# NIGHT TIME BATHROOM BREAK



## Frankie1119 (11 mo ago)

my toy poodle boy just turned 12 weeks today, his night schedule seems a little much, or maybe I am just use to larger breed dogs ( this is my first small breed). He goes to bed at 9 in his crate wakes me up around 1030 or 11 for his first bathroom break. Then he goes back to crate and immediately back to sleep, then wakes me up at about 1 to go out to go poop not pee. Then he usually sleeps till or 530 then gets up goes out to pee then goes back to crate and to sleep till 6am then up for the day. He never wants to stay up and play through any of this goes right back to sleep. I was thinking however at 12 weeks he would be giving up one of these times to go potty. We take his water and away at 7 and his last meal is at 430. Any advice on when a smaller breed usually starts sleeping for longer periods at night. I am very thankful he wakes me up and never goes in his crate. I just think he and I are both having a lot of interrupted sleep.


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## WinnieThePoodle (Sep 1, 2020)

I'm not familiar with the tummy movements of a toy as I have a mini but to me 4.30pm for a last meal seems very early for a young pup. This may be what is contributing to the pooping at 1am as it is nearly 9 hours after eating so it seems to be ready to come out by then, and it is a long time until he eats again. Maybe try spreading the meals out so the evening one is a bit later. Winnie has hers about 6 to 6.30pm but that is because she only has one meal a day. When she was little her last meal was around 7.30ish. I'm sure others will come in with useful advice.

Edit: I assume you are taking him out just before going to bed at 9pm.


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## Frankie1119 (11 mo ago)

WinnieThePoodle said:


> I'm not familiar with the tummy movements of a toy as I have a mini but to me 4.30pm for a last meal seems very early for a young pup. This may be what is contributing to the pooping at 1am as it is nearly 9 hours after eating so it seems to be ready to come out by then. Maybe try spreading the meals out so the evening one is a bit later. Winnie has hers about 6 to 6.30pm but that is because she only has one meal a day. When she was little her last meal was around 7.30ish. I'm sure others will come in with useful advice.
> 
> Edit: I assume you are taking him out just before going to bed at 9pm.


Yes we got out for about 845 for a small walk and to potty right before crate time. He does so excellent with his crate. I just was hoping he could pee and poo at the 11 oclock break and not have to get up just an hour or so later just to do the pooping. I maybe expecting to much since he is still so little.


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

Sounds to me as if you are getting off quite lightly. I would not withhold water, and perhaps would try for a nap in the evening and a pee before a slightly later bedtime - he might then be ready to poop as well. One toilet trip in the early hours and one first thing sounds normal for such a young toy puppy, but you could try waking him up at 5.15am, then a few minutes later every day until he is sleeping through till 6 or 6.30. At nearly 7 months Freddy is now managing from around 9pm to 6.30am, but I have only dropped the middle of the night pee trip in the last month or so. I did make life easy by teaching him to use a pad in the bathroom.

At 12 weeks Fred was on 4 meals a day - 7am, noon, 4pm and 8pm. He now has main meals at 7am and 4pm, with a snack at noon and 8pm. He usually needs to poop around 7-8am and 8-9pm.


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## WinnieThePoodle (Sep 1, 2020)

Frankie1119 said:


> Yes we got out for about 845 for a small walk and to potty right before crate time. He does so excellent with his crate. I just was hoping he could pee and poo at the 11 oclock break and not have to get up just an hour or so later just to do the pooping. I maybe expecting to much since he is still so little.


Does he eat more at dinner time or is it the same as the other meals? Does he poop during the day too or only at 1am?


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## Frankie1119 (11 mo ago)

WinnieThePoodle said:


> Does he eat more at dinner time or is it the same as the other meals? Does he poop during the day too or only at 1am?


He eats same at each meal. and yes he poops about 4 to 5 times a day.


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## cowpony (Dec 30, 2009)

At his age it's very normal for him to need an outing in the middle of the night. Even my big guys needed one at his age. As fjm mentioned, it's best to spread the meals out and have water available. Toy dogs are especially prone to drops in blood sugar; they don't have a lot of body mass or stomach capacity to buffer their food intake. Additionally, some dogs will wake up with hunger pukes when their stomach is entirely empty.


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## WinnieThePoodle (Sep 1, 2020)

I remember when Winnie was young she used to poop about 4 or 5 times a day and it was only as she got a bit older and then went to 2 meals a day that her poops started regulating a bit better and she reduced the number of poops to eventually going twice a day. It is a bit of a bother when they are doing it so many times and especially when the routine has not landed in your favour but it should get better as he gets older and his tummy can cope a bit better.


