Should I Wake My Puppy Up to Pee at Night?

If you are a new pet parent, you may be wondering whether or not you should wake your puppy up to pee at night. This decision depends on a variety of factors, including your dog’s age, the type of training you are doing, and the health of your puppy.

Waking up a young puppy to take them outside for a potty break can be difficult, but it is essential for their health. Puppies that are less than four months old don’t have the bladder control needed to hold urine overnight, so it is important to take them out at least once a night for a bathroom break.

This is a great way to teach your puppy that they can go out on their own, and it also makes them less likely to soil their crate at night. It is important to keep your puppy subdued and to avoid any fun or play time while they’re out, but they should be able to relieve themselves before they return to their crate.

A puppy that is older than four months of age doesn’t have to be woken up at all, as they have enough bladder control to hold their urine for several hours. However, you should always check on your puppy during the night if they are ill or if they are having trouble settling down at night.

For puppies that are a few weeks to a few months old, waking them up for a nighttime potty break can help them become more familiar with their bathroom schedule and to understand that it is safe to use the bathroom outside. It is also a good idea to feed your puppy early and give them some water just before bedtime, which will help them get on a consistent schedule so that they can focus on sleeping instead of going to the bathroom all the time.

It is also important to note that it’s very common for puppies to have accidents during the night, but if you’re consistently waking your puppy up at the same times each night for their bathroom breaks, it should be no problem.

You can also train your puppy to not sleep through their potty trips by gradually moving all of the nighttime potty breaks ahead 30 minutes each time you wake them up. So if you have been waking your puppy up at 1:00, 3:00 and 5:00, for example, you’ll move those trips ahead by 30 minutes after three nights of success.

If you do this consistently for at least a few days, you should be able to drop all of the potty trips by 30 minutes until they are all gone. You should then move the last trip ahead by another 30 minutes until you have just one potty trip a night!

It is also a good idea to give your puppy a stuffed Kong to chew on or to lick before you put them to bed at night, as these are often calming behaviors that will help your puppy settle down and drift off to sleep. Lastly, don’t forget to let your pup out in the morning and evening before you leave for work or the day, as this will ensure that they have an opportunity to relieve themselves during the daytime as well.