[ohbehave]

My pup is just over 6 and a half months.... sort of a Dachshund type.

Female.

So, the good news is that this pup has a strong bladder. She has always "held it" all night in her crate since I've had her at 12 weeks old.... that's about 9.5 hours per night.

Now, when we wake.... she takes her time before she does her biz .... a couple minutes or so, but she goes in an acceptable time. Still, you'd think that after a full night, she'd be bursting at the seams to "go".

Fine. So, we're up at 5:30am and she does her biz.

Well, right before I go to work, I'd like to get her to "empty" once more.... say, at 7:45am. That way, I can start my day knowing the dog is freshly empty and can comfortably last through the work day. That's 2 hours and 15 minutes after her first pee.

If she would "go" on that final outing, then she effectively is holding her biz for only 8 hours or so.

If she doesn't, then it become 10+ hours of holding it!

Every other dog, that I have had, has been more than happy to pee. In fact, they all would go multiple times per walk... you know, they'd smell a special smell and decide to pee on it.

It appears that my dog will "go" on command... that is, when I give her the prompt... she will usually "go" IF she has been holding it for 3+ hours.... and usually requires more than 3 hours between pee's.

So this is a young dog... a pup... and I have never owned a puppy. Is this lovely features of multiple-pee's something that is more characteristic of adult dogs?


Thanks for any info or advice

 

[BellaPup]

Sounds *exactly* like my mornings to the tee. Take her out as soon as we get up @ 5:30, feed her breakfast, get ready for work, take her out again before I leave @ 7:30. It's become so routine it kills me. But she likes it that way.

When she was younger, she didn't have that routine yet. She was too busy wanting to play/investigate instead of peeing.

I think as they mature and become more interested in marking their area instead of being a puppy, it will get easier.

 

[georgiapeach]

She sounds like my westie mix, Maddie! Maddie can seemingly hold it forever. Sometimes, she'll only pee once a day, and she's given multiple opportunities. When she does go, it's a river! I don't understand it either...

 

[ohbehave]

My hope is that I'm making much ado about nothing.

Maybe it's ok... and she'll be comfortable. My full work days begin tomorrow, so I'll find out.

I don't know. Raising a puppy (to be a polite indoor dog) is more stressful than I thought... especially this type of breed (independent and with a world that presents reinforcers more powerful than anything you have in your treat bag)

 

[InkedMarie]

Get up 15 min earlier!

 

[ohbehave]

Oh man, 15 minutes earlier? 5:30am is already way earlier than needed for my job.

So, is there no hope that she'll begin doing that "territory peeing" once she's an adult? (is that an adult thing?)

Get up 15 min earlier!

 

[hamandeggs]

I do think some female dogs start marking once they're older. I know my dog did! When we first got her she was "reverse housebroken" and very pee-shy, and would only go if she REALLY had to. Now, a year later, she's much more comfortable and she definitely does mark things when we're out on walks. Not all dogs do this, though. And your dog is less likely to see your backyard as a place to mark (because other dogs won't also be marking there).

Once your dog is a little older, you'll probably feel more comfortable with just taking her out the one time.

Have you considered a dog walker? 8-10 hours is a long time, not just to hold it, but to be alone, especially for a puppy...

 

[InkedMarie]

Oh man, 15 minutes earlier? 5:30am is already way earlier than needed for my job.

So, is there no hope that she'll begin doing that "territory peeing" once she's an adult? (is that an adult thing?)

Who knows? I'm just making a suggestion. You want your dog to pee one more time before you go to work, she wont. So, 15min earlier won't kill you.
Believe me, I know how you feel. When I last worked, I got up at 5:30am so I could leave at 8:30am, for your very reason: I wanted all to pee before I left.

 

[ohbehave]

That's very interesting... and funny... that we both have the same issue.

So today, I get home. It has been 9 hours since her last actual pee, and we go out.... she actually spends nearly a minute smelling the outdoors happily before she decides to go off and wee.

Now, she isn't the type (yet) that smells something interesting and then strategically pees on it. Smelling is an entirely different task, for her. (and yes, there probably aren't other dogs piddling in my yard).

Perhaps she has a higher capacity than your average dog. Even as a pup, the humane society lady said that she was the only puppy who had a clean crate in the morning.
Her lag time ... even after 9 hours.... before piddling outside may give an indication that she isn't too desperate to "go". What do you think?

As for a dog walker, I know I'd never do that. I just wouldn't. I consider myself an over-the-top dog lover, but even then, I'm too selfish to enlist a dog walker. Surely, 99+% of dog owners work all day.... and even longer hours than I work. Somehow their dogs are managing to live with that period of "home alone".

My next project is to build a little fence in a small section of my back yard. I'm on 8 acres, but this little dog can't be allowed full access to that!

I actually have this unusual idea:
You know those little basement windows at the base of the exterior walls? Maybe I can put a doggy door in place of one of those windows. Then, build a dog house or crate in the basement right there at the window.
So, the dog would walk through a doggy door and enter that crate.
That way, the dog would have a somewhat climate controlled area inside that basement crate and yet have access to a small section of the outdoors, too.

