’d strongly recommend trying organic blonde psyllium husk (available at health food shops, supermarkets, or online).
Go for the powder rather than the capsules; it’s much easier to dose (useful for your own health too, if you fancy taking some!).
The dosages in ml are based on a measuring spoon, which usually isn't included (1ml is about 0.65g).
Cats: 1 to 2.5ml per day
Dogs: 2.5 to 5ml per 10kg (roughly 22 lbs or 1.5 stone) per day
Mix the psyllium powder with five times its volume in water, wait for it to form a gel, and then stir it into their meals.
You can stop as soon as the stools are back to a normal consistency.
After that, get some probiotics from the chemist (the children’s version, half a sachet a day) to rebalance and stabilise the gut flora.
You might also want to try moving away from dry food entirely? Or perhaps look into a more suitable brand of dry food.
It’s definitely worth a shot...
I won’t be around on the forum this afternoon, but I’ll be back online this evening.
