puppy wont sleep through the night

[Bella Rose]

Hi everyone! I'm new to the sight and love what I have seen! We have a 4 1/2 month old rottie named Bella who continues to wake up between 1 and 3 am to go to the bathroom. We let her out but I'm wondering when I should stop? Is she old enough to hold it? This is our 2nd rott and we dont remember our first having to go out at night. Getting tired quickly!! Has anyone had this problem? Thanks for your help!

[Nishasmom]

If she is waking up at night to go potty I would take her. She woke up because her bladder feels full.

Just take her out on a leash to go potty (NO PLAYING) then directly back to her kennel. She needs to know that just because you let her out does not mean you get to play.

You can stop when she stops needing to go out. Most dogs wont wake up unless they HAVE to go. Is she peeing frequently during the day? If so, have her checked for any infections.

[AngelBunny]

Are you feeding and watering on a schedule? This helps the dog regulate his or her system.

[Bella Rose]

Thanks for the replies! Yes we do have her on a schedule for food and water and we dont let her get up to "play" so it sounds like we are doing the right things. She does pee all throughtout the day, I'm home with her so she's let out alot....maybe thats why she cant "hold it". Our vet said that by 5 months she should be able to hold it so I'll keep my fingers crossed.

[brunie's mom]

Most puppies at that age do not have to get up during the night to pee. It could be she just got used to going...and now thinks she should go. When do you let her out last time before bed? What time do you get up in the morning with her?

Regulate her food and water, like AngelBunny said....pull up the water by 8:00 in the evening or so, or just allow her a few mouthfuls before bed..and don't feed her later then 6 p.m. or so...just give her a cookie before bed..so she has something in her belly.

Gina

[damp]

Originally Posted by Nishasmom

If she is waking up at night to go potty I would take her. She woke up because her bladder feels full.

Just take her out on a leash to go potty (NO PLAYING) then directly back to her kennel. She needs to know that just because you let her out does not mean you get to play.

You can stop when she stops needing to go out. Most dogs wont wake up unless they HAVE to go. Is she peeing frequently during the day? If so, have her checked for any infections.

I have to disagree. A (healthy) dog at that age should have no problems sleeping all night and does not need to go out to potty in the middle of the night.

I would "dare" to take the "risk" and TELL the pup (knowing it was (out) doing bussines before going to sleep!

Tell the dog... stop... go lay down, when it whines or what ever when it does when/to wake you up.

The sooner the better you break the habit (and it's a bad habit to be waked up just to take a sound pup out to go potty in the middle of the night!

[Nishasmom]

Maybe I am a softy . I don't like knowing that my baby has to hold her bladder till morning .

[damp]

Originally Posted by Nishasmom

Maybe I am a softy . I don't like knowing that my baby has to hold her bladder till morning .

For heavens sake... we are not talking about an 8 weeks old pup but an 4 1/2 month old pup.
PS: who the heck is talking about babies???? I am talking about pups/dogs

[brunie's mom]

Originally Posted by Bella Rose

Thanks for the replies! Yes we do have her on a schedule for food and water and we dont let her get up to "play" so it sounds like we are doing the right things. She does pee all throughtout the day, I'm home with her so she's let out alot....maybe thats why she cant "hold it". Our vet said that by 5 months she should be able to hold it so I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Yes...I think this may be one of her problems...you are not teaching her to hold it. I also work from home...and would crate up my puppy for 2-3 hours at a time just so he would learn how to "hold it", and to learn to be alone and amuse himself without me.

I agree with Damp, a puppy that age...should not be getting you up during the night anymore. The last couple of puppies that I have crate trained...I guess I was very lucky. Bruno only had me up for a couple of weeks, and Baxter held it and slept through the night right from 8 weeks of age. He went out potty last time around 10:30- 11, and we got up with him at 5:30 -6 a.m. with him.

I would be a basket case if I was sleep deprived for all of those months.

Gina

[Bella Rose]

Wow! Thanks for that! I have to agree that she should not be going out at night...guess I just wanted to here that from others....I figured that this could become a bad habit and we would need to stop it! She eats twice a day at 6:30 am and 4:00 pm, water is available at all times. We let her out right before bed around 10:30 and I'm up at 6:30 so I guess we'll have to try and stop her whining in the middle of the night...(she sleeps in a crate in our bedroom) She's a cutie so I guess we'll keep her

[poohbearsmom]

Originally Posted by Nishasmom

Maybe I am a softy . I don't like knowing that my baby has to hold her bladder till morning .

The sphyncter muscles are developed quite well by 12 weeks of age. By 4 mos of age, a pup is now a young dog and very much capable of holding it all night long, as long as he/she is in good health. I'm not talking about sleeping in till noon on a Saturday morning all night long, but 6-8 hours is very do-able.

As long as the young dog's feeding schedule is consistent, and he/she is taken out right before you retire, all should be fine.

A 4 1/2 mos dog is doing this for one of two reasons:

It has it's owner's number, or it has a bladder/kidney issue. (UTI, for instance)

Bella Rose, if your pup is urinating a lot, (needs to go, has little output usually or squats and can't go), or if you have other reason to suspect your pup may have a UTI (very common for young females), then get her to the veterinarian to rule this out.

Barring any physical abnormality, perhaps you might rethink who is telling who what to do. Behaviors like this tend to grow into more behaviors like this, and are very self rewarding for the dog; think about you ringing a bell for service, and your own personal butler runs each and every time to your beck and call, and not for any particular reason other than you enjoy the company! You might ring that bell more often!.

Have you ever gone to formal obedience training? Perhaps finding a puppy class with an instructor who teaches operant conditioning techniques, dog learning theory, and basic canine behavior would be worth looking into.

[Terri Lambert]

I would have to agree she shoud not have to go out at night. My young rottie was completely house trained at 10 weeks, then started having urine accidents because she had a bladder infection. She slept through the night by the age of nine weeks I only had her a week or two by then. Yes I have older dogs and a fenced in yard that helped but she did not wake up during the night unless she was sick. So please take her and have a urine check to make sure she doesn't have a bladder infection.

[BrewskisMommy]

Our almost five-month old is doing the same thing. I now know that he is not waking up beause he has to "go", because the past 2 nights instead of heading for the door, he went straight for his toy basket! I would have no problem ignoring him, but I am worried about one thing. He has hip dysplasia; do you think he might need to get up and stretch? (Could he be whining because he is sore from being in the crate?) We usually go to bed between 10-11 and he starts whining any time between 3 and 5am. I have really been exhuasted from getting up with him but I would feel terrible if his little hips were bothering him and he just needs a good stretch.

[Nishasmom]

My dog also slept thru the night around 8-9 weeks. If she cried, it was because she really had to go (even people have to go potty in the middle of the night sometimes!). We did give it a few minutes of "whining" before we took her out. Usually, if she didn't have to go potty, her whining would subside rather quickly.

She was my first dog to potty train. Maybe we "lucked out" with her .

Also, our trainer said dogs in general can hold their bladder 1 hour for every month they are old, plus one additional hour.

Bella Rose: I am sorry if I gave you incorrect advice! Please follow everyone else's, I guess I was wrong .

[cerulean]

Our pup is just five months, and at 4 1/2 or so she started waking up in the middle of the night again (she had been sleeping through the night for a few weeks by this time...)

We figured out it was probably teething that was waking her up.
Of course, once we were awake, I had to go pee, myself !!! But she didn't always even want to go out.

The solution was to give her something for the teething, like ice cubes or frozen fruit.