My pup is 8 weeks old, at night he sleeps in a large crate with his bed at one end and his water bowl at the other.  He has his monkey toy to cuddle up to and a nylabone to chew :)  the first night he woke me up at 5am so I got up, put him out for a wee then put him straight back in his crate and he was fine.  The second night he got me up twice, the third night he slept in his crate in the bedroom (OH was puppy sitting and was scared he wouldnt hear him in the kitchen) and he slept right through.  Sunday night it was every two hours and last night was twice although I only got up the once to put him out the other time I ignored him because he had only been in his crate an hour and I think he was just after attention.  My question is ..... how long can he hold his bladder for ?  I dont want to ignore him if he wants to go for a wee but at the same time I dont want to be seen to pander to his every whim because then he will never learn to settle.

Any advice greatfully received

Claire :)

Mine did this, its because he knows you will come if he cries, in the end I had to just leave him at night and take him out when I was supposed to during the day, after play, eating, sleeping etc. Others may disagree with my method but it worked for us, he didnt take long to catch on that I wouldnt come when he called and he was toilet trained very quickly.

I took the water away during the night when my pups slept (but not until about 11:00...don't like them to be thirsty) and didn't feed them past about 4:00 in the afternoon. I took them out to pee before I went to bed around 11:00 and don't remember getting up until 5 or 6:00 a.m. If they whined, I just said, "Go back to sleep...you're all right." LOL. They ususally quieted down. If they were persistent, I may have gotten up once in the wee hours, but don't recall doing much of that. I pretty much ignored that and within a couple of days, they'd be fine and gradually their sleep got longer and a little later in the morning.

Carrie

He is still on 4 meals a day and has his last at 10pm, I cant take his water away because he does drink alot due to being on mostly dry food.  I cant expect him at 8 weeks to hold his bladder all night and I dont mind getting up once for him whilst he is this little, at the moment im ignoring him if its only a couple of hours after he has been out and I dont want to ignore him if it means him being uncomfortable holding his bladder

What was it you were asking about? Oh, how long can he hold his bladder. Well, it's hard to give an exact time. If you feed and water him way late into the night, then naturally, he won't be able to go through the night...bladder or bowels. If you give his last meal earlier in the evening and give his last water an hour or so before bed and take him out one more time, then he'll be able to go longer. Simple. It sounds like you're confident in what you're doing and that's good.... if you don't mind getting up in the middle of the night a bunch or developing that habit of the dog needing to get up throughout the night. I don't know why you were asking for advice....I think you answered your own question.....LOL.....sounds like you've got it under control.

Carrie

Puppies don't really start to get control over their bladders till about 3 months of age. For water if you are worried he may drink to much you can always use one of those big water bottles in his kennel (put peanut butter on it to get him use to it) and this way he can still drink but not a whole lot at once, just enough to quench his thirst with out big gulps.

I got up in the night to take mine out to, I kept their kennel in my room. Once we got up I would take the toy away in the kennel and put in a different one to help them keep occupied. Don't make a big fuss when you get up with him, straight outside and back to bed no fuss at all, Maybe a good puppy but thats all. I never fed mine food pass 7pm but I did keep a water dish in their kennel all night. Mind you at first in the beginning I never kept any water in their kennel, when they whined we would go out for a pee and a drink if they wanted...My first dog slept with me :)

My gsd pup at 8 wks was on 3 meals a day.Breakfast 7.00am lunch 1.00pm and dinner 7.00pm. On going to bed (around midnight) she went out for her last pee and I stuffed her kong with a few small bonio's to have in her crate. I could not leave her water in the crate as she loves to tip it up and would have had her bed wet. Although she cried for the fist few nights I did not go to her atall. I would get up with her at 6.30 to 7.00am and let her out. We have never had any accidents in her crate and now at 5mths old will go untill 9.00am before letting her out.

You will be suffering from sleep depravation yourself by now. Why be so hard on yourself? The more you allow her to demand you get up the worse it will go. Use ear plugs if necessary.  

<<if you don't mind getting up in the middle of the night a bunch or developing that habit of the dog needing to get up throughout the night. >> I would rather him develop the habit of waking me rather than develop the habit of peeing during the night. I have had him nearly a week and he has only had two accidents in the house, both my fault for not putting him out quick enough, I dont put newspaper down and he has caught on early that outside is for toilet and will whine when he needs to go but as he is only a baby if you dont put him out straight away when he whines he will go.  I dont think he would go in his crate though which is why I worry about him holding on.  The reason I asked the question was because I wanted to make a decision based on other peoples opinions and experiences.  He was on 5 meals a day when he was with the breeder, I have now cut him to 4, when I cut him to 3 and take off his supper then he might be able to go through the night.  I dont get up everytime he whines which is why I asked the question because I didnt want the poor mite suffering because "mummy" is too lazy to get out of bed and put him out.  When I do put him out I praise him for going then put him straight back to bed with no other fuss.  Thanks everyone for your views and opinions, I will carry on letting him out once in the night for the next couple of weeks I think and see how he goes :)