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## Frankie1119 (11 mo ago)

fjm said:


> Sounds to me as if you are getting off quite lightly. I would not withhold water, and perhaps would try for a nap in the evening and a pee before a slightly later bedtime - he might then be ready to poop as well. One toilet trip in the early hours and one first thing sounds normal for such a young toy puppy, but you could try waking him up at 5.15am, then a few minutes later every day until he is sleeping through till 6 or 6.30. At nearly 7 months Freddy is now managing from around 9pm to 6.30am, but I have only dropped the middle of the night pee trip in the last month or so. I did make life easy by teaching him to use a pad in the bathroom.
> 
> At 12 weeks Fred was on 4 meals a day - 7am, noon, 4pm and 8pm. He now has main meals at 7am and 4pm, with a snack at noon and 8pm. He usually needs to poop around 7-8am and 8-9pm.


We did use a pee pad in the bathroom, but this was confusing him and he would forget whether he was suppose to ring the bell and go outside or go the the pee pad during the day, so i removed the pee pad so he could stick to his bell ringing the front door for potty training. But the pee pad was so nice for me during the night, but i did not want to confuse him and make potty training any harder.


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## Frankie1119 (11 mo ago)

WinnieThePoodle said:


> I remember when Winnie was young she used to poop about 4 or 5 times a day and it was only as she got a bit older and then went to 2 meals a day that her poops started regulating a bit better and she reduced the number of poops to eventually going twice a day. It is a bit of a bother when they are doing it so many times and especially when the routine has not landed in your favour but it should get better as he gets older and his tummy can cope a bit better.


what age did you go to two meals a day?


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## WinnieThePoodle (Sep 1, 2020)

Frankie1119 said:


> what age did you go to two meals a day?


I can't remember exactly but it was about 6 or 7 months. She decided herself she didn't want to eat breakfast. I didn't decide to do it myself. She knew when she was ready for it.


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## TeamHellhound (Feb 5, 2021)

Tiny dog, tiny bladder. And some dogs just take longer to be able to hold their pee overnight. My German Shepherd was nearly two years old before she quit needing a quick potty trip in the wee hours of the morning. If I ignored, or didn't hear, her fussing it was pretty much a given that I would be cleaning her crate and giving her a bath.


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## 94Magna_Tom (Feb 23, 2021)

At 12 weeks I think this is very good. I took Elroy (Standard) out to pee at 11, 2-3, and again at 5-6 until nearly 3 months old. They are so young to expect grown up bladder control. 
Definitely do not withhold water. Water is available 24/7.


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## PeggyTheParti (Sep 5, 2019)

I would be preemptively taking him out as much as he currently needs, so he doesn’t learn he can wake you up whenever he likes. And I would absolutely never withhold water. That is not only unhealthy, it could prevent him from getting into (and staying in) a deep sleep. 

But aside from that, this just sounds like a normal life with a very tiny baby dog.


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## twyla (Apr 28, 2010)

I had a midnight pee time with my toy puppies until they were 10 months to a 1 year old, it's normal toy puppies have tiny bladders


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## Dechi (Aug 22, 2015)

I think it’s a very good and normal schedule for such a young dog. I would push back the crating for the night around 11 pm if you can, it should have an impact on how many times he wakes up to go.


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## Rose n Poos (Sep 22, 2017)

Are you feeding 3 or 4 times daily, and yes, don't restrict water. Dogs GI systems process faster than humans, the 9 hrs referenced sounds right, so if you adjust the meal times, trying to keep them fairly evenly spread, so that the 9ish hours after the last meal comes at a time that closer to a usual pee time.

My boys are miniatures but were very predictable once I learned their pattern. 

I'd keep your toy on the 3-4 meals longer, as twyla noted, unless your pup starts showing a lack of interest in one general time repeatedly, and you're sure it's not due to a health issue.


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## Frankie1119 (11 mo ago)

He has been doing much better at night, hoping this was all caused by the coccidia and recovery and his intestines still healing, My husband takes him out at 1030, then he wakes me up at 3 to go out and then he wakes up at 6 am for the day. This has been the last two nights so hoping we are moving on towards this being our new normal. It seems he is resting better also. thanks for all the tips and advice.


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## Frankie1119 (11 mo ago)

update: once he recovered from the coccidia or the medication used to treat it. He is finally on an amazing schedule. He and I go to bed at 830 pm. my husband stays up later so he takes him out to use the restroom at 1030 right before he comes to bed, then pup wakes me up at 3 to go out, then he gets up for he day around 530 or 6 (which 6 was our usual wake up time anyways). so I think we have a good system right now, we do get second round of vaccines on Friday sure hope this does not cause any set backs.


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## cowpony (Dec 30, 2009)

Sounds like you are in good shape now. Your schedule is pretty similar to what my puppies needed.


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