One way or the other, the LAST resort would be the use of an interior gated section of the house with those piddle pads.

For now, at 6.5 months old, I am going with the theory that this dog is one of those that can hold it (in a crate). Most days, I can get home noon to let her out... but I like to plan for the worst case days in which I'll be gone longer.

 

[hamandeggs]

I don't think hiring a dog walker is over-the-top at all, especially for a puppy. We have one and frankly, I don't think it's ridiculous. I would feel bad about leaving my dog in a box for 10-hour stretches. Yes, plenty of people do it, but I certainly don't think "99+%" of owners leave their dogs alone all day. People work from home, they stay home with kids, they have a neighbor kid come let the dog out. This is especially true with puppies. Of course, what you do with your dog up to you, but I don't think anything outlandish about it at all.

 

[chubby]

You need to condition her to want to pee by using command words. Every time she pees, while she's peeing say, "go potty!" or "go pee pee"! Eventually, when you take her out, say it as she's sniffing the grass, and she'll have an urge to pee. Classic conditioning. Remember to praise her right after she finishes peeing.

Your problem, BTW, is a nice problem to have I would kill if Butters could hold it that long hahah

Or you can send her to bed later in the night, and get up later in the morning? That way she gets an extra pee before bed, and then just one pee in the morning.

 

[ohbehave]

hamandeggs,
Did I say anything about dog walkers being ridiculous?

Of course not. I think it is a terrific thing to do. However, I am getting more practical and less romantic about things. This is a dog. It lives an incredible life with all kinds of thinking-toy items (one's that I create for her, too), free health care, and the best food.

A dog walker would be cool, but she'll have to manage without. Her ability to "hold it" looks very good.

Oddly, when I leave her with a food stuffed "thinking toy", she often doesn't bother with it when I am out. I'll return to find it completely undisturbed. And yet, when I am in the room, she will play with it in her crate. It's like she turns "off" when in the crate and alone.

You say people work from home, but I think that constitutes the rare few. I do think, though, that some dog owners simply tolerate accidents in the house.

Since I have only owned adult dogs, I haven't done much thinking about their time spent alone while I'm at work. I've only had one dog at a time... and only get the next one when the last one has passed... so being 47 years old, ...and each dog living over a decade....I have only had three dogs total. Each of them required no housetraining... and never had a single accident. No crate, either. Before doing some very recent reading, I would have thought that a crate was highly unethical. So this crate thing is new to me. Anyway, with them, I just went to work and returned whenever work ended.... no problems.... no accidents... and no behavior problems.

My guess is that this is the most common existence for a dog. Let it out in the morning, then back in.... then off to your 9 to 5 job... and then back after 9 hours. For a sharp Border Collie, you'd probably need a large dog run arrangement and maybe another dog for company. For others, it's probably no stress at all.

 

[Catdancer]

I have a 6 month old Papillon. The way his crate is set up, he can use a pee pad if he has too. He's in his crate for up to 9 hours a day. Sometimes less depending on when hubs has to be at work. But lately he has started waiting until we get home to go potty. He wont use his pee pad anymore. He pees and poos in the morning between 6:30 and 7 am, stays out in the house with my hubs while he gets ready for work, then gets crated at about 8:15 am. I get home between 5:30 and 6 pm. That is when Dexter is let out to pees and poo again. He just started holding it, in the last 5-7 days.

 

[ohbehave]

Catdancer,

So you are describing a minimum 10.5 hours between piddles for your pup. I get the suspicion that this is how most people exist with their dogs.

People usually consider only the amount of time their dog is "alone" in the house. They don't usually calculate the amount of time since the dog's last "pee". In some ways, that is the most interesting statistic!

Listening to my co-workers, and making some estimates of the duration between piddles... I'd say 11+ hours is not unusual.

Still, I'm pondering the mini-yard just outside of a doggy door. As a side bonus, the dog will have been able to expend a bit more energy before my arrival (possibly barking at some things, chasing bugs, and maybe tugging at a "brain toy" that I suspend, almost beyond her reach, on a bungee cord.

I have a 6 month old Papillon. The way his crate is set up, he can use a pee pad if he has too. He's in his crate for up to 9 hours a day. Sometimes less depending on when hubs has to be at work. But lately he has started waiting until we get home to go potty. He wont use his pee pad anymore. He pees and poos in the morning between 6:30 and 7 am, stays out in the house with my hubs while he gets ready for work, then gets crated at about 8:15 am. I get home between 5:30 and 6 pm. That is when Dexter is let out to pees and poo again. He just started holding it, in the last 5-7 days.

 

[Catdancer]

Yes, it's a long time between potty breaks for Dex. But he still has his pee pad if he wishes to use it. It's up to him whether he holds it or not. It has really been surprising me the last couple of days that he has waited until we get home to go potty.

I did read on here that up until 6 months they are too young to "hold it".