Stayseeliz Posted October 4, 2012 Share Posted October 4, 2012 We have two puppies-10 and 11 weeks old. We've had them for 2 1/2 weeks. I completely and totally understand and know that they can't hold their bladders for 7-8 hours but I'm about to lose my mind. I'm SO tired right now that I feel sick. I put them up around 12 and I walk them once during the night. I walked them last night at 3am and they went to #1 but I couldn't get them to go #2 to save my life. I spent thirty minutes outside with them then someone drove slowly by my house twice and then down the alley next to my house. I booked it inside. I didn't hear the next cry to go out and one of them had an accident. I think I walked them too early. I was walking them at 5am and that seemed to work okay but I can't go back to sleep easily and I spend an hour trying to go to sleep then have my 1 year old wake up at 7am. Any advice? Ways that I can rearrange the schedule? I'm sick with exhaustion right now. Again I totally understand they they can't hold it. I'm just trying to figure out a way to not lose my mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parrothead Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 What are they doing during the day? They should be getting enough exercise that they sleep through the night (midnight to 7). Keep them as busy as possible. Out in the yard, inside with toys and kids. A busy puppy is a tired puppy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jann in TX Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 Every week they will be able to 'hold it' longer... I understand your pain-- it is hard enough with one puppy-- I can't imagine 2! You can limit their water after 8pm-- they will be fine. Some say to limit it after dinner-- I think that is a bit harsh. This will help some. Give them a good walk after they eat dinner-- hopefully #2's will happen then. You can also try feeding them their dinner earlier. I fed my puppy at 7am and then 'dinner' between 3 and 4pm. This gave him time to 'process' things before bedtime. DH stayed up late and took him out around 12 and I would get up around 3 and let him out again. i could get back to sleep easily after the 3am interruption-- any later than that and I was up for good... Try to hang on another week-- their bladders will grow! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stayseeliz Posted October 5, 2012 Author Share Posted October 5, 2012 I am going to push their dinner forward but we do get home late a couple of nights a week. Today they ate at 8, 1 and 6. I was doing dinner at 8 but I wanted to push it forward a bit. Should they really be able to hold it for 7 hours at this point? That seems a bit young. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingersmom Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 When I read your post I was doing a happy dance that my dog is 18 months old. The first few months I felt like I had a newborn baby. I was exhausted. My puppy went out at around 8, I went to bed by 9, puppy went out at midnight (quick pee), I went back to sleep, puppy went out at 3-4am, I go back to sleep till 5:30, puppy is up and raring to go!!! Our middle of the night potty trips were just for a quick pee and then back in the house. This way puppy could go right back to sleep and so could I. Hang in there! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluegoat Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 Should they really be able to hold it for 7 hours at this point? That seems a bit young. I would say not necessarily. Larger breeds can usually hold it longer than smaller ones at an earlier age. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stayseeliz Posted October 5, 2012 Author Share Posted October 5, 2012 They are beagles. Maybe that makes a difference. I'd reeeeeeally like they to be able to spend the night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alenee Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 At that age, you can move their feedings to twice a day rather than three times. This could also help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngieW in Texas Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 I just put a wee wee pad in our puppy's crate for the night for easy cleanup. We got her when she was 10 weeks old and by the 4th night, she was able to hold it all night. She is a mostly german shepherd puppy and is 19.5 pounds now at 12 weeks old. I try to have her dinner finished off by 8pm and generally put her in her crate for the night between 10:30 and 11:30pm. I get her out between 7:30 and 8am, whenever she starts whimpering. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
somo_chickenlady Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 I would do as a PP suggested and push them back to two feedings at this point, otherwise just keep doing what you are doing. Puppies are hard, and unfortunately when you agree to take on that responsibility it also come with some sleepless nights. :( Eventually they will get it and will potty train. With our dogs I went by the schedule of 1hr per month of age. Meaning, at 12 weeks old they can only hold it for 3 hours at a time, and each week you can add about 15 minutes. I had to set my alarm each night to get up to let them out when they were training. It was hard (and I didn't have little ones nor was I home schooling at the time), but it didn't last forever. We live very rural, and our grocery shopping trips last longer than 3 hours, so we just had to deal with accidents when they were younger, so I went through a lot of odor cleaner and wash cloths, and they got lots of baths at that age. lol Good luck! They'll get eventually!! I don't envy you, I hate that stage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momtoamiracle Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 I raised eight puppies all summer so I feel your pain. At that age they may be able to hold it all night, but not every night, unless they are crate trained. That helps a bunch. I kept newspaper down u til about 12 weeks because no way was I getting up after I went to bed at midnight. I had one puppy left by 12 weeks. He's about 16 weeks now and I'd say he's gone all night without peeing for two weeks. Males are worse I believe. All of my female puppies trained much quicker than the males. It won't be long that they will hold it all night. Like one poster said, I did a lot of cleaning! I was mopping with vinegar every morning. So glad those days are over! