@dragonite Every 3-4 hours is fairly normal I feel, especially if you’re home during that time.
My non reactive dog asks for one potty break after breakfast, one in early afternoon, and a bunch in the evenings after my BF gets home from work (I primarily WFH). And she goes potty every time she asks to go outside.
Expecting a dog to hold it for much longer is asking too much I think. Yes dogs can hold it, just like people can, but honestly most humans have a bathroom break every 3-4 hours.
I don’t think this is an anxiety thing. I think your dog is asking you to let them outside to go potty.
@spyderco I guess I was thinking it’s too often because my previous dog would only ask every 5 hours or so. I don’t mind taking my dog every 3-4 hours during the day, but it’s really rough getting woken up 2-3 times during the night every night.
@dragonite Got it. I would crate train at night, and have him sleep in his crate for now. Seems like a housebreaking thing. Crate training does wonders for housebreaking.
During the day, that’s a reasonable amount for a dog to ask to go outside.
@dragonite Considering that you probably don’t know much about his former owners or stray life (if he was one), it could be that he is used to this routine. I would suggest limiting his water intake in the evening and leaving only enough before bed that he can drink a few laps if he is thirsty but not enough to process into a potty break. Try sleeping with ear buds in one night and see if he has an accident. Also, is he going potty, sniffing around, or eating grass? We had an older dog who woke us up multiple times a night to eat grass outside. I think he had acid reflux. We started giving him dinner earlier in the day and it helped.
Dogs last so long when we are out at work for the same reason that we (generally) can go 6-8 hours overnight: Kidneys filter less when the body is at rest. When your dog is awake and active… More urine production.
I take my (non reactive) dog to obedience class and even with a potty before we leave home and a potty before class, he has to pee like a HORSE after class. All that excitement = kidneys having a productive streak.
@cathya That’s good to know that it’s not abnormal. What about during the night? I’m having to let him out 2-3 times during the night as well, since he still wants to go to the bathroom every 3 hours usually.
@dragonite Might want to get him on a potty training schedule, make sure he doesn’t suck back a ton of water before bed (sometimes dogs will do this if they have been chewing a bone or eating a ton of treats during training or out of a toy).
You can try withholding water before bed but that seems to be becoming an increasingly controversial subject in potty training.
@dragonite That sounds about right. He wants to go to the toilet, don’t force him not to. You’ll end up with a dog that starts doing it in the house because he doesn’t think you’ll let him.
My dog usually goes about 4 hours and then starts asking.
@seal87 Yes it’s also during the night, so he’ll wake me up 2-3 times during the night. It’s really taking a toll on me as it’s sometimes hard to fall back asleep after, so I never get much sleep. If it was only once during the night I’d prefer that.
@dragonite It would be worth getting a vet check just to make sure there’s nothing underlying, because dogs should be able to go without toilet breaks for that long.
It could also be just because he’s got into that routine, so doesn’t know what else to do, in which case i think the only thing you can really do is not let him. Try it one night and see if he has any accidents, maybe?