Not wishing to contradict anyone but I would NEVER remove a dogs access to water particularly in this hot weather.  :-( Dollface is right, as I understand it a puppy is unable to control  its bladder before 4 months of age. My prime concern at this stage is to train a puppy where I wish it to go and to deter it from going anwhere else so that when it has control of its functions it waits to go in the approved place. Doing this involves getting up for a few nights..not a problem as far as I am concerned..you do this with a baby so why not with a puppy?
:-D The result is a happy and clean puppy you can take anwhere.

thanks Reddoor, that is my exact way of thinking :)

Blondebird you sound as if you are doing very well with your (IS?) puppy  :-D. I have my own odd way of training which seems to work for me though I am not saying it suits everyone... I do all the usual daytime things out hourly + etc. etc :-)  At night I take a very small deepsided box containing 'my smell' jumper+ toy+small deep jamjar of water+puppy ( puppys don't like soiling their beds and a small box helps with this) and after a late 'be clean' its up to bed to a dark bedroom with a loud ticking alarm clock. In the night puppy wakes and whimpers to go out..off we go dowstairs quickly and quietly..put puppy on the lawn say 'be clean' lots of praise when it performs..puppy back to box and bed.. note the time. Repeat for a few nights (depending on the pup). Next put box with the front cut out still with smelly jumper+ toy in the kitchen (I usually put the box it in a playpen)..and put the LOUD TICKING CLOCK in the kitchen too, puppy is now used to this soothing sound. Set an alarm upstairs for the time the puppy has woken you previously and go down and take it out at this time gradually extending the time. It seems a bit complicated but it isn't really and you don't have to do it for long. When you do have to get up it is only for a few minutes so not much sleep lost and it also helps with the puppy bonding process. I love having a new puppy and count it as a privilege and getting up is no big hardship for me when it is to tend to puppies or babies. The rewards are great, the puppy knows from the start what is expected, if you do it right the puppy has never been used to soiling in the house and would not think of doing so. :-)

Yep he is an Irish Setter :)  I have a similar routine to you although he has been in the kitchen from day dot (he does have a cage in my bedroom if I want a lie in :D ) he sleeps in a large cage which is small enough for him not to want to soil.  He now toilets on command which is very handy for those early morning trips to the garden, I, like you put him out every hour, after playing, sleep, meals etc in fact im just waiting for him to finish dragging the cat around so he can go out for his last toilet trip.  He is great fun and I do feel privilaged to have him as part of my life :)

Likewise, Reddoor! I would rather be woken by a pup needing to go out for a wee, than by a pup whining because he's in discomfort through thirst (caused by my selfishness). I firmly believe dogs should have access to fresh water 24/7.

I agree 100% - the digestive processes that go on throughout the day need water, and if that water is not available, who knows what damage is done.  Also water is essential to brain processes - this has been proven with children, so how can we expect to train a dog effectivly if it is partially dehydrated?

I let my dogs out too if they whine and put them right back to bed. Occasionally, even now at their age they might need to go out. What I'm saying is, is that in my experience, when I fed them earlier in the evening and let them drink at about 11:00 at night, then put them to bed, they tended to be fine during the night untill about 5 or 6 in the morning. Last night, Lyric at almost 10 months of age whined. Since he doesn't normally do that at night, I figured something is bothering him so I let him out. He peed and got a drink and went back to bed. What do you take me for, some heartless wicked person who wants my dog to suffer???? (I have no idea how hot it is there. When I had my last pup, it was fall and very cool in the mountains where I live.)

Carrie

No Carrie, I can only speak for myself of course, but I am sure no-one is saying that about you... or anyone else :-)  Blondebird said 'all advice gratefully received' and on this excellent 'information exchange' we are  all I think  adding to the sum total of knowledge by contributing our 'little snippets' of information and experience in the hope that it is of help to others  :-).
You are so luck to live in the mountains Carrie, it must be a wonderfull place to raise dogs. :-) and isn't it great that we can all talk to each other like this and swap stories and have a laugh together when we are so far away..

Thank you Reddor. It just sounded as if someone thought that I was a heartless wench and put my pups in a crate for hours on end with no drink and no care if they had to go out. I picked this up from some post saying something about not ignoring the whining and not letting them have ample water to keep their body system working, don't remember which now. Maybe I'm just too sensative. I am the first person to be very concerned about watering animals. I've had horses and dogs galore. I know the importance of it. I also know that they can generally go for 5 or 6 hours through the night if they get a chance to drink before. If they don't drink all night long, they tend to stay dry and thus associate the crate with keeping dry. If they're thirsty and uncomfortable, of course I give them water.  In fact, my puppies before Lyric, I did leave water in the crate. He's just so cotton pickin big and goofy, he'd for sure spill it anyhow, so he was the first I didn't leave water for over night.

Yes, it is dog heaven here and every day we do something fun, a hike or a walk on the lake beach...no people, no cars....very nice. Thank you for your reply.

Carrie

It's not that anyone is accusing you of being heartless, Carrie - you obviously aren't! It's just that people have come onto this site in the past and advised withholding water from puppies (and adult dogs) and take umbrage when it is pointed out to them that, in the UK at least, owners have been sued for cruelty for this. All welfare societes stress that water should be available at all times.

This link is not aimed at anyone, purely for general reference.
:)