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pawz4me Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 IMO that's too young for twice a day feeding. I'd continue with three meals a day for at least a couple more weeks. I prefer to feed most puppies four meals a day until their four months old. But it really sounds like you'd benefit from tweaking their meal schedule a bit. If at all possible I'd try to feed their last meal earlier. I generally feed the last meal no later than 5:00, and give a dog biscuit or other small snack before bed time. It may also be that you're feeding a bit too much overall, so cutting the portions just a bit may help. I've raised a lot of puppies and can't recall a single one who needed to poop during the night. The general rule for holding it is one hour per month, but that's during the day. At night they should be able to go significantly longer than that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parrothead Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 (edited) They are beagles. Maybe that makes a difference. I'd reeeeeeally like they to be able to spend the night. Mine is a Basset hound so similar in size. Baxter has been sleeping through the night since he was a few weeks old. Maybe he is just special. But really we didn't give him the option. He played hard during the day and was exhausted. Edited October 5, 2012 by Parrothead Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kroe1 Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 That's awfully young for a puppy to make it that long without going potty. Ours have always been every 2 to 3 hours during the night until about 3 months old. Then they can go about 4 to 5 hours and on up gradually. Don't wait on them to cry, take them out on a schedule. Also put bells on the door. Every time you go outside, ring the bells. Eventually, the puppies will learn to ring the bells to alert you that they need to go potty. Obviously, now they are in the crate, but training to ring bells should start very early. Yes, puppies are a full-time job! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stayseeliz Posted October 5, 2012 Author Share Posted October 5, 2012 Like I said I totally understand that we bargained for this when we got puppies. I remember when we had a puppy 12 years ago and we went through this. I'm just trying to figure out how to tweak their schedules a bit. They did better last night overall. DH took them outside and let them run around for a long time and we made sure they went number one and two before they went to sleep. We put them up at midnight. DH said he'd take care of them in the night but he's a heavy sleeper. I realized he hadn't walked them at 6:45 so I woke them up but it was probably 7 before he got them out of their crates and he said they were fine and only one of them pooped at that point. I'd fed them at 8, 1 and 6 yesterday. I may push the dinner feeding up to 5:30 tonight and see how they do. I'll probably get up with them at 5:00 for awhile and see what happens. Thanks for the advice. I hadn't thought about pushing their dinner up to get things moving faster. Oh and we are crate training them. That's where they sleep at night and we put them up to give them quiet time for naps for at least a couple of their naps a day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom4him Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 The only thing that I can say is I believe everything is more difficult when you have 2 puppies at the same time. We got our two labradoodles at the same time and I wasn't sure if I was ever going to get them trained. Now at about 7 months it seemed like it clicked for both of them and that was the end of it but the process seemed long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
astrid Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 I would do as a PP suggested and push them back to two feedings at this point, otherwise just keep doing what you are doing. Puppies are hard, and unfortunately when you agree to take on that responsibility it also come with some sleepless nights. :( Eventually they will get it and will potty train. With our dogs I went by the schedule of 1hr per month of age. Meaning, at 12 weeks old they can only hold it for 3 hours at a time, and each week you can add about 15 minutes. I had to set my alarm each night to get up to let them out when they were training. It was hard (and I didn't have little ones nor was I home schooling at the time), but it didn't last forever. We live very rural, and our grocery shopping trips last longer than 3 hours, so we just had to deal with accidents when they were younger, so I went through a lot of odor cleaner and wash cloths, and they got lots of baths at that age. lol Good luck! They'll get eventually!! I don't envy you, I hate that stage. I disagree; I'd keep those puppies on three meals for a while yet. 10 and 12 weeks are young--- those tummies are used to being full. If you don't put down acceptable items to fill those tummies, they might find something else-- like shoes, socks, stuffed animals, etc. And that could be life-threatening. astrid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Impish Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 i'd keep the 3 meals a day, but w/Bazinga, she had her last meal around 5pm. Made a HUGE diff in her needing to go out in the middle of the night. Now, if she's up in the middle of the night, it's either b/c Wolf forgot to take her out before he went to bed, or there's a thunder storm. I still haven't figured out how to properly thank my dh for training her to be up at 5 am ready to potty though. :glare: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
somo_chickenlady Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 I disagree; I'd keep those puppies on three meals for a while yet. 10 and 12 weeks are young--- those tummies are used to being full. If you don't put down acceptable items to fill those tummies, they might find something else-- like shoes, socks, stuffed animals, etc. And that could be life-threatening. astrid I went to two meals a day at 3 months for all of the dogs I have raised, and none of them resorted to eating non-food items. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stayseeliz Posted October 8, 2012 Author Share Posted October 8, 2012 I'm feeling MUCH more human since the dogs have slept from 12-7 the last few nights. I'm hoping they can continue this trend. They do seem overly full eating three meals in the span of ten hours. I've been feeding 1/2 cup at each feeding at 8, 1 and 6 and they don't eat much at dinner. Maybe half of their food. Is that just too much food? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pawz4me Posted October 8, 2012 Share Posted October 8, 2012 I'd try cutting a couple of their meals down to 1/3 cup and see how they do. How much to feed is a very individual thing, and something you just have to play around with (as you monitor each pup's weight and growth). It's even quite possible that one of them may need more/less food per day than the other. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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