how old until they can hold it all night??

[apollosdad]

my champ-
a tablespoon of pumpkin should be enough, and you can mix it in with his food. make sure to use the 100% pure pumpkin in the can and not the pumpkin pie filling.

yes your dog will eventually "take pride of his home" as you put and not want to go in there. boxers are very clean dogs and do not like to eliminate where they eat or sleep. that is why in crate training the basic and most important rule is to only allow them enough space to sit and lie down. this means not allowing them enough room to sprawl completely out. only enough to sit and lie down in. this will not allow them to have extra space to walk over and eliminate in some corner. this will make them hold the urge and therefore begin the crate training procedure. a good rule of thumb is two allow for "one hour + their age in months". an example for a 8-week old pup would be: 1 hour + 2 (2 months old) = 3 hours. the rough estimate for allowing your dog to hold it would then be 3 hours. however, it's a ballpark figure, and this varies from dog to dog and should still be monitored by you. try placing a large box in his kennel or try getting the wire crate with the divider. they seem to work the best. if you want to get rid of the papers and to avoid confusion and keep from instilling bad habits, get yourself a crate or start crate training them with your kennel. this will make things alot easier.

 

[OurBentley]

Holding it Through the Night-9 1/2 wks

Bentley's been holding his bladder through the night since he was 9 1/2 weeks. I kept trying to get him out of his crate at least once a night (usually aound 3AM), but he wanted no part of it, and I hated dragging him out of the crate if he didn't need to go, so I decided to just leave him until he would whine to go potty. The first night he went from 9:00pm until 7:00am and I finally had to wake him up because I was afraid his bladder would explode in his sleep!! He's never messed in his crate either, in his sleep or awake.
Now Bentley is 11 1/2 weeks and he puts himself in his crate every night between 9:30-10:30pm and will sleep until 9:00am if we let him

 

[My Champ]

Luck

"Now Bentley is 11 1/2 weeks and he puts himself in his crate every night between 9:30-10:30pm and will sleep until 9:00am if we let him"

You are lucky!!!

 

[My Champ]

Yeah!

Each new day is a better day.Champ is doing so good. We wore him out when we got home yesterday. He fell asleep by 9:45, even walked over & layed in his crate! No mess in crate. He didn't whine till 3am, and again @ 6:30! I am so proud! :D!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for all your advice & encouragement!

 

[Harry'sMom]

I always find such good info. here. My DH takes Harry out around 10:30 or 11, then wakes him up in the middle of the night to take him out. Maybe he could make it from 11 to 7 a.m., he is almost 18 weeks. Does 8 hours seem like way too long? He sleeps with us at night.

 

[apollosdad]

my champ-
glad to hear that things are working out for you. it gets better as time goes by.

harry'smom-
at a little past 4 months old, 8 hours might be a bit too much too soon. some pups can do it, and they tend to be able to hold it longer while they are sleeping. but just to be on the safe side, continue to let them out once in the middle of the night until they get a bit older. once their about 6 months old you can try and make the time a little later in the middle of the night when you let them out.

 

[Bogey&me]

Crate

I just stumbled on to this and It may not even by why he's not messing in his crate anymore but it seemed to stop happening about the same time. I'd give Bogey some penut butter inside his Kong and put it in his crate. When i did that of course some of that pb got on the crate floor. After that no peeing in the crate. He'd always go back and lick the crate floor to clean up the leftover pb when he was done with the kong.

I know I wouldn't want to that unless the crate floor was clean :D

On the sleeping subject, I think I've been extremely lucky with Bogey, he slept through the night the second night I brought him home. He's 5 months old. He sleeps generally from 8pm-6am or so. The last couple of nights he's gotten up around 3am but thats because I left his water out by accident. The bad thing is that he sleeps with me :D. I know I've pretty much made it a life commitment but I have a really big bed.

One thing I make sure to do is each night before *I* go to bed is to wake him up and make him go outside and do his business.

It really does just take time and patience with the little guys/gals but it's worth it.

I'm glad to hear things are going well for you and they'll keep getting better.

 

[AlanD]

I'll just add to the topic here.

We're picking up an 8 week old this coming weekend and have a crate ready for her. I think it's too big for her, but putting in a box sounds like a great idea to make it smaller. So not knowing what her toilet schedules are at the moment, is it reasonable to assume that she will go every 2 hours? How will I tell the difference between the whimpering that is telling me that she misses her brothers and sisters and the whimpering telling me she needs to go?

Or should I just get up every 2 hours during the night and let her out anyway?

Regards,

Alan.

 

[My Champ]

Whimpering

My experience since I was just there (8 1/2wk old) Is the whimpering for siblings will only last a few days. I think basically Champ only did the first night. I was up every hr, then decided to snuggle on the couch with him, then he did ok. You will associate the bit of whimpering & the nose to the ground, as that is the time to snatch them up for the outside. Man it takes a keen eye on them all the time.
I have the children. My daughter 8 & 10, love to play with Champ. but when it come to watching to potty, they don't. it just is "mom Champ just peed" :(. My son 4, just doesn't take much interest, he doesn't like the liking & biting so much.
It just takes alot of patience & a watchful eye! ! Good Luck!!

 

[apollosdad]

AlanD-
there are other signals that a dog will give off to let you know that they have to go. one is the sniffing and the other is the spinning in circles that they usually do together. also, the purpose of a potty training schedule is to get them accustomed to doing what they have to do outside. don't wait for signals that they have to go, instead take them out often in order to avoid misreading their signals or accidents.
a good reference to go by for an 8-week old pup is to let them out every hour. also let them out after any form of activity or playtime. anytime they drink or eat, they should also be let out immediately after. this is will also serve to condition your dog's behavior to what you want it to be. after a week or so you can try and take them out every two hours. a rule of thumb is to estimate how long a dog can hold it. people generally say to use the "age + 1" method. which is the age of the dog (in months) + one hour. so an 8-week old pup SHOULD be able to hold it for up to 3 hours, but never rely on that. all dogs are different and need to have individual attention. also, keep in mind that bringing a pup home is a very stressful time for a puppy. they are being taken away from their littermates, and being taken into a strange new home. that alone can make them urinate more frequently due to stress.
it's also a good idea to go out with your dog and designate a specific area that you want them to eliminate in. this will encourage them to relieve themselves faster and ensure that they do, since you will be there to visually confirm. patience is the key to potty training. also, try and get a divider or section off their crate to only allow enough space for them lie down on their sides. do not allow too much room or else they will eliminate in their crate.