Thread: How long can a dog hold urine?

Hi!,
I'm new to the board and so happy that I found it. Probably will spend lots of time here.
My question... how long can a dog (3 1/2 yo female) safely (and not cause the dog to be uncomfortable) hold urine while left alone? I use Lexi as an excuse (many times) not to go somewhere or do something because I will have to take her 'out!'
Thanks for any help and everyone have a 'sun-shiny day!'
dimples1945

Usually during the day my 4 1/2 month old goes every 5-8 hours and at night it is a full 8 hours. I sleep at 11pm and he wakes me up between 7-8pm

Just remember to take him out before you go out

My 5 year old German Shepherd holds it for 12 hours sometimes before he asks to go out, but I don't like to make him wait for more than 8 hours.

I have a 1 yr. old small dog and she holds it all night but during the day 7 hrs is about her limit. Is your dog a small breed or a large one?

General rule of thumb for puppies is one hour for every month old. So a 2 month old can wait two hours, a 3 month old 3 hours. etc.
With an adult my dogs can go 12 hours like over night- but of course they are not active. With my dogs I add cranberry capsules ( the amount based on the dogs weight- ..) and that helps to keep the urinary tract healthy.
Activity, eating etc greatly affects how long a dog can hold it without having to go.

I have a (almost)5 month old lab mix. He already weights 42 pounds. He had his neuter surgery 5 days back. He was always slightly scared of the outside and hesitant to leave home (slightly climate controlled ). At the same time, he would never do his business inside. I started taking him to the dog park and spending more time with him outdoors to help him get over that slight fear. Since the neuter, he has reverted to not wanting to leave home. I go home at lunch to let him out to pee. He has stopped going out at lunch and controls it till I get home. Sometimes, he doesnt want to go even then! Last couple of days the holding time has hit about 12 hours.
Also, if someone comes over and he really is fond of them, he greets them and sprays them at the same time (only after neuter!).
When he eventually ventures out, he doesn't make it to the grass downstairs but pees on the stairs!
The only trip outside that he readily goes for and actually beats me to the door is the very first one early in the morning around 6:30 am. I understand its much quieter and much cooler at that time than the other times that I would like him to relieve himself!
He is on pain meds but i'm slowly tapering them off and tomorrow will be the last day.
He is eating and drinking water normally.
He has never woken me at night to use the bathroom.

Is it normal and healthy for him to control this long ? Will he counter a urinary infection due to this ? Is he just growing up ? I think he is physically slightly bigger than labs his age (42 pounds at 5 months).

Any guidance is appreciated! I am a new mother!

Thanks!

I wouldn't leave my dog more than 4 hours (other than overnight when we sleep) without being relieved. My girl is still getting used to us and will hold her pee for upwards of 24 hrs. I'd never leave her to hold it for that long though. I don't know how she doesn't have an infection. I'm going to ask the vet about it at her appt on Friday.

My dog (5 yrs, 75 lbs) can easily hold for 12 hours. But usually we let him go 3 times within a 24 hour period, morning, night, and in between. He's also a very heavy marker, even though he's neutered, so no matter the time span if we let him out he will pee in his usual spot. If we let him out 10 times a day he would pee 10 times a day.
As I mentioned in another post, on one occassion we were out of town and hired a dog sitter. A huge snowstorm happened and the dog sitter couldn't make it to our house for over 24 hours. Surprisingly, my dog held it in. He took a long, LONG pee when he was finally let out

That said, on a separate occassion we were taking family Christmas photos and I had my dog sit in for them. But he was acting very restless and would spit out the treats we gave him for being so good. "Maybe he needs to pee," my mom suggested. I insisted we took one more photo, asked my dog to sit. He made to sit, then made a very apologetic face and peed on the carpet. I was able to interrupt him and let him finish his business outside; no one was mad and everyone was laughing THAT time, I'd say it was less than 12 hours between the accident and his last bathroom break. But it must of been 'one of those days,' or he drank a lot of water. Either way, if I had to choose one interval and stick with it forever, I'd say every 8 hours.

My dog, a 2yo 31 lb beagle, often goes 12 hours (through the night), and there have been days he's gone longer than that. And I'm here to take him out during those times, all he's gotta do is go to the door and signal me, but I guess he just can hold it for a long time. Through the daytime he sometimes goes 6 hours or so between bathroom breaks, also his choice since I am here to take him as needed.

As most people stated already, it depends on the dog but for most adults they can hold it for around 8 hours.

My 3 y/o APBT X has been known to hold his urine for upwards of 18 hours. He *hates* the rain, so this usually occurs when it is miserable outside. No amount of coaxing will convince him that peeing is worth getting his paws wet. When he finally relents to my begging, he literally pees as he is running to get back in the house....

I have a mix Chocolate Lab 76 pounds, sometimes he can hold it up to 12 hrs, we take him out before we go to bed around 10 pm and in the morning he wake us up around 9 am , at first we thought that he wanted to go out but we open the door for him and he still not go out, we leave the door open anyway, I give him his food I take my morning coffee I would say another 1/2 Hr or so and even when we take him outside for a walk he dont pee right a away, he take his time .

Im not sure its a good idea to make a dog hold in Urine or Poop.

Seems like you guys are having contest of whos dog can hold it in longer.

What you should be concentrating on is having a place for your dog to relieve itself in your absence...or emergecy situations.